Sleeper Vintage Receivers, AMps, Tuners, TTs,etc..

JVC turntables for the Japanese and European markets were called Victor. The high end offerings were some of the best DD turntables ever made. They also made their own tonearms that are highly coveted today as well.
Victor was an engineering company, they invented the quartz locked direct drive motor. They also supplied other TT companies like Micro Seiki. Technics was free to use Victors technology as they were owned by the same parent company.
So in the States, hi end JVC TT can be very good and elsewhere look for the Victor brand.
BillWojo

Thankfully there have been many good receivers.  The best I have owned is the Magnum Dynalab 208

Tandberg for sure. The Onkyo A-5 and up series ( the A-5 was class A up to 5 watts ) and as mentioned the ADS Atilier 

Not sure if its a "sleeper" but I have a Tandberg 1055 that I bought a few years back and had it totally overhauled 5 years ago., despite the fact that it was still fully functioning (except the phono stage).Looks almost brand new some 46 years later. Its not in my main system, but it's the piece of equipment that the nearest and dearest to me.  Love the simple Norwegian style.The Tuner section is to die for but seldom used these days. 
    Was looking for a McIntosh 5100 like I grew up on but just couldn't resist this little Scandanavian beauty. Sounds great and built like a tank.
     
     

The ADS electronics were excellent, including their tuner, amp, and receiver. I got their tuner from a pawnshop around 2000 for $80. Still have it and use it.

Hitachi also made some sleepers starting around 1976. Since they could source themselves for many parts, they used closer tolerance parts (or so said the sales rep). They also created the Class H amplifier, which enabled their mid-powered amps to hit clean peaks like a super power amp without the size, heat, and cost. Their 3-head cassette decks gave Nakamichi a run for the money at much lower cost, and didn't need azimuth alignment because they used a single head assembly to hold both the record and playback gaps.

The Hitachi P-38 turntable was not as heavily built as the Technics, but I owned one and there was something about that turntable that worked really well. Maybe it simply had a better tonearm, but with a good cartridge match it threw a holographic soundstage.

And if you come across anything by Tandberg from the '60s to the '80s, it's probably worth buying unless it's overpriced or beat to hell.

People need to remember this is HIEND not your midfi of the 70's and 80's

with that said I find that there are a few really really good sounding receivers most will get poo poo'd because your audiophile friend says so ...LOL

if we did some head to head comparisons with vintage receiver/amplifiers..I would bet the house that the vintage would almost always win...

more of my thoughts.... the problem is not knowledge or knowing how to build something better....the problem is finding good sounding components(capacitors,resistors,diodes,transistors etc) most of these made in the hayday 70's-80's were very hi quality and more importantly much better sounding (like music) this IMO is a problem

Lawrence
Fidelity Forward

The Nikki beta I,II,III and IV preamps have excellent phono stages

I thought it was an analog thread?

Sanyo as above, Nikko as well.

Sanyo Plus series : p55,T55,C55. I have to be careful what I say about them because the price will shoot up, they are simply too good to not or barely be mentioned on Audiogon. Let just say that the pre is graveyard silent turn all the way up, built like a tank, nice phono out, good filters great solid state pre on the cheap,, the amp is dual mono, liquid cooled, low dist, 100wpc rms old school, thick vintage power that resembles a certain pricey Hitachi in the neud, have yet to get the tuner but from what I have read it follows suit. Prone for probs with power switches on amp and pre. This preamp/amp combo has sent many famous brands home to mama in my head to head a/b's. Just kidding, they suck and all your audiophile friends will mock you to scorn for bring home gear with Sanyo written on it(:

The engineering of vintage equipment was often more sound and reliable than many current items. The only issue is worn out parts and unavailable replacements. Like Philjolet, I own a Sansui amp (AU D-11). My amp and LT-30 have both had substantial upgrades and re-caps. Considering purchase and tech work being around $1000 or less, I'd put them up against equipment far more expensive. The tech I use is Randy Young (Audiogon member "Ezekiel"). He now has more significant upgrades for the LT-30 (owners take note, this is the "next level"). So, be proud of your vintage finds and bring them back to life.

I have always loved the old (pre-'84 [pre-Alpine]) Luxman receivers. One of my daughters is still using my old R-1040 that I bought while I was in high school. Good amp, very good phono stage, so-so tuner.

I gave a Marantz 2235 to a nephew. He loves it and the tuner seems to be pretty good. While I haven't seen one in years I see to remember that folks really liked the old Tandberg receivers. Not too many of them around, but as I recall they were very high quality units.

try here

http://www.fmtunerinfo.com/

I have the Sansui 919 and it sounds wonderful

good luck