I was passed down some old McIntosh gear and while I loved the nostaligic feeling I felt like I was driving a 74 Cadillac with a faulty sway bar, bald tire and a dirty carburetor. The feeling of me being 10 years old wore off in few weeks and I just couldn’t do it anymore.
If your not looking for performance, which is fair enough, I’d go with an easy speaker to drive because that tranny isn’t going to last that long either.
Fun project, please post your results. As said above, don’t worry too much about cables and electricity with the old stuff, the detail just simply isn’t at the same level as newer gear.