some 70's and 80's receivers seem to be popular

In the last 7 years I've only run 70s power amps: yamaha ca-1010 and 2010, and Kenwood supremes: models 600 and 700m. The latter two have been recapped, and are as sonically rich and warm as any amp you're likely to find.

i thought it was just me.

back then in the 70/80s i had a sansui receiver and it produced very good music. However, it kept breaking and we ended up dumping it and got a Sony system.

and the Sony never sounded even close. but the Sony had a lot more bells and whistles (automatic turntable, auto reverse deck, 12 bands eq, a remote!!! ...) which made me, who was a teen at the time, very excited.

but the sound never made me happy.

now I know why.

Yamaha. The MX 1000U & CX1000U combination especially. Exceeds or at least compares to reproduction quality of units costing much more today. No question about it.

I just finished rejuvenating my Marantz 2230, which resides in my basement system. 73 new electrolytic caps, 8 polypropylene film caps to replace old mylars, new lamps, transistors cleaned and re-seated with new micas, etc. Total cost was $20 for the receiver and about $70 more for parts. Teamed up with some speakers from about the same era (I've rotated in EPI, Rogers, Mission, Advent, and Dahlquist - I have a lot of old speakers) , it sounds FANTASTIC.

Be careful about changing parts...

I'd be careful about changing out capacitors and other parts - if they have failed then you have no choice; but you might find that changing an original part for a new equivalently spec'd part changes the sound. I think many parts were chosen (in the good old days) not only based on specifications but they were also "voiced" (ie, listend to) - specs alone don't tell you everythying about sonic characteristics. Much of the magic of the vintage gear being discussed here is that these units were designed and manufactured by firms that had a passion for what they built - and that included listening to the gear and not just measuring specs.