I wonder what are the most important audio gear - not all of the gear - that you guys have with lets say around 20-25 years old and still running.

My almost vintage audio gear are:

Rotel RP-1 - Turntable
Rotel RA 840BX4 - Integrated amp
Nad 3020 - Integrated amp
Musical Fidelity - The Preamp3
Roksan ROC-DP1 - CD Transport

For me, Eighties stuff is near vintage. I have too much to list but my main system is mostly near vintage.

NS-1000M's (1976-84)
PC2002M (1982-86?)
Aragon DAC (1988)
Luxman D-109 (1987)
Classe SSP-25 (1999-2000)

The Classe is model year 1999-2000, which for a sound processor is ancient!

I have a

yamaha cr 1020

kenwood KA 8100

denon dp62L

teac w990rx cassette

and borrowing a teac x-2000r

My R2R and decks.

in the main rig:
Yamaha B-2x and M-2 amps
Hafler DH-110 preamp (w\Musical Concepts mods)
Teledyne/Acoustic Research AR9 speakers

got a lot of other vintage gear in secondary rigs that are paired with modern amplification in various forms of T-Amps.

um, the question was, what vintage stuff do you have, not your new stuff, are you drunk?

elroy

Sorry elroy, but the question IS: What ALMOST VINTAGE stuff do you have.

dang, I must be drunk again, all I got is my yamaha cx/mx 2000 gear.

but i am sure dingus deserved it anyway.

elroy

All my Sansui was bought new in 1980. Is that vintage or almost vintage?

Definitely almost vintage.

all my vintage babies are in my sig down there;

I have a whole system that's almost vintage, but most notably a B&O 4004 turntable, and a Dyna Stereo 35 power amp, which would be vintage except that it's a very recent build, and a very good build at that. Almost vintage, and almost new at the same time.

DQ-10's purchased in 1977. New, rebuilt woofers and new, upgraded mid bass drivers however. "Hi-Fi Tuning" fuses added also.

Akai GX-600DB RTR, purchased in 1975 and still functioning, though I hardly ever use it.

Dual CS-5000, purchased only 18 months ago, but last manufactured in 1987. Performs beautifully.

At what point does a piece change from Vintage to almost Vintage?

To me the "Golden Age" of electronics was from the late 50's (the beginning of multiplexing FM in the early 60's helped to boost stereo to the general public) through the early 80's, the receiver wars being among some of the most exciting. I believe the 'hippies' helped to boost finer audio also, never met a hippie that didn't have a nice bong and a nicer stereo.

But is this era Vintage or almost Vintage? Or when did the seperation occur?

Jim

Based off of Clint e.'s original post almost Vintage would be 1984 -1989.

Jim