Ahh … Quad 57s. I had a close friend in Montreal that had two sets of 57s. I say had, because he died of Covid19 very early on in 2020. He swore that the 57s were the best musical reproduction possible. I never got to hear them before he died, but I wish I had.
He also had all Naim amplification, and he was the sole reason that I became a Naimite.
Well, your late friend was right. ESL57s have never been bettered. Sorry to hear that you lost him, and what a sad way to die. Frigging awful disease.
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For me, vintage means the brands and the objects I longed for mostly in my twenties, when I was adult enough to appreciate good HiFi and poor enough not to afford it.
In those years the brand of my dreams was Pioneer, and I bet that this
has introduced many a young men to HiFi in the seventies.
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It’s a record deck combined with an amp so the knobs are for source select, balance, treble, bass and volume.
It sounded surprisingly good through a pair of Celestion speakers. Certainly better than the Bush record player it replaced
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My word, I hadn’t seen one of those for a while! My stepfather’s 1970s system, used extensively by me in the 1980s, was:
Pioneer PL12D (see above picture)
Akai GXC 41D:
Akai AA1125:
Then some Leak speakers, the exact model of which I can’t track down.
Do I take it this was a classic 1970s system?
Mark
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My first hifi system not only sounded great, it looked great too
Musical Fidelity A1 amplifier
Michell Syncro turntable
I bought those in 1986 and the Syncro is still the turntable I use to this day albeit the tonearm has been upgraded to a RB808 from the original RB300.
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Hi, I have still got that musical fidelity a1 amp 
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Found a picture on the web of the Kaneda preamp I used with modified/rebuilt Dyna MkIII valve amps late 70’s early 80’s. You bought it sa a kit from with ready-made circuit boards from Jean Hiragas offices in Japan. I think mine actually had more chaotic wiring than this sample. I ordered extra some strange looking large dc-blocking caps in black bakelite. It was published in french in the L’Audiophile magazine. I learnt more french from that magazine than I did during two years of french-lessons in school.
The Dyna MkIII’s had hiked voltages and replaced the driver stage with a cascode-type circuit. And lots of chokes added to the power supply. All that came from a small comany in San Diego that released the Tube Amplifier Modification Manual. I also built/used their mc-preamp stage using nuvistor valves. Big horns in a very small apartment - the relief when I got my first LS3/5a:s!
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I never reached the exalted level of an amplifier with wooden side cheeks. During the 70s I had an SA5300 for a good few years. I sold it and replaced it with an amplifier made by the jockstrap and vest company, based on a rave review - I believed reviews back then - but it was a piece of rubbish and far worse than the Pioneer.
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I also had one the these, the Aiwa AD1250. I’m not sure it’s aged well, with its funny hinged lid, but I thought it was great, and it sat on top of the Pioneer amplifier very happily.
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Ferrograph 307 Mk2, my first amplifier bought in 1973.
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Wow, that looks lovely. The on/off switch is decidedly different.
It sounded lovely too. I used it with this turntable
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Yes, very sad, still miss him. But he sure knew his audio gear and I thank him for that.
I had a BD1 that I made from a kit and used with an SAU2. Yours was much more upmarket.
So sorry for loss of your friend
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A Connoisseur was my first real turntable. It was sold here in kit form, so I had to assemble it. I used it with a Macintosh tube pre and SS power amp.