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Old Classic Receivers: A Mistake to Buy?

I was contemplating purchasing a 70's receiver, as I used to love the construction and appearance of the Sansui, Kenwood, Pioneer, Marantz. However, when I ran this by an audio friend, he said, "Forget it."

He says: They sound terrible. The caps & resistors used before the early 90s' were dreadful. The electrolytics are drying up and will start crackling and substantially degrade the sonics. The switches and controls used were almost never sealed, so they deteriorate and make noise and can't be fixed even by taking them apart and cleaning them.

Tuners: He says that nearly all non-digital tuners used varactors, which go out of alignment and cause problems, so no old tuners, with the exception of the Mac MR-78 and possibly a few others, are worth dealing with.

I am tempted to believe all that he is saying is true, but I see a market for these items, and also know that people claim they are still using these pieces for 25 years.

What's the truth here? Can some of the techies enlighten me?
kevziek

Showing 2 responses by ait

ait
480 posts
 
I'm in the middle of re-capping a Marantz 2230 receiver right now. It's not hard - just unsolder the old ones and solder in the new ones. This receiver has 70 electrolytics, so it takes a while, but it is fun. Since the new caps are much smaller than the old ones, I was able to double the power supply capacitance and double the output cap values for more bass and punch. Here's a picture with the main filter cap and output caps replaced - the filter cap is a Panasonic THA, 10000uF, 80V, the output caps are Nichicon KG Gold Tune 4700uF, 80V, bypassed with a 1uF Solen polypropylene. Total parts cost is ~$50 for the entire re-cap and I paid $20 for the reciever at a flea market. Outstanding bang for the buck!!

Marantz 2230 re-cap
ait
480 posts
 
Oh, and by the way, I own the following vintage receivers:

Sansui 2000X, Pioneer SX-750 and SX-626, Lafayette LR5555A, Marantz 1150, Marantz 2030

and dozens of vintage speakers, tuners, radios, etc. I also have "modern" high-end gear as well, so I enjoy both sides of the argument, so to speak.
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