1970's European Receivers/Amps....any good..??

[fmueller]

I was born in Germany in 1967, and lived there until 1995. One of my friends was really into hifi stuff, and initially used a big old Marantz receiver. He later had a huge Nakamichi system, including two Dragons. AFAIK he still has the stuff. My cousin had a Philips component system that made him a laughing stock, since it exemplified black plastic crap, but certainly had not been cheap. Another good friend had an ITT receiver with home made speakers, which was better than the Philips system, but still low end. It took me a long time to accumulate the money to buy a good system, and when I did, I decided on Denon. I had also considered NAD, and less seriously Yamaha and Onkyo. I never seriously looked into German or other European brands, because the value for money just wasn't there.

Only for speakers I went with a German design - ATL HD 304s. I still have them, and they are still my favorite speaker despite having owned Infinity RS4b, Paradigm 11se MkII, JBL Decade 26, to name just a few. If you ever come across a pair of ATL speakers at a reasonable price, don't hesitate.

Also for car audio, IMHO you can't go wrong with vintage MacAudio - excellent speakers, but also amps and head units.

If you want to explore the European amp/receiver scene further, why not browse eBay Germany. There is plenty of stuff on there, and prices will indicate how well it is respected. I admit I had never done this myself, but just found the East German (DDR) made amplifier below. How cool is that!

 

[thilaseen]

I've been about to ask the same question for the past couple of years but never got round to it. I've got a Grundig Receiver R48 Super HiFi from 1979.
I used it for a couple of years but found it a bit inconvenient because of the total use of DIN connections...it just made it a PITA swapping speakers so I switched that system to a Rotel RX-602.
If the thread keeps going I can post a pic later today when my son turns up with the (my) dig. camera.

PS... Bugger it..now you've got me going. It was going to be a lazy bludging Saturday here but now I'm inclined to dig it out and hook it up again for another listen.

 

[Wazz]

I was just looking at some of the B&O exotic looking receivers and thinking that I had seen them in stores in the 70s. Some of the stuff posted about them says some of them had tech. issues with the amplifiers. Overheating? Maybe that was from people overloading them but they sure looked cool. With the matching TTs. Expensive.

 

[Quadrocker]

If you want to explore the European amp/receiver scene further, why not browse eBay Germany. There is plenty of stuff on there, and prices will indicate how well it is respected.

Browsing ebay Germany is an excellent idea....I've occasionally wandered over to the European Vintage Hi-Fi Shop/sites, but the prices have made me gasp. Vintage hi-fi is VERY expensive over there...Waaaay out of my price range. I'll just have to hang out for something interesting to turn up here in Australia.

Thanks for posting the photo's...
I don't think I've ever seen an East German amp before...and I've also never seen the Telefunken model TR-1200 posted earlier...

...if any else has any more photo's of any interesting Euro stuff...keep em comin'...

 

[KentTeffeteller]

Something else to consider. The Bang & Olufsen receivers and Tandberg receivers were priced in McIntosh territory and made them harder to sell in the USA. And the ReVox amps and receivers were also very high priced. And the B&O gear needed service rather more often and most technicians hated repairing them. And parts for B&O and Tandberg gear had to be purchased from dealers with their markups.

 

[Nat]

Armstrong 626 -- moderate priced reciever, good looking, and exceptional sound. Even the mainline audio press noted that it sounded better than the competition, even though in general they usually said most decent pieces sounded pretty similar.
I shouldn't bring it up because I hope to get one at some point -- been looking since 1976 or so -- and they are not common in the US, so all you guys will run the price up out of my range.
It was also available as an integrated amp and tuner, but the OP was about recievers.

 

[fmueller]

The good thing about importing European stuff to Australia is that you are dealing with the same voltage, while US gear is next to useless due to the need for 120V. I know because my wife (a Kiwi) and I moved from Germany to the US to Australia and back to the US. Each move meant a complete replacement of anything that plugs into a wall outlet.

