I have an old Harmon Kardon 730 Receiver. I used to sell audio gear retail in the late 70's to middle 80's. I kept a twin powered HK 730 as it was the last discrete component receiever they made and sounded darn good. I still use it in a bedroom system with some not so great speakers - but when I plug in my vintage Sennheiser HD-414's (with the new large yellow foam pads ;-) that HK730 sings. I saw an HK 730 go for over $100.00 + shipping on Ebay this last week. A lot of newer receivers won't go that high on Ebay. The pots and buttons are a little noisy - but the sound would be hard to match for anywhere near 8 to 10 times the Ebay price with new gear today. I believe there are a lot of vintage bargains out there. Like turntables,vinyl and tubes discrete component amplifiers, solid state and tubes, can be a joy to own. IMHO
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?
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?