Did the Old Receivers Sound Good?

Try to remember that quality of electronics in the 50s & 60s was judged by Stereo Review and Audio on their specs. Even design engineers of the era were spec oriented. When subjective listening came along with Stereophile and TAS specs went out the window critically. They are both important but the overall sound of a system, not one component, is what matters. Did Macintosh get better when they went to solid state from tubes? Better specs but less great sound. I came to realize recently that my whole system had been voiced subconsciously around my Counterpoint hybrid amp. When it and it's tubed input died it created whole bag of worms from front end pieces to cables trying to restore synergy with the speakers (ML stats).1

We should add, at the same time some darn good sounding speakers were becoming affordable, AR turntable changed things, and the music content was revolutionary!!!

Worked in a couple of stores in the 70's that sold a wide selection of receivers from most of the "hot" electronics companies of the day. There were definite levels of quality in build and also in sound between brands. It wasn't all that difficult to pick out certain brands in blind tests on a pretty consistent basis. I am not into calling out the weak sisters (we thought) of the day. I recently bought a really nice oldie from my personal favorite line of the day. Always loved the look and performance from back then. The look is still great but performance wise it has lost a lot of its shine. I still love the look.

Selling audio in the 70’s and early 80’s, I went through a lot of equipment for my personal system.  The best receiver I ever owned was a Kenwood KR9400.  It was a beast but also sounded excellent.  I was driving a pair of Rectilinear 7 tower speakers, around $800.00 a pair with a Thorens TD 125AB Mark II turntable and a Shure V15 type III cartridge.  I also had the Advent  cassette deck which was a rebranded Wollensack (3M) deck.  I have vivid memories of the sound of that system which was all good.  Like a dope, I sold it when the next latest and greatest thing came along. It took a long time but I finally learned my lesson. 

I have all marantz vintage separates, recapped vs recapped marantz receivers. Marantz 15,16,250,500 amp with marantz 7t, 7c, 33, 3300 all sound better then the 22xx series. 

Marantz 18 receiver can sound very good, marantz 15 and 7t and marantz 20 in one.