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OKSuppose you coould time travel back to 1972 and trade what you have today for brand new of what was then current in 1972. Cassettes in infancy, lots of vinyl, amplifications and receivers as they were, no CD's no flat screen TVs, no 5.1 Dolby, no VCR, no DVD and a fancy TV was about 26 inch. No Internet. No ebay, no laptop.
Let's suppose that in exchange for giving up what you have today, you could live for 5 years with all the gear commonly available between 1972 and 1977.Advent; Acoustic Research.
WOULD YOU GO???
Follow Ups:
John Titor's supposedly a time traveler from the year 2038, who's come back to retrieve (I'm not making this up!)an old, OLD IBM 9500-one of THE 1st personal computers, vintage 1975. Seems in that timeline, Y2K starts affecting things BIG time, and they need to retrieve some old code. It's post ('limited') nuclear war in 2038, along with some pretty big earth changes, and he does NOT have any kind things to say about THIS generation, because we let our civil rights slip away (he's describing pretty much a fascist police state, and chronic civil war), and things devolve pretty much into the chaos of his world.
Just sci-fi spoofing? I think so. Except, except...he DID make some very accurate and specific predictions that have since come true, that would've been pretty difficult to fake. Specifically, some arcane physics discoveries that would prove to be pivotal to building a time machine. But his English is standard baby boomer English, and he uses some terms that shows he's probably NOT in a military like he claims (ie, what the hell is a 'shotgun brigade'?). Fascinating read, there's supposed to be a movie coming out about it. Google it. I don't think they care too much about high end audio, but useful old pre computer things like books, radios and typewriters are much coveted.
I'ld buy all of the Mac, Marantz and Western Electric tube equipment I could find. Heck back then people were literally GIVING them away ! Not to mention first pressing Blue Note, Prestige and Savoy records. And don't forget JBL Hartsfield and Ranger Paragon loudspeakers.As to your question-
Thorens TD-125 or 126; SME 3012 arm, Shure V-15-III cartridge.
Audio Research SP-3a preamp, pr of D-76 amps.
Pr of Stacked original QUAD ESL speakers and Decca London Tweeters.
TOTL then. TOTL now.
Best,
i'd be buying all the "golden era" stuff and stashing it away. especially all the western electric stuff i could cram into a storage facility. talk about a "tube 401k" ;-)
1972 was one of the last truly amazing years for releases in that great rock explosion that began to run its course around 1974. I was 17 and the number of now considered iconic recordings is lengthy. Here's a sample (add your own to flavor).Bowie--Ziggy Stardust
Deep Purple ----Machine Head
Genesis---Foxtrot
Jethro Tull--Thick as a Brick
Mott the Hoople--All the Young Dudes
Rolling Stones---Exile
Lou Reed--Transformer
Todd Rundgren---Something/Anything
Steely Dan--Can't Buy a Thrill
Yes-Close to the Edge
Neil Young--Harvest
Rod Stewart--Never a Dull Moment
Wishbone Ash---Argus
Roxy Music--debut
T. Rex--The Slider
Mahavishnu Orchestra--Birds of Fire
Stevie Wonder--Talking Book
Stephen Stills---Mannasas
Randy Newman---Sail Away
Van Morrison--St. Dominique's Preview
Allman Bros--Eat a Peach
Grateful Dead--Europe '72
Al Green--Let's Stay Together
War--The World is a Ghetto
Miles Davis--On the CornerNot too shabby....
(i've got personal faves like Family's Bandstand, but this wouldn't be a consensus pick.)
i still have no idea what any of the lyrics are about, but you gotta admit "she's got a hubcap diamondstar halo" sounds fricken cool!
Old tube stuff, Yuck! No, I would keep the tube stuff. Going back in time and snapping up industrial quantities of old junky tubes would be nice though!
and not only for the audio gear....
1972. Let's see, I had a JVC receiver, a Dual 1218 table and home-made speakers, the driver compliment being one 8" woofer and a JBL 075 super-tweeter asride the top of the cabinet. It's all I could afford back then. A fatter wallet would have bought me Marantz, Crown or McIntosh electronics, a Thorens table (T-124?), KLH 9 speakers or what passed for JBL's flagship back then. But I'll take 1969 any day, a year full of wild passion, thanks to one Janet Zembower. It didn't matter that we listened to music on my parents' lousy console.
No I was in the 7th grade and nobody would want to do that over!As to the audio gear well lets see my main system is the TOTL from Pioneer in 1973 the SA-9100 and TX-9100 so I wouldn't be gaining a damn thing.
My current TV is a 34" CRT got no 5.1 But do have VCR and DVD don't want to give up the Net and my computer. The computer we had in High school was punch tape fed and I never understood a thing about it but the key board.
