Did the Old Receivers Sound Good?

I recently had a vintage solid-state receiver cleaned up and an IEC inlet installed to allow me to use a high-end power cord. The results were a huge improvement in resolution and a decent improvement in transparency. The noise floor also dropped due to the improvement in resolution. I've also replaced the captive zip-cord power cords of a Sony ES CD player and ES tuner (1990s vintage) with high-end power cords with even better results. Both pieces are in my main system with the CD player used only as a transport. Granted, the power cords cost more than the components themselves, but these, too, are available as high-value items on the used market. Even a $300 power cord will give you a lot of sound quality over cheap captive power cords.

I love this thread. It’s like a tour of every party I went to in high school and college. Listening to many systems then, I figured out pretty early on it was all about synergy, and specifications didn’t mean a thing if your amp didn’t pair with your speakers (but alcohol, weed and volume were great equalizers). In that sense, a vintage amp performing to spec (whatever those are for the old amp) paired with the right speakers will sound better than a modern amp paired with the wrong speakers. Some combinations just click. My friends who worked in hifi stores spent a lot of time figuring this out for the gear they had on hand because they knew they usually had one shot at selling you stuff.

My first experience with hifi was with my dad’s Garrard turntable and Fisher tube receiver feeding full range naked drivers stuffed up in the architectural structure of our mid century living room. Soundstage? I don’t know, the sound was everywhere. Bass and treble? Not so much, but oh that midrange was delicious. In the 1970s he got the idea he wanted to upgrade, I suggested Pioneer or Sansui. He opted for a solid state Macintosh receiver with a Philips Electric TT and large Advents. I was never really that impressed.

He gave me the Fisher, and it just seemed old to me and (first big hifi mistake) I sold it and bought a Kenwood KA3500 integrated, liking the way it looked and thinking I was being a “purist”. I paired the amp with Bose 301 bookshelf speakers and an AR TT and that combination actually sounded so good I had people coming into my dorm room from down the hall asking who was playing the guitar. I kept that Kenwood for over thirty years and used it with various speakers and even a sub and it didn’t embarrass itself up until the day it died. It did not sound as sophisticated as my newer gear, and probably didn’t even when it was new. I don’t miss the Kenwood, but I do wish I still had the Fisher receiver (and the AR turntable for that matter).

I was in a used hifi store recently and they had a plenty of big old Japanese receivers and integrated amps in stock (not many separates), and it was fun to reminisce looking at all those shinny hulks. But they’re not cheap now - the cost of nostalgia.

Earlier in the thread somebody mentioned the industrial scale of production and worldwide demand for receivers in the 1970s kept quality high and prices competitive. If you are looking for a bargain now, I would look at the top of the line AVR receivers from a few years ago from the likes Denon, Marantz, Arcam, Yamaha, Sony, and maybe NAD, but they went through a bad patch for quality. In the 2000’s these were company flagships and high production rates and intense competition resulted in quality components, toroidal transformers, and decent sound. Most have a direct signal feature that turns off all the signal processing and turns the units into essentially big integrated amplifiers. An Arcam AVR 600 will sound several times better than a Pioneer SX1280 and will cost you about the same amount of money on today’s market.

As for spec coming back into fashion, you must have spent some time over on AudioScienceReview, LOL.

Fun thread. I live in a zone between new and old with a restomod assemblage of modern separates supporting a system based on serviced and recapped Crown PS-200 amp from a little church in Virginia. A good DAC with bright 2549 interconnects, Mogami 3103 speaker cables, a REL T5i sub and a pair of mahogany Wharfedale Linton 85th Anniversary big baffles combine to deliver the best of both worlds LOL.

Total investment $2500  - and a ton of free fun figuring ways to refine that high current 155 WPC into 4 ohm signal!

Yes. I own and use a Pioneer SA-8800, SX-3800, M-72 and C-72.

I had a Pioneer SX1250 in 1976 I think it was. I loved it at the time. (less than $600.00 at the PX). When I came home with it, I bought an Onkyo 303 preamp from CRAZY EDDIE. I used it with the amp section of the Pioneer. I couldn't believe my ears! The 303 blew the pre amp of the Pioneer away. That was the beginning of my audio journey. I also had a Sansui 9090DB. It sounded terrible at least with my Bose 901's at the time. They were pretty though! Joe