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Old Classic Receivers: A Mistake to Buy?

I was contemplating purchasing a 70's receiver, as I used to love the construction and appearance of the Sansui, Kenwood, Pioneer, Marantz. However, when I ran this by an audio friend, he said, "Forget it."

He says: They sound terrible. The caps & resistors used before the early 90s' were dreadful. The electrolytics are drying up and will start crackling and substantially degrade the sonics. The switches and controls used were almost never sealed, so they deteriorate and make noise and can't be fixed even by taking them apart and cleaning them.

Tuners: He says that nearly all non-digital tuners used varactors, which go out of alignment and cause problems, so no old tuners, with the exception of the Mac MR-78 and possibly a few others, are worth dealing with.

I am tempted to believe all that he is saying is true, but I see a market for these items, and also know that people claim they are still using these pieces for 25 years.

What's the truth here? Can some of the techies enlighten me?
kevziek
edwardwone420d
3 posts
 
not true, some of the finest sounding pieces can be had for a song. i have a scott 222c interg amp w telefunkins tubes scott tuners, luxman original (Japan) SS pieces, superb sounds.
caps and resistors can be replaced, no problems, many new pieces as well as new technologies are redundant, expensive rip offs and manufactured with profit in mind.

how can you compare a a 49 lincoln with an 84 caddy.!
rgcards
39 posts
 
I have an old pioneer SX1980 which my Mom bought us in 1980(she saved her baby sitting money). It I believe was part of a package that cost 1500$. It stillsounds fine except the volume control is noisy, I bought a preamp and run th power amp section only. I actually woulb be interested in rebuilding this 100lb monster, it looks it has pretty high quality parts in it. My opinion is that these types of products can be had cheaply and often sound better than things newer products that are about the same price. Now I am assuming these onlycost 200-300$
monstrol
7 posts
 
Alright I'm a novice to this forum but I like this thread
and wouldn't it be cool to have a system that is as good as
anybody that frequents this forum would expect, but looks as though it was from whatever "golden age" we all remember.
I mean how about 21st century technology in a package that corresponds to the era when we fell in love with "the sound" that made the hair on the back of our neck stand up.
Or I am I just nuts?
Thank you,
Monstrol
Post removed 
audiobeer
21 posts
 
The people that rebiult mine were Soundsmiths.
They are very good and went through mine completely offering an 18 month warranty.

http://www.sound-smith.com/
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