Now 1977-78 was an interesting time since really nice 10 year old Camaros and Mustangs were selling for under a grand. And my 67 Chevelle cost me $500.00. My 52 Chev 3100 was only 650.00 the 40 dodge couple was a whopping 850.00 and we drove it home.
Anything available then is available now and we would not have to pay retail. You do realize that the reason old stuff is not being made anymore is because the new stuff is better? So unless you choose to just ignore that reality there would be no point in even having this exersize. There is no special magic that somehow got used up in the sixties or seventies. Anyone could make clones of any old product if they felt like it.
I'd like to have my wife in 1972, since we both wasted alot of time on other foolish endeavors & pursuits that crashed and burned and scarred our children, we didn't meet til 1989. I'd be happy with that a Quad of Stacked Advents, My current Ariston Audio RD11S would be fine along with I believe the Mayware Formula IV was available and toss in an Original ADC XLM, and a Denon DL103. For Tuner My Sherwood 3000 would probably do nicely, along with The Heathkit SP2 Preamp, and W5M Monoblocks.. Hey I got all that now exceptin for the Mayware which I traded for a VPI JMW 10, and don't have the Denon yet, and also my Advents (only have 2) neeed recone and possible xovere tune up. My original setup in 70 was an AR with a Grado F2 I believe I paid $60 for the cartridge with the table at E.J. Korvettes (I think the table was $90) a midwest Hi Fi / Department store they pretty much sold everything, I used a Integrated Lafayette Stereo Tube Amp 6BQ5's.. I kick myself for selling it, for Solid state DUMB. I too would go the route of acquiring the stash of 6SN7's my dad had in the basement surplus milatary (he was an amateur), I'd also get some iron while it was still cheap. He built a Bi Amped mono system out of the GE manual used the Heathkit Electronic Xover and built one on the tweeter amp 6V6's and woofers 6L6's it was really decent for 1960. I currently use the Heath SP2 as my phono preamp, Oracle Delphi w/ Fidelity Research FR-64/x Tonearm Grado Sonata, til I get the other amp back up and other preamp working (Sansui CA 3000/ Marantz 240) I'm using a Sonic Impact and I'll tell you it's quite scary how good $30 can sound, especially thru efficient speakers which DBX Soundfield V are (I paid 30 for the pair and replaced a tweeter)
DagW00d
...why doncha just clone us a Claudia Jennings or Angel Tompkins? Heck, Tina Turner or Paula Kelly would suffice! Showeth us where ya acquire them Fender, Marshall, & Mesa Boogie amps @ less than their original retail! You'd be sittin' on an e-pay gold mine! Though it wuz 4 years auld in '72, would even settle fer a dusty copy of Jimi's naked lady cover of "Electric Ladyland" on Polydor UK! Have heard they've tanked in value too! Ya come across like that arrogant Reds fan moi encountered on a journalism convention in Fresno during Game 6 of da '72 Series. He wuz crowing about how da A's were toast for Game 7. Told him he'd better do all hiz braggin' that Saturday, cause tomorrow he'd be drownin' in Sunday sorrow. Reminded him also that prognostication was courtesy a S.F. Giants fan, which caused him to raise the volume on hiz cackles. "What does a god-damned Giants fan know", he wondered? Hope that anal orifice enjoyed hiz crow burger-n-whine!!!
great gear from the 60s and 70s can still be found, and often it works! without spending tens of thousands of yuan. In my *real time* it is next to impossible to find a good tube tech, where as today there are a couple, it seems, in every city.In my *real* time we a think red book CDs, when you can find them without vera-sign DRM, sound pretty damn good. It is illegal to copy music in my day without a pay-per-play going to the DR holder.
It has been 14years since anyone on this board had a 70s receiver garage sale, or goodwill, score.
Nope, count your blessings, if you are here real-time and not using your cleanwater or health care credits for an audio vacation.
TommyK
nt
No! The health care differences alone would keep me here. Now if I could go back to the age I was then, and keep my present knowledge...maybe I would.We've picked up a lot of electronic gadgetry along the way, but some more basic things like my car are much better now.
Now if you're talking just audio gear, would I swap what I have today for new gear from the early 70's? Probably not. I already have three pair of speakers from that era and later electronics that match better than the SS stuff from that era.
That was the year I bought my last hot rod. A 1972 Plymouth Satellite 4 dr sedan with a 318 V8. I spent about 3 months working on the suspension, brakes, and new wheels and tires and a little engine work. The stock Satellite had no front stabilizer, and I installed the bar from the earlier hemi model. That and a stiffened rear suspension and it handled wonderfully well and dead neutral. In terms of cars, and not audio, I might go back.
WOULD I GO BACK in time??? HELL YES !!!!You know it's amazing how many people are so negative in their reply's on this website.
All I have to say is 2 words..... LIGHTEN UP people !!!! This site is for fun.