Second hand prices in Oz have always been a mystery to me. When I lived in Canberra I was big time into camera gear. New stuff in Oz was super expensive - so much so that I could order a Leitz slide projector from Germany for half the price what a similar model would cost in a shop in Canberra - and that's already taking shipping, tax, and customs fees into account! On the other hand, I managed to buy used SLR cameras and lenses for peanuts at places like Cash Converters. I sold them via eBay to the US, and that's how I could afford a Leitz slide projector

On a different note, isn't that east German amp the ugliest piece of gear you have ever seen! But it was probably a choice of using that or singing yourself if you wanted music. Plus I guess you had to be on a waiting list for years and kiss the behinds of those with power in the party to get one at all. Truly a piece of history!

 

[KLH9]

Something else to consider. The Bang & Olufsen receivers and Tandberg receivers were priced in McIntosh territory and made them harder to sell in the USA. And the ReVox amps and receivers were also very high priced. And the B&O gear needed service rather more often and most technicians hated repairing them. And parts for B&O and Tandberg gear had to be purchased from dealers with their markups.

When I was selling Fi in the mid 70's a complete B&O system (2800 receiver, 4000 table, and the larger S60 speakers with stands) was priced about the same as a GAS son of ampzilla, Thoebe, and DQ10 with a decent turn table thrown in.

We sold more B&O systems than we sold GAS/Dalquist systems. Something about all that Rosewood and the modern design appealed to people more than uninteresting rack mount and black.

Personally I went with the brute power and got an Ampzilla on accommodation. Still have it too....

 

[Quadrocker]

Armstrong 626 -- moderate priced reciever, good looking, and exceptional sound. Even the mainline audio press noted that it sounded better than the competition, even though in general they usually said most decent pieces sounded pretty similar.
I shouldn't bring it up because I hope to get one at some point -- been looking since 1976 or so -- and they are not common in the US, so all you guys will run the price up out of my range.
It was also available as an integrated amp and tuner, but the OP was about recievers.

There's a little vintage hi-fi shop here in Melbourne that I wander into every Saturday, and literally TODAY I heard a Armstrong Receiver for the first time...a Tube model from the late 60's (...it was already sold)...and it sounded very nice.

The good thing about importing European stuff to Australia is that you are dealing with the same voltage, while US gear is next to useless due to the need for 120V. I know because my wife (a Kiwi) and I moved from Germany to the US to Australia and back to the US. Each move meant a complete replacement of anything that plugs into a wall outlet.

....the voltage thing is a real pain....it's handy for importing Euro stuff but there's heaps of real nice US tube stuff from the 60's I'd love to get but they are all 120volt. I'll bet a few people in the US would have loved to get some of the cool futuristic looking early 70's Euro stuff back then and couldn't thanks to the voltage difference.

It really didn't make a lot of sense :screwy: when the euro (and US) hi-fi industry was battling the Japanese stuff for sales to not make their equipment multi-voltage (..with a handful of exceptions..) like much of the Japanese stuff was in the 70's so it could be exported without fuss. Many U.S. branded Hi-Fi items made in Japan were 120V only and yet a lot of new Japanese multi-voltage equipment sold in Australia in the 70's was actually imported (...heavily marked up) from the U.S. by Aussie Hi-Fi stores when the exchange rate was good and sold complete with bent US plugs to fit our sockets...!!:sigh:

 

[Firby13]

My 3000-series system is running a pair of JBL L150A's

I have a cherry set of those out in the barn awaiting foam.
Once they're done I'll try them out on the Tandberg.
They were supposed to be going back with the Luxman C120a and two M120a's
that they came with.
Regards, Steve

 

[JohnVF]

JohnVF,
When you get one, pop on those 103.2 Kef's.
I love my 3000 separates with them.
YMMV,
Steve

That's the plan! The 103.2s are in the system where I rotate receivers and integrated amps. Be nice to stop rotating with a 2080 or 2075. There's a 2045 locally but I want a little more power.

 

[Jeff's Class]

The good thing about importing European stuff to Australia is that you are dealing with the same voltage, while US gear is next to useless due to the need for 120V. I know because my wife (a Kiwi) and I moved from Germany to the US to Australia and back to the US. Each move meant a complete replacement of anything that plugs into a wall outlet.

