Another office component: 1980 Dual CS 5000 - fully restored by me. I drilled out the tonearm to wire it with Cardas Litz wire. On the back are Cardas RCA’s vs the hardwired cables. The motor was completely rebuilt as well. Fitting a Blue Point No. 2 on it was a challenge.
On the left you can just see a Marantz Model 2275 that’s up next for restoration.
My vintage primary component, Beogram 4004, has been in daily use since the early 1980’s albeit with the addition of a Kiseki Purple Heart NS, Acromat and Supra Cables running into my Stellar Phono Pre.
I had a B&o 4002 in the late 70’s nice looking turntable to be sure. Moved on as if felt it too limiting regarding phono cartridge options.
The oldest component in my system is a BHK Preamp, around 3 years old
The oldest in my main system is a pair of Decware/Turning Point Audio HR-1 speakers received ten years ago. The oldest in my audio/video system is another pair of Decware/Turning Point Audio HR-1 speakers, the final prototype pair before the production models were introduced, about 12 years old now.
i love these speakers.
Koetsu Onyx long body, purchased 1985, SN 1
vinyls date back to 1970
(years later, Koetsu shortened the Onyx, hence Koetsu calls mine the ‘long body’ made by Yoshiaki Sugano (senior) himself)
Agreed, though you can see that hasn’t stopped me. I’ve used Grado Signatures and Supex SDX2000 in previous iterations.
My oldest active component is a Denon DP-1100 table circa '82 with an Ortofon MC10 Super circa '86. Speed control is a little touchy after all these years. Hopefully a clean/relube with Deoxit will clear it up. If it’s a failing chip I’ll never be able to replace it as most of the circuit components were Denon custom parts.
I mentioned the oldest components that I own in a post above. My oldest actively used one is the pair of Maggie .7s, followed very closely by the SGCD, both bought in the fall of 2019. My, how the system has changed since then. Everything else - turntable, cart, phono preamp, disc transport, DAC, power amps, even headphones and subwoofers - are newer than that. Quite a swap-out for someone who had two ~20-year periods of stasis.
My Hales Transcendence 5 speakers with Seas Millennium tweeters and upgraded crossovers are 26 years old and the only component I have not recently upgraded. They are still sounding great and are far more valuable to me than what I could get for them on the used market. They would cost at least 15 to 20k to match in sound quality with new speakers. They match well with my Pass Labs gear. What component(s) do you have that you feel are keepers regardless age?
This is a fun topic! Rather than start a new thread, perhaps @Elk can merge this with the existing Oldest Primary Component(s)? thread so its all captured in one place.
Done