Reading the questions and reply's on this site.... sometimes I just shake my head at the idotic replys people send in.
Most replys have nothing to do with the questions. I take that as some REPEAT some people have a hard time "READING " the questions put forth.
Pertaing to this specific question.... YES MOST DEFENATELY I would go back in time. Y? Just to buy all that VINTAGE stereo equipment and sell it to you shmucks who pay TOP dollar on eBay these days.
Here's a few words.........
ENJOY THE STUFF you have today !!!! Tomorrow is a whole new ball game.....
Most of all... Lighten up and don't take the questions so seriously on this forum !
Have a great day folks...
Some questions invite serious responses. As for going back for stereo gear and then holding and selling I recently discovered that my good old Parker fountain pen (Made in France, wood lacquer) and several others I have now are items that have beaten the inflation curve and if I went back, I'd probably invest in a certain pens and watches. I almost dropped my teeth to see the going price for the original US made sterling silver 75 that at the time had a price of about $25 and I think I bought from my aunt who sold them through her store for about $15. Back then it was an expensive pen.
WELL a for instance the Pioneer SA-9100 TOTL in 1973 amp sold for $400.00 you can buy them easily for under $200.00 now $400.00 in 1973 = approx. $1862.11 in 2006 So as you can see buying vintage when it is vintage is a much better deal. Federal Minimum wage in 1973 was $1.60 an hour now it's $5.15 (higher in many States)in 1973 the average wage was about $7,580.16 so a that SA-9100 and it's matching tuner would run you about 10% of you years earnings!!!!! Which is why SO MANY vintage items were first purchased by someone in the military overseas where they had no every day living expenses to deal with.
NO going back in time is not a good investment! Unless you going to be buying certain stocks.
It depends on what you buy in 1972. Back then you could buy pristing and even NIB Marantz 9 amps for $100 each as well as the 10bs and 7Cs. A pair of decent 9s today can go from $9,000 to $12,000 while the 10b is hitting in the $2,000 - $3,000 range and a 7C is hitting $1,000 - $2,000. I used to buy and sell these units and if I ever made a mostake, it was not keeping a set for myself.
It'd be fun to see brick-and-mortar hifi shops thriving again, in good parts of town, even. But I can't think of much gear from the era that I'd really want.I don't doubt that some aspects of life in the USA have gone downhill since the '70s, but access to home electronics probably isn't one of them!
like this.....And no National Championships for the Florida Gators!!
NO WAY!!!!
Yer 6 year auld Dolphins were goin' thru a perfect season; on their way to back-to-back N.F.L.championships! Y'all getz nuthin' save crocodile tears from this hipster!!!
... except for information content, I think the web and the CB fulfill many of the same basic human needs :-)CB, of course, reached its zenith ca. 1976, good buddy.
.
had me a Cobra
Having lived as an adult during both periods, I'm not sure I'd want to go back to it. I'd prefer going further back to the mid '50s when the nation seemed to have been in its period of relative seemingly optimism and height of population innocence. Things were brewing underneath but for Joe Q Public it was not apparently until a few years later. Yes, we had McCarthyism and other even bigger problems but until the Cuban missile crisis brought the threat into our homes via television. From then on the Red Scare was more personal and life seemed to continue to explode with more complexities, challenges and societal issues and disruptions. Since then is has never stabilized nor has the nation enjoyed anything like the earlier period in terms of peace and tranquility. With the advent of the web and immediate mass communications I do not see it ever going back to the "good old days" as hysteric sensationalism is becoming a norm society needs as a fix.
But stocking up on virgin vinyl would be fun, and the pre-aids free sex was nice, not to mention the lack of back and joint pain. Then there are all the vintage sports cars, you could pick up '56 gullwing coupes, Ferraris, Cobras etc. for peanuts compared to today's prices.
I was still playing in bands, since the first man had walked on the moon a few years earlier, the promise of technology was more exciting then what was being delivered. The first 4- computer on a chip was introduced with little or no fanfare by a small company called, Intel. Silicon Valley was still filled with fruit orchards and the tech residents living there all worked for the military contractors with secret clearances.Rotary phone were still the regular unless you paid more to get TouchTone service. Cable TV was just getting started and color TVs were still proliferating. The Japanese invastion of consumer gear had just begun and the mom-and-pop local store couldn't stay open on the margins they offered. Mail order flyers abounded on college campuses offering cheap stereos on which to play your new Allman Bros and Led Zep LPs, perhaps with an 8-track tape player so you could bring in those half-melted carts from your Chevy SS396 that would start costing you big $$ in gas the following year.
Nixon was cooking up some cool break-ins at the time, as I recall.
On the good side, you could buy all the Telefunken tubes you wanted for cheap, cheap, cheap since most every one was buying into the promise of Solid State electronics.
Nah! I think I'll take 2007......
Cheers,
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