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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 1 response by gknutson632b

gknutson632b
2 posts
 
Someone mentioned a Yamaha CR-600.... I have had one since 1973 or so. When I upgraded to a Luxman R1120, I gave my old system to my father who used it daily, and even managed to blow the bass/mid driver on my B&W DM4's. When he died, my daughter had it for years in her room, used daily. I now have it driving our stereo speakers for the tv sound output. Only thing that has gone over that time has been the lights once. The sound is excellent. I have used the Yamaha a couple of times on my AR-9's, and the only thing they lack compared to my updated Luxman M4000A's that I had for years was volume. Sound was excellent. They are still chugging along thirty years later. Both my Luxman M4000A's are in being fixed, but the Yamaha, overbuilt like a tank, continues to surprise me. I picked up an old Yamaha CR-800 on eBay for my classroom and it sounds just fine... except once in a while the local cable station goes funny. Does the same at home, so not just the receiver.

As for looks, I will take a Champaign Luxman any day over these numerous ugly black beasts out there. : )

Gil K in BC, Canada
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