Did the Old Receivers Sound Good?

I had major GAS in the 70s and 80s and went through all sorts of Japanese receivers and integrateds. Were they completely accurate in their reproduction? Most not, but most of them had big, warm, rich sound that was satisfying. Can't think of a better word. I worked at an audio store while in college and took home most anything I wanted. The bigger Pioneer receivers like the SX-1980 and the Sansui G-33000 were actually very good with huge power reserves but capable of pretty "articulate" reproduction. Problem with those was, even then, they were very expensive. An overlooked one in my opinion is the Sony STR-V7 which had a much more clinical sound. I still have a few pieces but, like most, use my more modern equipment these days. What I miss about those days is that the industry was healthier, big investment was put into new things (sometimes gimmicks), and new approaches were developed seemingly every month. 

Can anyone describe the sound of a failing capacitor or tube in a vintage unit? Unfortunately I have never heard a tube in a peice of audio gear. Now guitar amps I have heard plenty of and they sound great.

RE: Sherwoods are sleepers

AMEN! My first decent piece of gear was an S-7600 receiver - fabulous FM section and good sounding, if modest, power output. Used it for 10 years. Later had a bedroom/office system based on an S-7310 - another fine piece of gear. Briefly had an S-9900 behemoth but a friend liked it so much, he paid me more than I paid for it. The US and Japanese models were very good. The later Korean gear was not up to Sherwood's standards.

I still have my first real piece of good stereo equipment, a Sansui AU9500 integrated.  Very highly rated at the time.  Had it recapped several years ago just for fun but it sure doesn't stand a chance against newer equipment.  Remember that piece is 50 years old.

I recently had a vintage solid-state receiver cleaned up and an IEC inlet installed to allow me to use a high-end power cord. The results were a huge improvement in resolution and a decent improvement in transparency. The noise floor also dropped due to the improvement in resolution. I've also replaced the captive zip-cord power cords of a Sony ES CD player and ES tuner (1990s vintage) with high-end power cords with even better results. Both pieces are in my main system with the CD player used only as a transport. Granted, the power cords cost more than the components themselves, but these, too, are available as high-value items on the used market. Even a $300 power cord will give you a lot of sound quality over cheap captive power cords.