1970's receivers and integrated amps...


Lots of the mid to late 1970's receivers (and integrated amps) look pretty cool. For example the high end Pioneers and Sansui's.

My question is how do they sound? Do any of them hold up to days standards? How is their power vs. what they are rated for?

Advise on particular models appreciated.

Ken
drken

Showing 1 response by tobias

In the early 70s I worked in an audio store. We fixed, tested and sold receivers. We had a test bench and we gave each customer a hard copy of their unit's performance versus specifications for power output, THD and IM. We included a Polariod photo of a 20KHz square wave, to show the unit's bandwidth.

Many units we tested didn't make their specs. Exceptions were Harman-Kardon and Marantz, which often did noticeably better than spec, and Yamaha which just made it.

I quit working in audio before the end of the decade, but friends who didn't told me that by 1980, the poor-performing makes had gotten a lot better.