Has this happened to you? How can it be stopped?

The receiver in the garage is a Sony.

The receiver in the office is a Kenwood.

The receiver in the basement is a Yamaha.

The downstairs system is Acoustat & Audio Research.

The upstairs system is new.

The only way to help you stop this maddness buying outdated vintage gears is you need to recognize the fact the receivers / multichannel int. amp you were buying are in fact junks compared to the modern gears.  Low S/N ratio, low current, low damping factor and high harmonic distortion.  Other than Marantz 2235 which might be collectable, admit the reason you were buying them is probably the low cost.  To me, those gears were low-fi too.  Not worthy.

I’m with you 100% brother. During Covid I assembled two McIntosh vintage tube stereo systems, which I still have and enjoy, just not enough room. I also bought a pioneer integrated amp and an adcom pre…why I don’t know. The pioneer was my modification experiment, after new power caps and various other experiments, died a quick death. Etc etc. What a hobby….

That Harmon Kardon 730 receiver was an excellent piece of equipment! Assuming it’s functioning as originally intended, I’ll bet within its power ratings, it sounds better than any receiver today & can hold its own vs many amps that don’t cost crazy $. 

@mapman 

I have a 1917 Victrola which works great, it is a rather pedestrian model as in the horn is internal and has two front doors that the volume control.  It is in beautiful condition and plays amazingly loud.  I bought about 300 78s.

Whenever I'm thinkin' the main system is not working correctly (not sounding its best) I play some 78s and well that clears up those thoughts real quick.

Regards,

barts