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Vintage Asylum Classic gear from yesteryear; vintage audio standing the test of time. |
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Vintage Asylum Classic gear from yesteryear; vintage audio standing the test of time. |
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In Reply to: Best looking audio equipment you ever seen posted by Neff on August 22, 2012 at 15:49:14:
As I reflected on Neff’s original question, and to the long and interesting string of responses it inspired, I had a sudden revelation. I recently turned sixty-seven. My love for audio equipment began in the days when stereo tape was in its infancy – the industry was still unsettled on the question of stacked vs. staggered heads – and the first commercial stereo lp was several years away. While doing the math, I realized that I must have fallen hard for components a year or two before I had ever actually heard them!
Now, in the ‘fifties, owning components was an act of political rebellion – not quite serious enough to get you hauled in front of H.U.A.C., but still worth getting you watched. However, my involvement in the civil rights movement had already gotten me branded as a fellow traveler, so that probably fails to account for my attraction to components. So unless there’s something I’m missing, that pretty much leaves visual appeal as the original basis for my involvement in this Thing of Ours.
Even today, I am gob-smacked by the aesthetics of certain pieces of equipment. Here, then, in no particular order, are a few of my favorites.
The Leak Point One and Varislope preamps – the ones with the brown-and-gold fronts. The amplifiers were very beautiful, as well. The Quad 22 preamp. The Marantz Audio Consolette - both the original version with the rooster tail controls, and the latter one with the solid milled brass knobs that would instantly identify a piece of Marantz equipment from across the room for the next three decades.
The Marantz Consolette was of course the precursor to the 7/7C/7T stereo preamp series - arguably the single most elegant piece of audio equipment ever designed - that Hahax analyzes so thoughtfully below. I always loved my Altec 440C preamps. Each had a wooden case – like Betty and Veronica, one was blonde, and one was dark – with a hinged front cover that when closed, concealed all the controls except for the illuminated logo, and big volume knob in the center.
Like ToddM, I was/am very much taken with the Fairchild 248, which somehow looked even more handsome as a stereo pair. And I would be remiss not to mention the Scott 130, with its quartet of red and green lights, and sculpted solid brass knobs. It's one of the few preamps that gives the 7C a run for its money, though in the end, what ToddM calls the Marantz's ‘almost Doric’ classic simplicity carries the day.
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Follow Ups
- RE: Best looking audio equipment you ever seen - Chef Henry 12:45:23 08/25/12 (0)
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