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Old Classic Receivers: A Mistake to Buy?

I was contemplating purchasing a 70's receiver, as I used to love the construction and appearance of the Sansui, Kenwood, Pioneer, Marantz. However, when I ran this by an audio friend, he said, "Forget it."

He says: They sound terrible. The caps & resistors used before the early 90s' were dreadful. The electrolytics are drying up and will start crackling and substantially degrade the sonics. The switches and controls used were almost never sealed, so they deteriorate and make noise and can't be fixed even by taking them apart and cleaning them.

Tuners: He says that nearly all non-digital tuners used varactors, which go out of alignment and cause problems, so no old tuners, with the exception of the Mac MR-78 and possibly a few others, are worth dealing with.

I am tempted to believe all that he is saying is true, but I see a market for these items, and also know that people claim they are still using these pieces for 25 years.

What's the truth here? Can some of the techies enlighten me?
kevziek
kevziek OP
323 posts
 
Millions of dollars on R&D to design the receivers of the 70's? Try backing that statement up - no way. I don't doubt that you had a number of receivers without problems, but did you own any of them for 20 years? I had receivers/integrated without problems, but I didn't keep any of them longer than about 4 years.

I'd be interested in someone who has changed out electrolytics describe the process of doing so on your own rather than pay a technician's rates to work on these units.
jsujo
348 posts
 
If you want people to describe their DIY projects on old receievers, go to www.audiokarma.org
ecclectique
509 posts
 
Minty. A rather profound statement sir.... ya think?
Ag insider logo xs@2x
hammy
176 posts
 
Minty, I use that old Pioneer for a boat anchor. It works much better than the separates of today! Those engineers must have been boating enthusiasts too!
south_park
103 posts
 
As I sit here in my company's office building, staring at my 1970s Audio Research D75A, I can understand what those who posted above are talking about. My amp is a 75 WPC tube amp, and I mean 17 tubes and you've got a nice tube amp that performs equal to or above most stuff out there today. And I got it free from a coworker a few years ago, minus the tubes, spent $300 to fix it up and retube it. All parts except the tubes are original (ok maybe 1 small cap replaced due to the lead breaking) including the electolytic caps (none replaced). I figure I have another 10 years before they go. Picture is here:

http://abante.lunarpages.com/~arcdb02/DUAL75/DUAL75.html

Under Dual 75A.

This amp, along with some vintage Snell Type E II speakers (and a CD player and iPod) brings me more happiness and enjoyment than my modern setup consisting of Wilson speakers and BAT/Cary audio separates. I don't think you can go wrong by turning to the interesting past, and you can always find someone to tune and fix your equipment, if you can't tinker yourself. The problem is finding the piece in nice condition in the first place. If you can do that you are good to go. Good luck.
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