Not sure what defines "cheaper" these days but from what I see most vintage pieces worth their salt have steep price tags. As mentioned, many systems were based around receivers as well. The Marantz 22XX series are well respected and nice sounding (and looking). Luxman had some very nice integrateds, I owned an L-480 and really liked it though they are hard to find. As always with vintage, buyer beware. A lot of folks find grandpa's amp in the attic and automatically it becomes a vintage classic. Proceed with caution....
Recommended cheaper vintage SS Integrated Amps?
I’ve been pondering trying a vintage SS integrated amp for a while. Which brands *in general* aside from the obvious Sansui do you recommend, or specific models? Looking for that warm, mellow vintage sound I read about, which I know is very brand (or even down to model) specific
Three that I’ve found from a reputable vintage dealer are: Marantz 1070 (not recapped), Kenwood KA-3500 (recapped) and Pioneer SA-5800 (not recapped). Any thoughts on these? I know the Marantz 1070 is well liked but what about the other two?
Side question: should ca. 1970s amps be recapped? I’m getting different opinions on this but I would say yes given their age (electrolytics of this vintage aren’t nearly as robust as current ones)
Three that I’ve found from a reputable vintage dealer are: Marantz 1070 (not recapped), Kenwood KA-3500 (recapped) and Pioneer SA-5800 (not recapped). Any thoughts on these? I know the Marantz 1070 is well liked but what about the other two?
Side question: should ca. 1970s amps be recapped? I’m getting different opinions on this but I would say yes given their age (electrolytics of this vintage aren’t nearly as robust as current ones)
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big fan of the pioneer sx 770 and onkyo tk 2500 mk2. that kenwood is good if it's anything like the 5700, but in my experience a recap job can sometimes affect that "mellow warmth" flavor, depending on what was used. if possible it would be good to test it out on whatever speakers you'll be using. just my .02, happy listening! |
greg, Always check the weight, that gives you some clue about transformer size, etc. I went the other way, I wanted an inexpensive 2 channel receiver with REMOTE VOLUME that can drive TWO PAIRS of speakers simultaneously. The remote requirement meant used but newer than vintage, and then a heck of a lot of surround sound units to avoid. And it needed Phono, many omit that. Note: 2 zones is not the same as TWO MAIN PAIRS, my big fancy Onkyo AVR’s zone two is weird, I never succeeded with zone 2. Was awesome for 5.1, but eventually not enough HDMI inputs, and I’m giving it to my son for his 5.1 setup anyway. I searched all over tarnation, finally picked this very inexpensive Insignia (Best Buy brand), eBay, made offer, seller accepted $85. total delivered. https://www.insigniaproducts.com/pdp/NS-R2001/9693507 It has enough power for my 2 pairs of speakers, and real speaker connectors (not dinky spring loaded terminals), phono, and remote. Also check the quality of the RCA jacks. My wonderful McIntosh mx110z and many from the Vintage era have jacks that corrode. I/You clean them, they start corroding again. I just had those replaced by gold plated rca jacks by Audio Classics. It’s bigger than I wanted, but better for ventilation. This is for music while working in the garage or shop. I imagine it will sound ’good enough’. If it sounds lousy, I’ll return it, and perk up my Fisher 500C, and use it with one of my Chase RLC-1 remote line controllers. User reviews are all over the place, from great to total crap ..................................................... Maybe for others not wanting true Vintage this Marantz caught my eye, but in England https://www.ebay.com/itm/234071550812 another Marantz, more than I will spend for the Garage, but tempting https://www.ebay.com/itm/174804065340 this, for only one pair of speakers, has had a remote volume installed https://www.ebay.com/itm/154491023243?hash=item23f861ef8b:g:4YEAAOSwakBgu~S2 |
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