Down the isle to the left, right under the blue flashing light...
Now why would you want to do something like that to yourself ?
A mid-seventies Panasonic was the best that a multiplex ever got !
Definitely. B&O is from another planet when it comes to sound.Bang & Olufsen Beocenter
Probably better out there but Benjamin put together a pretty decent three piece system with an Elac PW50 turntable and cartridge on top of a pretty decent USA made receiver of some unknown make, , EMI speakers . Pretty high quality components. I have the mid level 1045 and it is a pretty stout outfit.
I have had one for years. Benjamin owned Concord and Sherwood as well. So the reciever as far as I can tell is a Concord tube amp . It takes a few minutes to warm up but real buttery smooth after it does. I don't have the EMI speakers. But the sound is great through JBL's. I think the Elac 50 is one of the best trntables ever.Probably better out there but Benjamin put together a pretty decent three piece system with an Elac PW50 turntable and cartridge on top of a pretty decent USA made receiver of some unknown make, , EMI speakers . Pretty high quality components. I have the mid level 1045 and it is a pretty stout outfit.
Still kick myself for not getting a really nice Centrex system at a garage sale about 10 years ago. They wanted $20...I offered $10, then $15 but they wouldn't budge. Should've just paid the $20.
Old thread I know but nobody mentioned the Pioneer units from the early and mid 70's. They had decent "S" armed Pioneer semi-automatic turntables on top and some of them had separate power amps built in to each speaker (you had to use their special connecting cord of course).
Of course the usual suspects have already been mentioned - HH Scott, Harman Kardon, KLH, Benjamin Miracord, Marantz, Fisher, Realistic, Altec Lansing, Dual, Grundig, and even Heathkit (they had one that you could assemble yourself as a kit or buy pre-assembled). There were others too, many manufacturers in the receiver biz offered one as they gained popularity in the late 60's.
I think the top model Scott was one of the best ones but it was pretty pricey. The KLH Model Twenty (while still $400 in 1968 dollars) was a check rated best buy according to Consumers Union. I had a Model Twenty system with its original speakers for years and I loved it. Couldn't believe the great sound quality coming out of that unit!
Jay that's a beauty, they'll never make things that nice again!
Pioneer sold one such high end compact model in 1976-1977 with the single play S arm in the USA. There was the Centrex by Pioneer line (sold in Department Stores) which had several compact systems (the higher end models had ADC magnetic cartridges, the better of the BSR changer line fitted), In Europe and Asia, the Pioneer high end compacts were available and sold there. Yamaha early on built some nice compacts with nice belt drive, semi automatic turntables, and reasonably powerful receivers, and a very few made it to the USA and sold here in the 1968-1971 era.
I would regard the high end Benjamin/Miracord offering with the 50H turntable as the best compact system sold in the USA by a good margin. The big issue with the high end compact systems, was price when new (some of the nicer options were pushing separate component system prices) and when cost cutting in the marketplace crept in, the higher end compact customer bought a receiver, whatever turntable or changer they liked, speakers of their choosing, and sometimes a tape unit. Which by 1971-1972 became the case. The custom component takeover by 1963 did the same to high end console sales (custom furniture based component installations got bought by the higher income, educated customer). And the rural music lovers, and those far away from HiFi dealers were the last bastion of that market, and $500 was the limit the market could bear by 1968, so some perspectives here.
By 1978, Bang & Olufsen's Beocenters was the main high end offering of the all in one genre. The higher quality ones were much more common, and sold in much higher numbers in European and Asian countries with smaller living quarters.
They were all prone to oversteer, as well.That model was an inside job.