When it Comes to Stereos, Newer Isn't Always Better

For the past decade we've been living in a time of gadget excess. Every month a newer, flashier version of a cell phone, television, digital music player has come out, with the majority of the stuff not even being that big of an upgrade from its previous incarnation. And because we've been able to afford to get the newest, we have. It's hard to remember that in many cases, to go vintage is to get just as stellar, if not better, quality.

Brad of Chicago, luckily, did realize this. His home is filled with vintage pieces, that are not only in amazing condition, but when he found them were steals on eBay and Craigslist. One such find has been his stereo and the wall unit it sits on...

The floating wall unit was found on eBay. Brad spent years hunting for a mid-century wall unit, until he found this one. When he first discovered it he watched it close without a bid. It got re-listed at a1/3 the price. Slow and steady wins the race.

The speakers flanking the wall unit are vintage Zenith Allegro 1000. "They still sound excellent," says Brad. "I found them in the attic of the first building I lived in in Chicago. They were, and still are, in near mint condition (excluding, of course, the holes I drilled in them to hang them on the wall)." Brad hooked them up to a later model Zenith Allegro turntable (also found on eBay). "The turntable is a solid-state model which means that it's both a turntable and receiver all in one, so my girlfriend and i have our iPod hooked up to the turntable which then feeds the signal out the speakers."

Brad also attached small Ikea lights to the underside of both speakers, as well as to the underside the cabinet where the record player sits. Brad used wire-hiders running between the wall unit and the speakers, which hide both the speaker cables and the wires from the lights.