i guess my stuff is almost almost vintage then.

Hmmm... I am not a true vintage fan. The gear from the late 80's and early 90's is what mostly warms my heart, and is what I own the most of.

Clint asks what is the "most important"? I guess I really only have one piece that I would consider to be "important" in that era, and that was the Adcom GFA-555. Many consider this amp to be the one that set new standards for price/performance. While it wasn't perfect it did deliver 80-85% of the performance of the likes of the big Krells, Levinsons, etc. at a fraction of the price ($595 in 1985). If you give merit to their writings, Stereophile said...

"I suspect that the Adcom is going to force many designers in the $1000-$1500 range to either make radical improvements in their products over the next six months, or look at the possibility of retiring from competition. This is a "must" amplifier to audition before you spring for anything close in price. If the Adcom is simply the first of a whole wave of good amplifiers, it will help revitalize the high end for the average audiophile, and force most manufacturers into more reasonable pricing."

I would say that that makes the Adcom GFA-555 an "important" piece of gear from the "almost vintage" era.

Rob

IMO, vintage means audio equipment which stood the test of time. So, if we all consider that audio equipment from the 50's and the 60's are vintage stuff, therefore something from the 70's and 80's are imo "almost vintage".
Of course we all could add philosophical vs. technological considerations' time lines concerning this subject...i.e transistors replaced valves, metal vs. plastic etc...or we can change the words "almost vintage" for others....for instance:
"modern vintage".

An interesting quote from a developer from the Swiss company Revox: "We cannot mass produce such masterpieces, they do not age, neither do they lose their value and their technical solution is exemplary even for the generations to come."

I forgot to mention the great Cyrus One, also from the 80's. This old "shoebox" sounds a lot better than it looked...

I have the Cyrus Two and the PSX, but sadly, the amp does not power up. One of these days, it's going to the shop, or I will ship it to Mission of Canada. [not Mission of Burma, nuck, nuck]