My love of vintage audio can be traced back to several early factors. My father loved his country music and in the 70’s owned what could be called middle of the road consumer audio reproduction gear. I remember a Zenith Allegro system that dad was very proud of. Before that we had a massive Magnavox console that dominated the living room and had a large Akai reel to reel sitting on top. My father would record from his extensive vinyl collection onto the tape and spend hours editing, recording and listening to his compilations.
I was one of those kids that wanted to tear into something to see how it worked. I remember tripping breakers in the house because I had dismantled then plugged in a cassette deck I had found in the trash. So the odor of burnt electronics was forever etched upon my psyche.
As a young man, I loved rock and roll, especially Led Zeppelin and wanted the best system to listen on. I had a series of cassette decks, turntables and 8 track players. While it would be years before I had a better system, these early pieces helped form a solid love for audio gear.
Today, I believe it is important to save these systems. In the 1970’s every maker of audio gear was trying to out do the other with power, gizmos, and design. This environment of competition fueled the development of some very iconic gear. Columbus Vintage Audio is first committed to saving these pieces from extinction, second, I want to pass along these special pieces to others so they can be enjoyed again.