best vintage stereo receiver

HK 930
Marantz 2270/5
Mac 1700
Fisher 500/800

Fisher 500C

Once owned a Tandberg 2045. Very nice till the transformer failed. I also have had quite good experiences with some mid 70's Pioneer and Marantz receivers. FWIW, 35 years ago or so, manufacturers really did put out good receivers. I always thought a nice receiver in the 40-60 wpc range was the sweet spot. Then they got crazy with ever lower measured thd. To my ear, I thought receivers rated at say .3% thd had a better chance at sounding good than a receiver rated at .007% thd.

Pioneer SX1980. True, it is not moderate size, its a beast, but a beautiful one; and many of the receivers mentioned by others are not much smaller. And yes, prices for this unit in good condition are a bit crazy. But its great fun. I have one in my office paired with Rega Saturn CDP, Linn Katan monitors and Velodyne SPL. Gents of a certain age can't help but stop and give it a wistful look (glass walled offices here) then knock on the door for a listen and talk music of our youth. You want smooth and warm? All the great vintage pieces mentioned above should give you that, and the SX1980 will too (and with surprisingly good detail), but it will also absolutely rock the house, effortlessly, when the spirit moves you. Good luck.

I had a H/K 330C and a Mitsubishi DA-R8 back in the day and liked them both very much. If I went back to a classic receiver, I think I'd consider one of the larger H/K's like the 430/730/930 or later HK receivers from the early to mid 80's. Curious to hear opinions on the Carver, Nakamichi, Mitsubishi receivers and also the Revox B285 rec'r? Anyone know of a site devoted to classic receivers?