Sylvania RS-4744 Receiver?

Kassanova

New Member
I found a GTE Sylvania RS-4744 Receiver for 9 dollars today at a thrift. At first I was skeptical about buying it, having come strictly from mostly higher quality build Japanese stuff. But now I think I'm glad I did as it seems pretty substantial. Quad effects and no fuses either, built in circuit breakers..... Not much discussion on here about this model either I see... Well, we'll get something on the record at least with this thread maybe... Here are some pics I took:
 

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I've been wrong lots of times before, but I seem to remember that the model was also sold by Radio Shack.
If you look inside it, you may see that it has a lot of handmade, point to point wiring. I believe it was also made in the USA and was one of the last attempts to compete head-to-head with the Japanese.

DH

I found a GTE Sylvania RS-4744 Receiver for 9 dollars today at a thrift. At first I was skeptical about buying it, having come strictly from mostly higher quality build Japanese stuff. But now I think I'm glad I did as it seems pretty substantial. Quad effects and no fuses either, built in circuit breakers..... Not much discussion on here about this model either I see... Well, we'll get something on the record at least with this thread maybe... Here are some pics I took:
 
These Sylvanias were very high quality units IME....definitely a made-in-USA product.

The 70s Sylvania color TVs were also good quality...and the insides of these stereos resemble their chassis a lot.....big filter can capacitors, all metal build, and usually last forever it seems.
 
I had one about 2 months ago and sold it, BUT I do remember it was very well built, had a very "vintage" sound, the FM tuner was very good, and it was quite large. Had that blue light face similar to Marantz. I actually have been looking to purchase another because I think they are somewhat sleepers in the receiver arena. They tend to not go for much $$$.
 
Thanks guys. Well I'm very pleased with this one. Plugged it up to some speakers finally and functionally in the audio and tuning departments it works more or less flawlessly. I cracked open the case and everything seems well in order, no leaky caps, just a thick layer of dust on the internals. The pots definetly need the deoxit treatment though to cure some marked crackling. The only thing I can say for sure doesnt work are the small bulbs that glow red in the tuner position marker and the MPX FM stereo lock indicator. They actually appear to be the same type bulb although I dont know the amp or wattage rating. The sound is really full and the power is not lacking. I use a Sansui 881 in my main rig currently and I can't say I'm disappointed in the least with this new addition.
 
Sylvania RS4744

This was the TOL unit in the mid 70's when GTE Sylvania was trying to be a serious competitor against the Japanese. I worked for GTE Sylvania for 30 years and bought my RS4744 (and AS125 speakers) through the employee store in March 1976. It has been (and still is) my only system for the past 34years. During that time, I have spent less than $100 in repairs plus a few light bulbs and some DeoxIT. They were sold through the Sylvania TV dealerships, Pacific Stereo, Lechemere, etc. but not Radio Shack. They were manufactured in Batavia, NY using components from top Japanese suppliers.

Although GTE Sylvania never achieved their marketing goal, this line of high end equipment was as good as any MIJ of that era.
 
This is no doubt far too late to matter now, but since I'm looking to sell or otherwise depart with my RS 4744, which I've used for *decades*, I can confirm it's a great receiver. It has always had way more power/volume than I ever needed, and since it's a full-size receiver and very small ones suffice for me now, I want to give it a new home. If anyone's in the SF Bay Area and interested, let me know....
 
Well, like the OP first wrote back in 2008, I too almost passed one up (RS-4744) because, after all, it was a Sylvania! However, given that the price was under 10 bucks and it had solid metal knobs (the kind where you need an allen wrench to get them off), I figured it was worth it, even just for the parts.

After I figured out that I was getting no sound because the preamp-amp jumpers were missing, I plugged in some RCA cables and it fired right up. I'm glad I bought it. I think it's 60/watts channel and the tuner works very, very well. It weighs a pretty hefty 30 pounds too. Kind of neat that it was actually made in the US, even though I suspect it was a last gasp for the company in the audio market.
 
Thanks guys. Well I'm very pleased with this one. Plugged it up to some speakers finally and functionally in the audio and tuning departments it works more or less flawlessly. I cracked open the case and everything seems well in order, no leaky caps, just a thick layer of dust on the internals. The pots definetly need the deoxit treatment though to cure some marked crackling. The only thing I can say for sure doesnt work are the small bulbs that glow red in the tuner position marker and the MPX FM stereo lock indicator. They actually appear to be the same type bulb although I dont know the amp or wattage rating. The sound is really full and the power is not lacking. I use a Sansui 881 in my main rig currently and I can't say I'm disappointed in the least with this new addition.
Can you hook up a amplifier to this receiver?
 
I found a GTE Sylvania RS-4744 Receiver for 9 dollars today at a thrift. At first I was skeptical about buying it, having come strictly from mostly higher quality build Japanese stuff. But now I think I'm glad I did as it seems pretty substantial. Quad effects and no fuses either, built in circuit breakers..... Not much discussion on here about this model either I see... Well, we'll get something on the record at least with this thread maybe... Here are some pics I took:
Can you hook up a amplifier to this receiver?
 
Can you hook up a amplifier to this receiver?
Yes. There are preamp output - amplifier input jacks on the back of the receiver. You can hook up an external amplifier or you can use the internal amplifiers built into the receiver. Welcome to AudioKarma.
 
Well, like the OP first wrote back in 2008, I too almost passed one up (RS-4744) because, after all, it was a Sylvania! However, given that the price was under 10 bucks and it had solid metal knobs (the kind where you need an allen wrench to get them off), I figured it was worth it, even just for the parts.

After I figured out that I was getting no sound because the preamp-amp jumpers were missing, I plugged in some RCA cables and it fired right up. I'm glad I bought it. I think it's 60/watts channel and the tuner works very, very well. It weighs a pretty hefty 30 pounds too. Kind of neat that it was actually made in the US, even though I suspect it was a last gasp for the company in the audio market.
 
Do you know what kind of jacks I can use to plug ina amplfier to the back of the sylvania receiver. I just bought a subwoofer and I used bare wire to hook it up and it dosen't work.
 
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