The money that's spent on them tells the whole story. In particular for Pioneer's receivers. The SX-xx50 and xx80 series hold their value for the same (good) reasons classic Mac gear does. But they are meant to be used with the speakers (Bart Locanthi designs like the L-x00 and HPM x00 series) with which they were designed to be mated. They don't do simultaneous high current and high voltage as well as new specialty amps do. If you use a reasonably high sensitivity/efficiency speaker, they sound better than anything mass market has offered since. The 950 and larger (and newer) are bargains in terms of quality per dollar. I'd grab em all day long. (In point of fact, I have. I've got a 980, two 1080's, a 1280 and two 1980's, all kicking it in vintage systems through out the house....)
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?