sansui or yamaha

...''the build quailty of vintage stuff is hard to find these days''

Hummmm, not really. I peeked into a vintage Sansui and Pioneer amp a few weeks ago. Parts selection and soldering was on the el-cheapo side for sure. Sound was romantic and buttery-smooth, but with very little detail and a very harsh top end.

They sure are nice to look at, but that's about it.

I have found memories of my dad's Pioneer SX-525 receiver 30 years ago, with a whopping 20 watts for channel (if that) of power.

It was the best thing I had ever heard back then and it holds a special place in my Audio past. Buy today, it sure would make my ears bleed.

I think perhaps your sample size is too small, Sonic. The 70's is known as the golden age of receivers, and rightly so. Many of the good examples from brands like Marantz, Sansui, Pioneer and Yamaha had a rich warm tone and had power of 40 to 70 watts per channel and up. At the end of the 70's there were models of up to 120 wpc.

I did some research after buying a 1968 Sansui receiver(4000) that made my jaw drop repeatedly. It is clearly superior in 2 channel than my Onkyo TX SR876. I still can't believe it. Far better imaging and soundstage with better bass. I've never heard my Paradigm Monitor 7's with so much bass, and the Sansui is only rated at 45 wpc. Way better tuner as well.

Runnin...I have owned many of those '70s units over the years. The units I referred to in my previous post were just two exemples, and they do representent a good yardstick to measure by.

There are exceptions to every rule of course, such as a few Yamaha machines - In fact Yamaha strived for neutrality and had a very pleasant sound. But still, ''the golden age of receivers'' have but a romantic ring to it only, at least for me.

I've always said that I would prefer hearing Frank Sinatra (or the Beatles) over a boombox than Kenny G coming reproduced by $ 200,000 system.

Same goes for '70's receivers. Give me the Steve Miller Band playing Fly like an Eagle through a mid '70s Yamaha with Century 100 JBL's any day. But that's about it.