The vintage stereo gear is always fun to look at/reminisce over.
The bummer (sort of) is that technology has come a LONG way with speaker design, driver accuracy etc.
Pianos sound like a piano is being played live in front of you.
Add processing power to the equation and you get digital signal processors that control all sonics in the time and frequency domain so that they get to you "in order" instead of bouncing all over the room. Of course room treatments help greatly with this as well.
Another thing they didn't understand back in the day was treating first order reflections if nothing else.
It makes a profound difference in being able to hear the speakers instead of what's bouncing off the walls in front of you.
You also don't have to break the bank to get really good sound. Lots of audio snobs out there trying to convince everyone their $10,000 speaker cable makes for an "eargasm"
If I had more time in another life, I'd open an audio shop that specializes in high quality, affordable gear as well as offering affordable in-home consulting services.
I could put together a very nice system for just over $1500
Scott
Just put a tube pre-amp in my system and it made a huge difference in making the sound more natural. The pads behind the speakers are home made absorption panels. Cost me $5 each to make them by hand.
