Please Help Me!!

Oh, I almost forgot, I only want to buy an integrated that was in a lower humidity climate so that I don’t have to worry about rusty knobs.  And if possibly, I’d like to make this purchase by paying half via pay-pal, a quarter via cashiers check, and the remaining balance will be paid by me, via cash, in person.  Taking this into account, lets not look further than 10 hours drive at 80mph from 80920.  My days off are Monday, Thursday and every 3rd saturday so the seller will need to be willing to work around my schedule, otherwise no go.  Original packaging is a must, unless they don’t have it, in which case some styrofoam peanuts placed inside the unit, under the case, in order to protect all the electrical thingies inside will suffice. 

You're  clearly a discerning audiophile. 

Look for one of these, and you can sit back and just enjoy.

https://images.search.yahoo.com/images/view;_ylt=Awr9JhUlUUxdZswAeRuKnIlQ;_ylu=X3oDMTIyNGJpZmhoBHNlY...

Firstly, April 27, 1996 to May 23, 2002. being the golden age is a load of BS. Not sure who told you that but they are not giving you good advice. 

Second your speakers say in the back they can handle max 170watts this is in no way any indication of amp power needed. its a general guide to let you know what can potentially damage your speakers. 

You need to know what the load of the speakers are this will be in ohm's common speakers loads are 8ohms and 4ohms note this is nominal as the load changes with different frequencies but not a big concern for you to worry about. knowing the load will help with power requirements and type of amp that can drive them. (tube amps don't like low loads for example)

Also you need to know the sensitivity of your speakers this is stated in db's speakers commonly range from 84db to 95db with some on the extremes like horns that can go up to 150db easily. The higher the sensitivity the less power you will need. I drive my speakers for example with 8watts my speakers are 95db sensitivity. 

 sensitivity is usual rated by applying 1 watt of power with a microphone 1 meter form the speaker to measure the sound output so for example a 88db sensitivity speaker with one watt driving it will make 88db of sound pressure at 1 meter from the speaker. 

So if we know what speakers you will be driving that would help much better to match an amp to them. the speaker amp interface is one of the critical things in audio replay. And you may not need much power at all if they are sensitive or you may need more if not. 

you should also know you could run 1000w into a speaker with no issues most speaker damage is from too little power as the amp will run out of power and start to clip this is a type of distortion that happened when an amp is driven past its rated power this is very damaging to speakers particularly tweeters. Yes if you have lots of power and turn it up to ear bleeding levels you can damage the drivers, but this is less common then under powered clipping damage. Unless your a teenager who need to make sound in a house party I would not worry about too much power. 

One more thing to consider is more people keep their electronics indoors then outdoors so humidity should not be too big a concern to you (also electronics tend to generate heat). Just find something you like and check the condition. Most electronics  face plates and nobs are made from Aluminum so corrosion is less of a concern and can be cleaned up easily more concern is with older gear and the aging components inside like capacitors. These can be replaced though so vintage gear should not scare you. 

See if you have a vintage audio shop in your local area that would be a good place to start. also There are some fantastic 70's and 80's amps out there you should also consider. brands like Luxman, Sansui, Marantz are a couple off the top of my head that were very well built. 

Lastly you may just want to buy new with out knowing your budget its hard to recommend much but there are some very good new integrated amps out there that are way better then anything built in the 90's. We are living in an audio resurgence so take advantage of some of the technological advancements. Class D amps for example are very powerful and make little heat and weigh much much less then older design. 

Ok I've run on here a bit but I hope I educated and helped you somewhat. 

glen 

Sorry, is this a joke? Actually, it’s a compilation of several jokes, some funny, some not so much....

some readers just can't be helped...