Concord receivers?

[BmWr75]

I picked up a Concord MK20 at a Salvation Army store for $8.25 this weekend. Didn't have any idea what I was buying, but it cosmetically was in great shape and weighed lots more than I expected when I picked it up. Got it home, wired it up to some Mirage OmniSat speakers that were just sitting around, plugged my iPod into it via the analog connections and powered it up.

My girlfriend was sitting there.......you should have seen the look of amazement on her face. Mine too probably. At 5-6 on the scale of 10 volume slider, this thing was rocking.

Best $8.25 I've spent lately. Probably will end up as my garage system.

Regards,
BmWr75

 

[stuwee]

yrly -- It does sound like a buying addiction of some sort. But, you're a REALLY GREAT PERSON!!! So, who cares?!?!?!?!?!

Hey Celt, how can this guy post N/A?

 

[TAGO MAGO]

Just thought I'd throw one thing in...back in '72, I had a Concord portable cassette recorder that had a big oval speaker in it. It was made by Panasonic for them. Had the same transport in it that was in many Panasonics, Singers and Radio Shack models of the time.

My father had a stereo portable cassette deck model F-400 from about 1969 or 1970. It also made by Panasonic and was very similar in appearance to other Panasonic gear of that era (I would not be surprised if it was not marketed in Japan by National or National Panasonic). It was pretty cool looking with decent VU meters, metal chassis and cool leatherette cover, but it did not sound all that great and it ate tapes due to occasional tracking problems. Of course it was a cassette deck from 1969. I am not sure who made their receivers. I do know the car stereos were pretty good from the 80's.

 

[Dan ʕ•ᴥ•ʔ]

Hey Celt, how can this guy post N/A?

That post was from nearly four years ago, we've had at least one server crash since then. He probably dropped from our members list before the crash.

 

[Dan ʕ•ᴥ•ʔ]

My father had a stereo portable cassette deck model F-400 from about 1969 or 1970. It also made by Panasonic and was very similar in appearance to other Panasonic gear of that era (I would not be surprised if it was not marketed in Japan by National or National Panasonic). It was pretty cool looking with decent VU meters, metal chassis and cool leatherette cover, but it did not sound all that great and it ate tapes due to occasional tracking problems. Of course it was a cassette deck from 1969. I am not sure who made their receivers. I do know the car stereos were pretty good from the 80's.

Mine had AC record bias and DC bias erase. (Many portables did not and some even used magnets for erase *heads*.) But like most cassette recorders of the day, there wasn't much above 7kHz. I think a lot of that had to do with the poor tape formulations for cassettes then. Around 1980 I was given a '67 Norelco cassette recorder with DIN ins and outs, my receiver also had DIN loops, so after cleaning it up, I recorded a few tapes and was surprised to see that it had a usable frequency response of 50 to 10k Hz!

 

[Henry Kloss]

Finally!!!

I finally get to post about my Concord receiver. The mighty CR550, between 25 and 30 Lbs. 55 watts a side I would think after reading this thread. I don't use it, but I like it.

 

[mhardy6647]

 

[davidguilbault]

Concord CR-250

Hi folks. Ok, I'm gonna try and resurrect this thread. I just bought a Concord CR-250 receiver at Goodwill for $13. I knew and know nothing about this brand. What I liked was that the vertical tuning line turns from yellow to red when the station is in stereo. And there is a knob in addition to the tuning knob for fine-tuning the station. Just plugged it in and it's sounding fine through some Sansui SP-70 speakers. Anyone (since 2004) have any additional information about this brand? Thanks. Cheers for now. David.

 

[stereorob]

ive had a few concord peices over the years but not many, they seem to be pretty scarce, i had a receiver once, very similer to the one in the ad posted above, and a reel to reel deck, it was a model 444. the reason i remember it is because it said "transistorized" on it but it was slap full of tubes, lol. i had that deck for along time. the receiver didnt last long though. i know they were made in japan. thats about it.

 

[mhardy6647]

 

[ecluser]

Concord CR-250 Test report

I have a CR-260 in the "to do" pile, pretty similar to the CR-250

 

[beatcomber]

I just brought home a Concord CR-210A, found on Craig's List. I briefly verified that it works, but haven't yet really gone through it.

I wanted a cheap but cool-looking vintage receiver to use with a pair of Andrew Jones Pioneers in my office, and this perfectly fit the bill. I love the blue dial and quintessential '70s fonts on the dial and face!

My understanding is this was likely made by Matsushita/Panasonic for Concord.

I'll report back once I've check it out more.

 

[beatcomber]

More pics.

 

[beatcomber]

OK, I gave it a listen last night, using both a pair of Grado SR80i's with all of the usual upgrade mods (quarter mod, poked holes in the screens, dampened the drivers, lined the cans with felt, etc.), and a pair of modest but excellent Pioneer Andrew Jones bookshelf speakers. Source was an old Denon CD player. The good: nice dynamics, surprising imaging depth, crisp sound. The bad: slight background hum audible through headphones (may be age-related), and mids are somewhat lean. After 40 years it could probably use a recap, but that's more work than this is worth, but overall for the short bread I paid, it will be more than adequate for the office.

 

[richinnc]

I picked up a Concord MK-10 a couple months ago in excellent cosmetic condition. After a basic servicing it sounds great. Very warm, tube-like sound and plenty of power driving my EPI 100's.

 

[Lonnie1212]

I have a chance to buy a Concord CR-400. It has walnut front and sides, the front is made of steel, the dial is light blue in color, it weighs about 25 lbs. If I buy it, I will recondition the walnut with Old English wood treatment. I enjoy listening to local radio stations. Will also have a receiver that is made in the U.S.A. On the back it is printed. 'Concord Division', Benjamin Electronic Sound Company, Farmingdale, N.Y. 11735

 

[quaddriver]

I never saw this because, well, the thread is old but...

I found out the history of concord and the 'benelec' (benjamin electric co that made em)

I had to replace one output, so did all 4. they are real in side. 10wpc

 

[Lonnie1212]

I never saw this because, well, the thread is old but...

I found out the history of concord and the 'benelec' (benjamin electric co that made em)

I had to replace one output, so did all 4. they are real in side. 10wpc

That is a beautiful old receiver. Thank you for sharing the picture.

 

[audiojones]

Benjamin Electronic Sound Corp. in Farmingdale NY was an importer of electronics to the US, not a manufacturer. Same thing as Martel Electronics, Superscope, etc.

Benjamin was best known for importing Miracord turntables from the ELAC Corp. in Germany to the US (hence the Benjamin/Miracord moniker).

Concord electronic gear is made by Matsushita / Panasonic in Japan, in fact you can usually find identical models branded Concord and Panasonic just as you could with Craig and Sanyo among others. Why these receivers were imported through Benjamin Sound Corp is a mystery to me however, perhaps it was for legal reasons such as import quotas or some kind of a tariff workaround. Nice looking receivers though, I'd sure pick one up if I found one. Kind of reminds me of the later line of KLH receivers like the Fifty Two

 

[quaddriver]

no, that CR-100 was not made anywhere near japan. it was made in korea, but it could have had a matsushita license behind it - we will never know, they are all dead.

the parent company of concord/benelec was 'instrument sound corp' very very little info on them, have to paw thru optically saved sec info