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Old 20th Apr 2021, 1:09 am   #21
Lucien Nunes
Rest in Peace
 
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: London, UK.
Posts: 2,508
Default Re: Keep radio original, or improve it?

I would say there is a spectrum of willingness and desire to mod/hack/upgrade, rather than simply two opposing camps. Personally I am rather at the conservation end of the scale; like PaulRK, I feel no need to get 'superior' performance from a vintage receiver, nor 'futuristic' sounds from a vintage organ, etc.

It is interesting on a technical level to understand the limitations and compromises made at the time and to reflect on what might have been done differently. Sometimes, one comes across shortcomings or mistakes in the original design that can be rectified easily and reversibly. I can see some justification in doing that (and documenting it, as mentioned by @kestrelmusic) as a pursuit in its own right, to compare the accepted performance with what might have been achieved with the same resources given the benefit of experience and hindsight. But if I want fundamentally different (better) results, I'd start out with a different (better) set.

On a historical or philosophical level, every mod or 'upgrade' advances the inexorable ratchet of progress round one more click away from the very essence that we were trying to capture by collecting old stuff in the first place. I prefer to enjoy it unclicked.
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