Old Classic Receivers: A Mistake to Buy?

All the hoopla about 1970's-1980's receivers as having terrific sound and build quality is mostly hype. First of all, the dramatic rise in prices for these units is being driven by Ebay. Why not overpraise an old, essentially useless, piece of equipment to raise prices? Once everyone starts doing this an impression is formed that these boat anchors must sound great. A few years ago a Sansui 9090 receiver was worth maybe $60. Now, people are falling over each other to bid hundreds of dollars.

There is excellent vintage audio gear of the 1970's and 80's but it ain't mass market solid state receivers. The only use I see for these things is their phono stage if you're looking for analog on the cheap.

You want a great vintage receiver? Go find a tube Fisher receiver like the Fisher 400. Drop a couple hundred bucks in restoration and mods from an expert like the Fisher Doctor and others. I guarantee you it will blow the pants off any mass market solid state unit from that era. And it will challenge almost anything from any era in sheer musicality! And it will last another 30 years!

Don't waste your money. Sansui, Pioneer, Sony, Marantz? No way!

Let me add that the only solid state receiver from that era that sounds good was the Advent 300 receiver due mostly to an expertly designed phono by Tom Holman.

Aw geez,some of you guys, come on. These pieces are classics. Are they the best pieces in the world sonically, no. I will say that in the cases of almost all of them though, the FM section will sound better than most digital products available today under $500, so some of them could be worth a couple of $100 just from that aspect.
Then from the amp stand point, no, they are not as good as some of the better amps availabe from the last 15 years or so lets say. But at the same time, how much is being spent? If its less than $500, then in relation to a lot of whats out there under $500, it will still probably hold its own.
Then lets just talk about beauty and feel. Very few products have the feel, the quality sensation, of some of the big receivers of the 70's and early 80's. Remember touching a knob and it at least being jacketed in metal? Of it having some smoothness in its action? Of a solid clicking locking switch, something when you turned it you knew it was turned? Then just the beauty of it, opening it up and seeing honest to God transformers, caps as large as Coke cans, metal and wood cases. All of that is still available today, in separates, if you have $5K.
And then there is the just liking it. Ain't a damn thing wrong with owning it just because you like it. And a lot of people will still ooh and ah more when they walk into your house and see a classic Sansui 9090db before they will on a Cambridge Audio int amp and tuner, and 98% will think the Sansui will sound better just because of the psychoacoustics associated with it. There are a lot of people that some of these pieces wre their 1st real exposure to good sound, something other than the Zenith console in Mom & Pop's living room. And as long as there is an Ebay, an Audiogon, AudioWeb and other sites(I don't see any of these old receivers, amps, or tuners being given away anywhere) on which to sell it on, the 9090 will be worth more than the Cambridge Audio(or almost any other) piece of gear you would spend $300 on.
Go get one if you want one, and let me know what you get when you do.

I am now in the twentieth year of using and enjoying a Tandberg 2080 receiver. It was my first entry into upscale audio at the time with a cost of about $1000. I use it for all TV sound, an audio cassette deck, and CD. It now drives the Mag MMGs. That stretches it a bit, but not too bad. I have always liked its warm sound and its appearance; the wooden cabinetry mentioned by jvia, the ribbed metal knobs, and, of course, the analog tuner. Its only sign of age is a balance control which is not all it should be. Most of the time, however, it is like new. When I replace it with something else, it will then go to my study which now has nothing. So, there is probably a sentimental attachment, but it still offers quite a bit for its rather small resale value.

I just bought an Armstrong receiver from the 80's on ebay. I paid $75 for it, but it cost another $150 to get it shipped here from England. For those who don't know about Armstrong receivers, I used to sell them in a high end shop during the 80's. They are one of the finest receivers ever made. Wonderful analog tuner, incredible amplifier that rivalled the Naim Audio 42/110 separates we sold at the time, and a great phono stage to boot. In a slimline low-profile teak cabinet. They originally sold for about $700. A fine centerpiece for a great sounding system. Would make a super-nice office system with a good pair of mini monitors. Rated at 30 watts with over 3db of dynamic headroom. Something like 70,000uf in power supply filter caps. It seems they are very hard to come by these days, so when I saw it on ebay for cheap, I just had to get it. Even for the $225 I have in it, it is a steal. If you ever see one, I would strongly recommend getting it. I never heard any solid state receiver that could match it.