I too sold hi-fi back in the 70's and 80's and I agree with
rbstehno1 as far as his liking the Yamaha receivers and integrated from that era. Our store had a great repair shop that always had a few of the Japanese receivers of the day there for work. One of the things we used to do is set up the competition out in the listening room and compare to the Yamaha lineup. I won't rain on the lines that didn't cut it but I will say that the big name receivers of the day did not compare favorably with the Yamaha's for most part for sound and reliability.
Top vintage receivers vs. modern high-end equipment
I am considering pairing an old amplification system to my JBL Paragon -- the idea of getting an all vintage system is very attractive to me. Among other things, I am looking into classics such as the Pioneer 1980 receiver or the Marantz 2600. Does anyone have direct experience in comparing this kind of equipment (very high-end but 40 years ago) to current high-end equipment, imagine an integrated Pass Lab amplifier? How do they stack up? Thank you.