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
Old audio gear is like old cars...they have unique charms but usually require some maintenance to continue to run well as time goes on. Not as much or as regular as cars, but you get the drift.

I am fond of the old stuff too. Some of it is very good still even by modern standards. Pricing on the used market is usually in line with the actual value compared to other options. Some pieces might carry a premium due to being "collector items" for various reasons, usually having something to do with unique performance or design.

o not a mistake to buy, but realize that any receiver, old or new, has to make compromises to fit everything in a relatively small package and still perform well, especially with things that matter for best performance with many modern, smaller full range speakers, like size and quality of the power supply, there will almost always be better performing options out there, both old and new.
The money that's spent on them tells the whole story.  In particular for Pioneer's receivers.  The SX-xx50 and xx80 series hold their value for the same (good) reasons classic Mac gear does.  But they are meant to be used with the speakers (Bart Locanthi designs like the L-x00 and HPM x00 series) with which they were designed to be mated.  They  don't do simultaneous high current and high voltage as well as new specialty amps do.  If you use a reasonably high sensitivity/efficiency speaker, they sound better than anything mass market has offered since.  The 950 and larger (and newer) are bargains in terms of quality per dollar.  I'd grab em all day long.  (In point of fact, I have.  I've got a 980, two 1080's, a 1280 and two 1980's, all kicking it in vintage systems through out the house....)
Okay ... if you want to build a bedroom or dorm system on the cheap, ched out the Sherwood 7100 or the 7100A. The 7100 is more tube-like and the 7100A is more of a solid state sound. 

I've had a Sherwood 7100 in my bedroom for a few years now ... twenty bucks at a thrift store. Really fine examples can be found on Ebay for a hundred bucks. 

Here's one that looks to be in near mint condition:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Sherwood-S-7100-A-Vintage-Receiver-Beautiful-Condition-Works-Good-/172171537...

Happy listening ...
Marantz 2230. I had a 2235 and sold it to a co-worker. Loved them both. Would like to get a 2270 Champagne finish....