Something old, something new

AUDIOFILE  Val A.Villanueva

Why does vintage audio sound great?

The technology of manufacturing audio equipment was perfected in the 1960s. Makers of new production amplifiers and other audio electronics have only added few iterations and other user-friendly features, but the basic blueprint remains.

But why is it that the “old” seems to sound a lot better? Audiophiles go to great lengths looking for NOS (new old stock) tubes and vintage audio gears to satisfy their cravings for that ultimate sound trip.

Part of the reason could be due to today’s stricter environmental standards. In the past, the raw materials used in building these gadgets were pure: pure copper, pure silver, pure lead, pre glass, among many others.

Under the Restriction of Hazardous Substances Directive, these materials have to be diluted to conform with new standards.

As an example, a radio is composed of a case, screws, washers, a circuit board, speakers, etc. The screws, washers, and case may each be made of homogenous materials, but the other components comprise multiple sub-components of many different types of material.

For instance, a circuit board is composed of a bare PCB, ICs, resistors, capacitors, switches, etc. A switch is composed of a case, a lever, a spring, contacts, pins, etc., each of which may be made of different materials. A contact might be composed of a copper strip with a surface coating. A speaker is composed of a permanent magnet, copper wire, paper, etc.

Everything that can be identified as a homogeneous material must meet the limit. So if it turns out that the case was made of plastic with 2,300 ppm (0.23%) PBB to act as a flame retardant, the entire radio would then fail the requirements of the directive.

I asked experts to further expound on this phenomenon:

You have a point there. I have a Stromberg Carlson 220 7408 pp amp which uses disk ceramic caps in the signal path, yet sounds musical. So why is it that, in the face of modern boutique caps, this amp sounds so musical?

I have an off-the-wall idea that might be full of holes but might make sense: We grew up listening to equipment that is inferior to modern gear but from which we have nevertheless derived tremendous listening pleasure. We listened to flea-power, high-distortion gear during our carefree halcyon days when everything was fun and beautiful (at least, those things we fondly reminisce about), especially “high fidelity” sound. These are the sounds which we are most comfortable with and are now seeking from, but could not find, in modern equipment. We have to go back to vintage (read: inferior) equipment because it brings us back to that “beautiful” sound. A parting thought: No matter how it sounds.... to a child, the most beautiful and pleasurable sound in the whole wide world is his mother’s voice.

This is my one-centavo worth of opinion on the matter. Having lived on both sides of the era, I have a slight, and hopefully right, understanding of this phenomenon.

First, allow me to categorize the word “vintage.” Vintage of tube amps prior to the Golden Hi-fi age circa 1930 and earlier... I heard these “ampli” as a young child, and the sound was mellow with lots of nice, very warm mid and bass. Then came the Hi-fi age, Strombergs and Bell Packard, Pickering’s... The sound had more detail (kalansing) than before but largely still euphonic, very warm and lots of mid bass.

Then came the Hi-fi Stereo era. Everything became two-channel. I saw people having two mono amps and two mono pre-preamps. Sound quality remained the same just that you have sound moving from one speaker to another. People were more enthralled by the separation of channels than anything else (ping-pong-sound.) When the Stereo Hi-fi matured, better stereo equipment appeared in the market, such as the Mc’s Scotts, Fishers... The sound quality improved a lot. Newer tubes were developed with wider frequency response. DIY kits were sold in the market like EICO, Heathkit, Dynakit et al.

Electronics circa 1960s were predominantly about radio, stereo hi-fi, and television. Through all these developments, designers and users have set their ears to a certain quality standard so much so that, in my honest opinion, it was very difficult to notice differences between brands of the same rating.

Then “Solid State” came, and designers started substituting transistors with tubes, particularly at the consumer end. Solid State became the buzz word. Some transistor amps sounded awful, but many sounded very close to their tube predecessors.

With the arrival of a new generation of designers equipped with computer modelling, design amps were first modelled in a computer then built. These designers listen using the standards of today’s generation.

But more and more are rediscovering the old standards, using equipment designed by ears tuned to the old standard. That is the very reason you want the tubes, or maybe even the earlier solid state amps designed by old tube-trained ears. Materials may have some contribution, particularly with tubes, as some doping chemicals used are now much controlled. But by and large, we have better components today. Our capacitors today are of higher quality than the earlier ones. We too have quieter and more accurate resistors than the lossy ones we had in the past. We have better transformers, more efficient 99.9% OFC copper wires, not to mention silver-plated wires.

So, what gives with the old preference over the new? It is the standard of design. The old fogies used more ear than instruments to judge their work, to determine whether it is ready for production or not. Their ear for music was trained in classics, jazz and country. Today’s designer may be trained in the quality of rock music using electric guitars and synthesizers. That would be their reference. I am not saying it is bad. All I’m saying is that it is a different standard from the past. You cannot disengage a person’s kind of work from his preferred environment and culture. Early Japanese-designed speakers sounded tinny and unappreciated by the people of the West. The quality of parts may play a certain role, but generally the designers themselves have a larger contribution to the outcome. Vintage design versus modern designs: which is acceptable now? Some may prefer the old way, while others may like the new sound.

Older equipment is handcrafted and individually human-tested, compared with today’s random tests. Materials used were purer and meticulously manufactured with human intervention involved. Now, everything is done using robotics and machines. Handcrafted methodology is almost absent.

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For comments or questions, please email me at audioglow@yahoo.com.