Your Side by Side Experience With Best Vintage vs Newer Expensive Hi Tech Speakers

Another point is that I have the pleasure of listening to near every make and model, the older retro amps just have that pure sweet tone, unlike most of the digital systems on the market...most of my customers who had upgraded to digital ran their retro in parallel to sort the sound or just gave the digital to their kid....RETRO Rules unless you are spoilt and can afford REAL HIFI systems of today, like HK, their software engineers have sat for days fixing the sound on such like the mas100, It had to sound like a PM650..of which i have as well as an old Sony and more....at one time i was running the cats with the ar/aiwa..22 drivers and i can power up the sony and have another 4 drivers going...I will leave the Pioneer L7 to run alone...that is in the pioneer museum for a reason...the control 1's are perfect for that baby!

You may have guessed I am not a rich man and have to strive on a limited budget...and i do.
Sound is life!

I'm not a guy of unlimited means by any stretch. My speakers are by far the most expensive things I own. I wouldn't have a Pass amp if I hadn't built the thing transistor by resistor myself. Vintage is a good bargain, but getting my ESS speakers up to par cost almost as much as building the amp. Restoring the Marantz units wasn't exactly cheap or easy either. To get the system I want means a lot more learning and building. WAY cheaper and more effective than buying stuff. I'm thinking my next project will be a raspberry pi based DAC. They've got some nifty tube based hat's for those these days. 

I listen to JBL L100s I purchased in 1975. I have upgraded the crossover to the Troels Graveson diy design. They sound fantastic, better than new. I recently bought a pair of ATC SCM19s for a small listening space because the JBLs were too big. They both sound excellent. The ATCs have a little more detail and a little less bass, perfect for my listening area. The JBLs fill the living room with their lush sound such that they sound good in the kitchen.

With the new crossover in the JBLs, in an area where both pair could play as well as they are able, the JBLs would give the ATCs a run for their money.