I think it's always difficult to compare old hifi equipment w/ new stuff for the obvious reason the former is "old" & probably does not sound as good as it once did. Who bought a receiver back then & didn't use it much & took great care of it? Not many! Besides that, some of the parts themselves wearing out or getting very noisy even if well cared for?
That said, I find it interesting that the better quality tube based equipment from the 60's (Mac, HK, Marantz, Fisher etc.), if brought up to original specs as needed, can still mostly hold their own vs. much of today's stuff that isn't heroically sized / priced. Forget about amps or preamps that cost north of $10K. There simply was no amp or preamp that cost that much back then even adjusted for inflation assuming about the value of the dollar is about 1/10 what is was back in 1960.
If a company can't make a great sounding amp, pre amp, DAC etc. that is very reliable for $20K, $50K, $100K or whatever absurd amount beyond that, they're in the wrong business. You can buy a very nice car (BMW, Merceds, Audi, Lexus etc) w/ a half decent sound system for that which has WAY more complexity, parts costs, engineering & can get you to & from your favorite hifi store in style!