Vintage Hi-Fi

My last post was about modern Hi-Fi equipment. This one's all about vintage Hi-Fi.

It's been said that music died in the 80s. Well, stereo equipment did, too. Ok... this might be a bit of an overstatement, but given a choice between a black plastic component and a brushed aluminum component with wood sides and blue lights, which would you choose?

Vintage audio gear holds appeal in many areas. Most old equipment was built out of wood, or solid metal, or both. Not only that, but vintage Hi-Fi equipment looks really cool. This is something you can't say about most modern plastic faced gear.

Many older gear, especially the tube stuff had a unique, characteristic "sound" (added distortion) that is often coveted today. Coupled with [mostly] outstanding build quality, and relatively low prices, vintage gear is a good investment for many people.

Here are a few sites with galleries and listings of old audio equipment.

The Vintage Knob - This site has an extensive collection of vintage stereo equipment from a number of different brands. They've got lots of big pictures. Definitely worth a look.

Classic-Audio.com - A Collection of specs and pictures for vintage Technics, Marantz and Pioneer gear. They've got lots of technical specs, etc... It's a great resource, if your looking for information on a specific model.

Tuner Information Center - Everything you ever wanted to know about AM and [especially] FM tuners old and new. This is a huge collection of stuff, with plenty information

Vinyl Engine - A huge pile of information on vintage turntables.

HiFi Engine - By the same guys as Vinyl Engine.
Vintage Technics - The name's pretty self explanatory. Lots of information and specs on Technics gear.

ClassicAudio.com - A site specializing in reselling vintage audio equipment. They've got a large gallery for sale and sold items.

OakTreeVintage - Another site reselling vintage stuff. Huge selection and gallery.

HiFiLit - A giant collection of manuals and brochures from a gazillion different brands.

Vintage Scott Gear

Vintage Dynaco Gear

Vintage Heathkit Stuff (including Hi-Fi)

Vintage Fischer

HiFi Audio - Retro Thing - A Large collection of vintage and related stuff.

60's Braun and modern Apple designs side by side - Really interesting comparison.

A Different Kind of Audiophile Site

I have to confess, I'm an audiophile. I love music, and I love electronics and I love audio systems.

Even though, most people would consider my an "audiophile," I absolutely hate the "audiophile" press. All they do is review super expensive gear, mostly just saying that "it's the greatest stuff ever," all in a very subjective and psudo scientific manner. Being a very technical person, I at least want to know why certain gear "sounds better" than other. Why do people like tubes and vinyl better than CDs and solid state? etc.....

The other day, I found just my site: SonicFlare. While they certainly have equipment way out of my price range, they have a different way of reviewing stuff. Instead of throwing everything into one bucket, they categorize equipment into it's appropriate type on their "Sonic Circle," their unique classification system that incorporates just about every sonic "style" and emphasis there is.

It's a cool site check it out. They've got lots of pictures of beautiful equipment.

Free HDTV - Antennas, and related stuff

We all know it. February 17, 2009. The Most historic day in television. All full power analog stations will go off the air (some translators may still broadcast analog, though).

Many mis-lead people think that they have to buy an HDTV or subscribe to cable or satellite. This isn't true. All you need is a converter box for your set. The NITA will allow you to acquire 2 $40 coupons for SD converter boxes, available at http://www.ntia.doc.gov/dtvcoupon/ Note: By law, the "coupon boxes" can only have modulated RF out (ch. 3-4), composite video out, S-Video and stereo RCA audio (no HDMI, Component, or digital audio). The HD boxes will cost a bit more, though.

To find out what kind of antenna you need, check out the following sites:
TVFool - The best TV signal prediction site on the planet.
AntennaWeb - The CEA's site. While it's ok, the listings aren't always very accurate.
ota.winegarddirect.com - Winegard's reception prediction tool. Nice Google Maps API. The prediction is super conservative, though.

Forums for OTA - related stuff:
The AVS (Audio Video Science) Forum. The largest general purpose home theater community. In the "Local HDTV Info and Reception" sub-forum, there are threads for every market in the US. The "HDTV Reception Hardware" sub-forum has plenty of info on pretty much every aspect of antennas and related hardware.

Other guides:
An HDTV Primer. This site has everything you'll probably ever need to know about the subject of HDTV. The "Erecting an Antenna" section is probably the best guide on the subject. This site also includes some excellent reviews of antennas.
uhfhdtvantenna.blogspot.com - A Cheap DIY UHF Antenna (4-Bay conical). Good for the indoors or an attic, and it costs less than $10 to build!!!
HDTV Antenna Labs - A site with reviews of various antenna models.

Companies Making antennas and related equipment:
Channel Master - Antennas, Rotators, Pre-Amps, Accessories.
Winegard - Antennas, Preamps, Accessories.
Antennacraft - Antennas, Rotators, Preamps, Accessories.
Antennas Direct/Terrestrial Digital -Antennas, Preamps.
Wade Antennas (Formerly Delhi/Jerrold) - Antennas, Preamps.
Blonder Tongue - Professional antennas and Preamps.
Research Communications, LTD - The best preamps money can buy.
A-Tech Fabrication - Antenna stacking hardware and tilters.

The "first post" post

Hey there, everybody. This is my outlet technology-related content. At least at first, this is going to more of a link blog.

Enjoy.

Matt