I see where there is a guy on EBAY who restores those old FM stereo reivers…seems there is a nostalgia market for those big things. I remember when evetybody wanted a huge component stereo system-with a receiver , with tons of knobs, switches, and gauges (most of which were never used). Still, even though today, you canb get better sound from a much smaller system, I like the look of the old receiver-can you get an old Tandberg or Marantz (in good shape) for cheap$?
Still using the Sony STR-6055.
Funny you mention Marantz. I had a 90W amp back in the day powering my 15" Cerwin Vegas. Had it hooked up in our dorm room in tandem with my roommate’s Mac 2100 (w/ Hafner pre-amp) and his Infinity towers. Yeah, I think we had enough stereo in that 10’X10’ room!
I’m still kicking myself for letting my old vacuum tube McIntosh go, one I picked up second hand in college. It needed some repair and I traded that big, heavy, capable bastard in on something new and have regretted it ever since. I was looking at getting another McIntosh recently but everything started at around 4 to 5K and then needed pairing. Lordy but they’re proud of them.
The OP sent me on a journey to research my own piece of vintage gear, a McIntosh MX-110. It’s been sitting in the basement of my house since 2002 and I know the tuner doesn’t work (I recall this one of the reasons I retired it) and the switches are dirty. Some guy was asking $1500 for a refurbished MX-110 . :eek: I also have a Revox reel-to-reel that’s half broken down, too. I have a Hafler amp that has only one side working, a Hafler preamp in a closet somewhere, a grey-market portable Denon DAT machine with a burned out power plug jack. I can’t stand to throw this stuff out! I should do an inventory.
My wife’s fully functional Kenwood 4066A reel-to-reel tape deck stands ready in our equipment cabinet, hooked up to our amplifier.
Which I can play through my 30 year old Advent speakers.
Marantz ::sigh::
I remember going to listen to various speakers, just for fun, in the special “listening room” at the local audiophile store. We’d get them to play Original Masters recordings for us (Gino Vannelli’s Powerful People was on heavy rotation).
And now everything’s Home Theater this and Home Theater that, with speakers smaller than a lunchbox! Pfffffft.
My 25-yr-old Harmon/Kardon amp is still getting it done. Mostly. 
Got the Carver C-16 preamp hooked into the Carver 1.5t power amp (both about 20 years old) running a pair of DCM Time Windows that are over 20 years old. Sounds as good as new!
He used to do his own adds-which were kinda weird-Saul (he had sold his company by the time) would state-something like" consider this tone"…real steroe reproduction demand fidelity, and my receivers are absolutely the best".
Saul was also a businessman, and by the end, Marantz was’nt among the best. There were also oddball brands (like Sequeiros) which cost big bucks and delivered fairly mediocre sounds. I guess I miss the aesthetics of the old stuff-I like analog meters and dials.
I have a nice McIntosh, but… it’s only two channel. Any ideas on how I can build a 5.1 entertainment center with it?
There are numerous replica/nostalgia radios on the market. I once owned one with am/fm/stereo, cassette & CD player. And it looked like one of the giant radio cabinets of the 30’s-40’s. Pretty cool.
Also, wooden speaker cabinets are better.
I restore old vacuum tube equipment (Mostly radios from the 20’s-40’s) for a hobby. Pride of place however goes to a 1960 Grundig stereo reciever/amp. It puts out 90 very clean, quiet watts per channel into a matched set of beautiful wooden speakers.
I use it with imput from a CD player and with my ipod. Killer good sound.
I got it for $25 at a garage sale about 10 yrs ago. It took about 6 hours and $50 to fix.
Regards
FML
That reminds me - I was walking past a garbage heap on the sidewalk years ago and saw some ancient stereo gear. I grabbed the power amp - a Dynaco stereo 35. A drab-looking affair about the size of a shoebox and about the weight of a shoebox filled with concrete. I took it home and hooked it up. Lo and behold the thing worked but it was out of balance. I just adjusted the balance using my preamp and used it for a number of years. It’s a ballsy little amp. I still have it but the circuit boards look a little worse for wear. I like the simplicity of it, though.
I have an Onkyo “Quartz-locked” receiver with a giant yellow back-light behind the tuner, and more brushed-steel knobs than a goddamn spaceship. The thing is about two feet by three feet, and has a metal housing with a vinyl wood-grain veneer over it. It looks like something from Boogie Nights. Also have two big wooden floor cabinet speakers.
I prefer this to the slicker-looking newer stuff.
I have this Marantz driving our home theatre, but I suspect It’s not really what y’all are shootin’ for.
Review: Sounds great, works great with component and HDMI, won’t cross-convert non-hdmi TO hdmi, meaning you have to have two inputs used on your TV.
Crummy remote (went with a Logitech Harmony right off the bat so it was a non-issue)
Setup was kinda involved but it’s been a great unit ever since.
My first pro-sumer stereo out of College was a Yamaha setup with Snell Acoustics speakers accentuating mids and highs…added a cheapo refurb Sony Subwoofer years later to it. It now plays crappy MP3’s from the linux box in the office.
I have a 25 year old Marantz, and there it is, cuz it still works beautifully, haven’t needed to replace it.
Of course, also have a top-o-the line cassette dupe unit. “Hey, I could make you a copy of that!” Yep.
I’ve got three old school steel Marantz components, A tuner, an amp (weighs about 50 lbs) and what must be an equalizer of some stripe. Should I hook them up? I know some oldsters claim they are the bee’s knees, but some people also think the '69 Camaro is the apex of automotive technology. So is this stuff really better then an iPod running through a run of the mill surround sound rig?
I used to love the way those receivers had a great big weighted tuning knob, and the needle would glide smoothly along the dial when you span it. It all spoke of high quality construction. Somehow, pushing a preset button just isn’t the same.
Remember “Quad”? I had a Pioneer quadrophonic receiver/amp. What a piece of crap that was. I think they rushed to market with this ‘new technology’ before ironing out the bugs. I like component stereos, but there’s not enough nostalgia out there for anyone to buy my present setup, which is powered by a 10-year old Denon hooked to NHT towers and a pair of old Klipsch kg2 speakers.