Vintage gear that makes you say "Wow"...

[fishondwan]

The B-2’s make me go WOW

 

[fishondwan]

IMHO the AA-1640 has the wow factor too, sounds great, looks great.

 

[dyche01]

IMHO the AA-1640 has the wow factor too, sounds great, looks great. View attachment 1095458

Wow indeed!

 

[swamppirate]

Phase Linear DRS-900

 

[ZebraBlvd]

More please.

 

[kvining]

Right now I'm wowing over a pretty much mint condition SA-9500ii I picked up on ebay.
I'm listening to it through a set of 60's vintage Magnavox 15" speakers I picked up at a garage sale for a hundred bucks or through my Klipsch F-3 towers.
It sounds awesome.

 

[dyche01]

I still love staring into the eyes of the Scott Stereomaster.

 

[matt2k]

Maybe not yet officially "vintage" but still gets my attention.

 

[Falstaff]

Power Amps with big, lighted analog VU meters always have the WOW factor for me.

 

[rousseau173]

Late to the party in this thread, but I was a kid in the 1970s and recall the awe I felt in the presence of the silver-face stereo systems my friends' parents had (not my own parents, sadly). And I'm feeling it again now. Those integrated receivers with all the knobs and buttons hit all the right aesthetic and nostalgic notes for me. Now that we have a turntable and have rediscovered the joy of sitting around with friends, talking and listening to vinyl records, I think we're going to have to replace our black, tunerless Denon amplifier with something in classic silver from the Technics or Pioneer stable.

 

[kvining]

Late to the party in this thread, but I was a kid in the 1970s and recall the awe I felt in the presence of the silver-face stereo systems my friends' parents had (not my own parents, sadly). And I'm feeling it again now. Those integrated receivers with all the knobs and buttons hit all the right aesthetic and nostalgic notes for me. Now that we have a turntable and have rediscovered the joy of sitting around with friends, talking and listening to vinyl records, I think we're going to have to replace our black, tunerless Denon amplifier with something in classic silver from the Technics or Pioneer stable.

This article is a few years old but very relevant to your post:

https://www.iavscanada.com/receiver-shoot-out-vintage-vs-high-tech/

The top of the line vintage stuff is simply better than today's junk. Nowadays you've got to get into gear in over the $5000 range to get anything of quality.

"A lot of times when I’ve set up blind tests of receivers or amplifiers, the results were mixed-most of the products would earn the affection of at least one panelist, so the exercise proved about as useful as asking everyone to name their favorite color. That sure wasn’t the case here. Even with all the levels carefully matched, and even in conditions where none of the receivers were ever pushed past their limits, the Pioneer SX-1980 simply beat the hell out of the other receivers."

 

[Idunno]

Late to the party in this thread, but I was a kid in the 1970s and recall the awe I felt in the presence of the silver-face stereo systems my friends' parents had (not my own parents, sadly). And I'm feeling it again now. Those integrated receivers with all the knobs and buttons hit all the right aesthetic and nostalgic notes for me. Now that we have a turntable and have rediscovered the joy of sitting around with friends, talking and listening to vinyl records, I think we're going to have to replace our black, tunerless Denon amplifier with something in classic silver from the Technics or Pioneer stable.

Hey! You struck a chord with me my friend!
Please take a look at my journey on: www.sx1980.com
You are on the best site here at Audiokarma to help you along on your journey.
I wish you well and look forward to reading how things turn out for you.
Best regards.

 

[Soundork]

I think most of the gear in this thread makes me say "Why". Most. Whatever is left makes me say "Really"...

 

[Wally1955]

Aloha
Pioneer C-200 got a Wow effect if is on fire after couple hours
Really good in my ears pure Vintage Tubesounding little Gem
Cheers
Wally

 

[virak]

"WOW" and "WANT"!

 

[harman/kardon]

My Sansui 9090 and 990DB are pretty nice, and there is some other stuff I own that makes me say "Wow"! Two of the receivers that I do not own and I admire are the Technics SA-800 and the Technics SA-1000, both of them, by the way, were never sold in Europe, so they are extremely rare over here.

 

[tater415]

My Sansui 9090 and 990DB are pretty nice, and there is some other stuff I own that makes me say "Wow"! Two of the receivers that I do not own and I admire are the Technics SA-800 and the Technics SA-1000, both of them, by the way, were never sold in Europe, so they are extremely rare over here.

technics did make a black face sa 1000. I always thought it was the European version but what do I know apparently not much

 

[Audio Fan]

Several Sansui examples have been shown here. Most of the time, I prefer the more cleaner lines of the amps, etc. but the TOTL Sansui QRX-9001 is just a BEAST. I am wowed by the engineering effort behind this short lived Quad platform. I really wish my tech would tackle the cold solder joint issues.

 

[genlabs]

I want to walk my baby down the catwalk....Here is my Mark Levinson 332.
I got it in very bad shape....looked like it served a tour in the Middle East.



I spent countless weeks rebuilding it.....but wait there's more.
This is probably the only polished ML on the planet.
I stripped the aluminum bezel and top and hand polished it to a shine. Kind of a tribute to the old polished Dynas and Mac's with my own spin on it.

Thanks for checking it out.

 

[Blue Shadow]

I want to walk my baby down the catwalk....Here is my Mark Levinson 332.
I got it in very bad shape....looked like it served a tour in the Middle East.

It may well have lived in the desert.

Breaking out the big guns pretty early in your AK career. Nice to see that. It is a good looking change to the look of the amp. Welcome to AK.