# Why is vintage car audio so rare?



## aaron7 (Feb 5, 2012)

Ok... this question has been bothering me...

We still see plenty of electronics from the 90's, 80's, 70's... all the way back to tombstone radios when we're at flea markets or surfing the net. Stereos, TV's, computers, toys, video games... but no car audio. :mean:

Why is this? Where has all the audio gear gone? Was it simply not as popular in the 80's and 90's to replace your stock audio system? Advertisments, TV shows and movies seem to show otherwise.

Just curious what happened to it all!


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## zumbo (Feb 4, 2012)

It's on ebay:laugh:

A bunch of it is in my drum room!

Other members have it horded in their closets!


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## stills (Apr 13, 2008)

the car is a tough environment for electronics.


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## FartinInTheTub (May 25, 2010)

stills said:


> the car is a tough environment for electronics.


exactly


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## Robb (Dec 5, 2008)

stills said:


> the car is a tough environment for electronics.


Water, moisture, temp fluctuations, vibrations, young kids etc take it's toll on amps.


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## starboy869 (Dec 16, 2006)

Remember back even in the early 90's a 35wx2 amp sold for hundreds of dollars. 

I bet the market was a lot smaller back then.


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## Sine Swept (Sep 3, 2010)

I saw a price list for early 90's PPI amps, my 4 channels were 8-900 US each!!

Anyone remember the price of a power wire kit in 1990?


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## IBcivic (Jan 6, 2009)

aaron7 said:


> Ok... this question has been bothering me...
> 
> We still see plenty of electronics from the 90's, 80's, 70's... all the way back to tombstone radios when we're at flea markets or surfing the net. Stereos, TV's, computers, toys, video games... but no car audio. :mean:
> 
> ...


Probably exactly like what happened to my top of the line Alpine Pull-Out cassette deck... It sits on a shelf, in perfect working order, playing with dust bunnys.


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## smgreen20 (Oct 13, 2006)

starboy869 said:


> Remember back even in the early 90's a 35wx2 amp sold for hundreds of dollars.
> 
> I bet the market was a lot smaller back then.


Yep, a Clarion A540 MSRP'ed at $150, it was a 15 x 4 amp, 
A Clarion A1200 MSRP'ed at $350, it was only a 30 x 4 amp. 
Both were '93-94 models.


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## ollschool (Nov 21, 2008)

Back in 86 87 i remember gas being around $.97 and a good amp was around 300 to maybe 600 depending on quality. 1 watt per doller. Hell in the 90's a good ppi might cost 900. Some just could not afford it. look at the price of a AX606.2 now !! or even a 2350DM if you can find a good one. Only diehard people in 96 would spend 1200 for an amp, if they had it to spend


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## adamtwo4 (Jan 8, 2012)

In my opinion, I think it's rare(ish) because a lot of people who are now in their 30's remember the amp that they lusted after in their teens when they were building their systems, but couldn't afford. 
Add to that all of the mini truck, IASCA, and USAC events that were around back then that they attended, and nostalgia is born.

Now they make enough to afford the amp they always wanted and as soon as they see one come along, they scoop it up.

I remember when I was a teenager with my first car, wanting Rockford Fosgate or PPI amps, but only being able to afford a swap meet amp.


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## go_go_thrash (Aug 14, 2008)

It either didn't survive or it is being hoarded, I have a small hoard myself. 
At the risk of sounding ethnocentric, I want to see one of the following on any piece of car audio I buy. (to a lesser extent countries in Europe)

















Those used to mean that you were getting a quality product, then everything went overseas, and if it stayed here it became boutique and insanely expensive. I actually just went significantly out of my budget specifically to buy a headphone amp/dac that is designed, built, and constructed of mostly American sourced parts. I could have spent less than half what I did and got something comparable and Asian. (If anyone is interested in headphone stuff check out Schiit Audio — Headphone amps and DACs, made in USA. run by the founder of Theta) 

Just for fun some of the stuff in my collection I consider super high end, and built in the US or Japan: (sorry for the massive pics)


































































Bit of a rant I guess, sorry.


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## go_go_thrash (Aug 14, 2008)

I could not agree more, that is exactly why I bought most of this stuff. When I was a teenager I wanted the world, and could afford 2 Punch 10's and a Crossfire 404. 

These were my dream in high school from the second I saw them. Finally got them, owned them, looked at them, sold them.










They are STILL sexy.




adamtwo4 said:


> In my opinion, I think it's rare(ish) because a lot of people who are now in their 30's remember the amp that they lusted after in their teens when they were building their systems, but couldn't afford.
> Add to that all of the mini truck, IASCA, and USAC events that were around back then that they attended, and nostalgia is born.
> 
> Now they make enough to afford the amp they always wanted and as soon as they see one come along, they scoop it up.
> ...


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## pionkej (Feb 29, 2008)

I think a lot of it also has to do with people sellings cars and new owners assuming that because something is old, it's junk, or they just don't care about "that part" of the car they bought so they remove it. 

I was on a JBL GTi hunt a while back, and searching Google I found some component sets and subs going for less than $100! They usually sold in a matter of days when some guy kept his cool and casually swept them up without tipping off the owner at how great the price was.

I have seen some great old school gear go for stupid cheap prices on Craigslist/Searchtempest for the exact same reason...they don't know what they have. You just have to wait for the guy doesn't know what he has, put it in the house a long time ago, and now needs to just get rid of it.


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