Best Receiver?

Fisher 500C! I forgot about that one. Heard it years ago. That's a great candidate. Thanks!

I'd look for either a Fisher 500c

Fisher 500C | Classic Receivers

or a Mcintosh  Mac 1500/1700

McIntosh MAC 1500 | Classic Receivers

McIntosh 1700 | Classic Receivers

Tubed, balance, bass and treble controls and phono stage

All that's need is your favorite beverage and a lazy Sunday afternoon

Despite naysayers on here, I’ve enjoyed several Yamaha receivers over the years, starting with a CR-2020 in 1978. I finally traded it off because it was beginning to show its age and the only repair shop near me shut its doors.

I currently just retired a middle of the line R-N500 network receiver because I’m trying separates. It got good reviews and puts out 90wps. Yamaha has for some reason gutted its mid line receivers. They show a nice streaming unit with DAC, Bluetooth and wi-fi at 100wpc for $330 usd. If you want to blow your budget, the step up from that is almost $4k.

So,if you are good with the Yamaha sound, a late model discontinued version with many bells and whistles can be had for little money.

I’ll throw out 2 that I am particularly fond of: Sansui G9000 outperforms the many vintage Marantz, Pioneer, Sansui and Kenwoods I have heard. Similar to the Fisher 500C recommendations above, my 800C is a jaw dropper of a performer. 

Bought new in1978 and still in use today, Kenwood KR8010 beast of a receiver 135WPC with all the tone controls, sounds fantastic.

if your ever in the Chicagoland area (Elgin, IL.) I would be happy to demonstrate it for you just PM me.