The "original" condition of the MR-71 should not be used
as a basis to judge it's performance capabilities.
I recently acquired one and have replaced components that
have aged, i.e. capacitors, resistors etc.
A few tubes were also not performing correctly, they too
were replaced.
The performance after all this is done is outstanding. It's
like night and day. It's well worth the effort.
Only then can one realize why these units are legendary.