Best sound in old late 70s early 80s receivers

I owned several. THE choice of all was/is the Luxman 1020A. The large Yamahas and Sansuis were also great. But for tonality, raw power and a tuner section that ranks among the best dedicated tuners.....it's the Luxman. Only drawback is the push pin speaker connectors which accommodate small gauge (18guage) wire.

Mine was modified: internal soldering of pre out/power in

bypass of power meter LEDs

hardwired LAT International AC 2 PC

Tandberg TR-1055.

I have personal experience with Yamaha CR series, the CR-3020 is fabulous. The CR-1020 is equally good but of less wattage.

All CR series are keepers I.M.O. Upgrade the caps or not they are of high quality.

Very good dual phono jacks, great tuners, truly "flat" sound with decent tone control, underrated wattage, good filters, great recording configuration options, terrific looks with their brushed silver metal encassed in premium wood cases.

The Nakamichi STASIS receivers were excellent. The power amp sections were designed by Nelson Pass of Threshold.

The Harmon Kardon receivers of that vintage were also very good sounding.

My favorites were Tandberg for a warmer, robust sound and Yamaha for overall clarity and detail.