Why go Old school?

[Boominburban]

Oh, and we did all of this with no subsonic filters either ...... oh, the horror ...lol ....

 

[LosIsATool 5,000+ posts]

I don't remember if it was mic'd or not in 95 ... That is the year dB drag came on, and I didn't like it ... So I didn't compete at any big events at all. And you can buy a vlx 200 for a few hundred bux on ebay or FB still today....

It goes back to the point that would have been 3 grand today. Compare that 200 to what you can get for 3 grand today. Not the $200 it cost on eBay.

 

[Boominburban]

why not??? That is where you can buy it.... I guess we will see how many of these amps are around and still kicking in 23 yrs .... this is going to be a LONG thread ...lol ....

 

[los33]

It goes back to the point that would have been 3 grand today. Compare that 200 to what you can get for 3 grand today. Not the $200 it cost on eBay.

Inflation of prices only happen if the product continues to develop.

You cannot consider inflation on a discontinued product and even with the hardware it used it would have been considered obsolete making prices go down.

why not??? That is where you can buy it.... I guess we will see how many of these amps are around and still kicking in 23 yrs .... this is going to be a LONG thread ...lol ....

After 18-20 years most of the amps and subs are still kicking.

I got a orion hcca 12d made in 2000 that is still fully funtional and did a 138db by its self in a 2.5cuft box on 1500 watts.

Not super impressive, but shows they still pound if used right.

Sent from my Z970 using Tapatalk

 

[MrFoca]

Quality cost money, don't see how price has anything to do with the times ?

 

[SounDrive Pro Seller]

A lot of the cost of old school equipment was due to actually designing and building their own equipment rather than outsourcing all the labor/parts and using generic designs that aren't exclusive

 

[potvin]

There have been a lot of good sound responses in here but I can't be arsed quoting them all.

There has also been some pretty mislead ones as well.

It may be easy to call it nostalgia but I prefer not to call it that. It may seem as though it is nostalgia just because simply you only see a handful that actually can sit down and admire the good old days when stuff was built to last rather than stuff that is just built to last through a 1 year warranty. You gotta realize that these handbuilt amps and such weren't mass produced. So, there wasn't one for every man, woman and child in every country in the world. But yet many of them are still kicking around being sold and being used. Some items in excess of 20+ years old. Not too many things you can buy today, be it anything electronic that can live that long - let alone in a car stereo environment.

Overbuilt and Underrated were about the two terms you could use to describe those things. Sure, they were generally ugly and bulky, but they were good. Real good. I mean seriously, who in the hell makes a 50WX2 amp for example, that weighs 10 pounds and made with gold plated circuitry? Back in the day, companies were competing to make the best, most robust and underrated amps that won comps etc. Now companies fight to stay alive by mass producing shite to increase their bottom line and keep them competitive without going under. Back then it was sort of a pride thing along with the business. Now it is strictly business.

One thing that bothers me is the first thing some douche asks me is how many watts are my subwoofers or amps. Those questions come from the inexperienced, or the baby boomers that came after the hobby took this turn for the worse. Who in the frig cares about how many watts I am running. All you need to know is its more than my equipment claims, and less than you imagined. But more importantly it sounds good.

Watts used to be a measurement allowing you to get an idea of component matching and competition placing, whereas now it's just about marketing....that's all. I didn't even know how many watts were the JL audio subs I picked up were. I just looked at them and said "they'll do."

Bottom line is nothing I or anyone else says is going to change the world. It all comes down to money and marketing. There are people who buy into a lot of crap nowadays and people who know a bit better. It's up to you to decide which person you're going to be.

 

[adulbrich 5,000+ posts]

Those W0 motors though //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/yumyum.gif.0556df42231b304b9c995aefd13928a8.gif

 

[HIWATT]

To each their own I suppose.

I still have an old Sony XM-5540 that has spiderwebs in the heatsink - it still kicks out tonnes of great clean power like it was born yesterday.

Have 1 Alpine MRV-1000 and another on the way. Paid $150 total for the pair... 1000 watts RMS (600 rated)

The first V12 amps are my all time favourite. I don't care if they **** current like crazy. That's what caps are for. No biggie.

An MRV-1000 powering a set of components up front is glorious.

I still have the KTE-100M heatsink endcap that I never got rid of as well which will look cool with these two amps..

There were a **** tonne of great products being made back then. PPI Art series were both totally cool and unique looking as well as awesome sounding.

I guess it's like everything else. There's always a golden era with regards to products and we've passed it with car audio long ago.

No doubt there are good products still being made but there is a lot of junk out there now... and I can't justify going out and spending $500-1000 on an amp when I can find a good working old school equivalent that sounds and functions just as well as anything new, for less than $100.

Also i have a ****** for analog volume controls so yeah I'm one of "those guys" who love their old Alpine 7904's... even if you have to slam the side of your dash to get it to **** a disc in sometimes. lol

 

[HIWATT]

ps. with regards to the opening comments casting aside the issue of build quality:

My Sony XM-5540 was built in 1991.

The Alpines are all early 90's.

Lets not forget that these things get HOT, and add to that a lot of summer time cranking up and down the beach.

There IS a lot to be said about build quality when 25 YEARS later, I'm still using the same gear without failure.

 

[Rich B 5,000+ posts]

Old school was not more reliable. The stuff today, good stuff is just as good if not better.

Old school could be repaired because they were hand made with hole through components mounted on the circuit boards.

Newer amps are machine assembled using surface mount components, much harder to repair (if you can find a tech willing to even try).

 

[WhiteYota]

I was raised up on old Pioneer home receivers. Currently I own 2, a SX-980 and a SX-780 (I think, its in storage). One I have always wanted but still have yet to save up enough to buy is an SX-1980 (That was also the year it was released).

Here is a review on it compared to newer ones from C/Net on it - How can 30-year-old receivers sound better than new ones? - CNET

Here is general info on the model - Pioneer Stereo Receiver Model SX-1980