I recently moved from the US to Norway, and am using two vintage US systems (Concept 2.5 and Pioneer SX-434) with no problem. The key is to purchase a high quality transformer. I think I spent about $100 for each of the 1kW transformers, and $300 for a 5kW that I don't even need. I have a 2kW on my home theater system, a Denon 2909 105 wpc. I did buy a new sub from Parts Express to bring over that runs on 220 or 110, I was concerned that peak power would exceed the 5kW transformer.

A friend has a nice Pioneer TT over here that has a speed adjustment that he used to tune out the 50 hz/60 hz difference, so you can definitely use US receivers and tt's with adjustments, tape probably wouldn't work though.

Best of Luck!
Jeff

P.S. Hoping to score a nice Tandberg while I'm here to bring home, the transformers will also convert 110 to 220 when I get back to the States.

EDIT: FYI, left the nice big stuff (Sansui 9090, Pioneer SX-950) at home, concerned about damage during shipment, but the 9090 has a 110/220 switch on the back

 

[legal eagle]

I was always curious to test a SABA 9241. Looks mean.

 

[jdurbin1]

You probably won't need the transformer for any Tandberg gear you pick up; the majority of it has configurable primaries on the internal transformer so you can run 120V/220V/240V (older models like the TR 2000-series receivers and TCD 300/400 decks), or 115V/230V in the case of the newer 3000-series components.

John

I recently moved from the US to Norway, and am using two vintage US systems (Concept 2.5 and Pioneer SX-434) with no problem. The key is to purchase a high quality transformer. I think I spent about $100 for each of the 1kW transformers, and $300 for a 5kW that I don't even need. I have a 2kW on my home theater system, a Denon 2909 105 wpc. I did buy a new sub from Parts Express to bring over that runs on 220 or 110, I was concerned that peak power would exceed the 5kW transformer.

A friend has a nice Pioneer TT over here that has a speed adjustment that he used to tune out the 50 hz/60 hz difference, so you can definitely use US receivers and tt's with adjustments, tape probably wouldn't work though.

Best of Luck!
Jeff

P.S. Hoping to score a nice Tandberg while I'm here to bring home, the transformers will also convert 110 to 220 when I get back to the States.

EDIT: FYI, left the nice big stuff (Sansui 9090, Pioneer SX-950) at home, concerned about damage during shipment, but the 9090 has a 110/220 switch on the back

 

[cornwallguy]

...thanks John...

...I forgot about Phillips...

Their late 70's stuff is fairly common and seems to be highly regarded, but the early 70's stuff, I rarely hear mentioned.

My Dad had an early 70's Phillips system whose model# i cant remember now, but the sound was really really good ! it had their Deforest series speakers.
in fact he liked it so much he went out an bought another Phillips set of smaller bookshelf speakers with a full range 5" and was the best speaker system i had heard for the size at that time !

 

[harman/kardon]

This one was from 1980, almost seventies.

It is the most powerful receiver ever built by Bang&Olufsen. 150/100 WPC but I can tell you Beo WPC seem to be somehow special, extremly powerful, they remind me of Marantz WPC!

It weighs 44 pounds and is nearly 70 cm wide.

 

[harman/kardon]

Unfortunately the thread is restricted to the seventies. I got pretty much european amps and recs from the sixties.

 

[guiller]

Unfortunately the thread is restricted to the seventies. I got pretty much european amps and recs from the sixties.

Go ahead and start a new thread then!

 

[Quadrocker]

Unfortunately the thread is restricted to the seventies. I got pretty much european amps and recs from the sixties.

It's my thread, and when I started it, I didn't think there would be enough people with 60's Euro stuff to include the 60's.....so if you (..or anyone else) want's to add some info on 60's European stuff...you go right ahead....There's so little info on Euro stuff, any info from any era is fine...:thmbsp:

P.S. I've changed the initial thread description comments to allow stuff from the 60's....or any other era to be added....

Cheers...

 

[harman/kardon]

Quadrocker hey thats nice that somebody is interested in my stuff:yes:, my non-virtual friends and my family arent...

So I start with a receiver from the seventies, and later some from the sixties.

It is a Ferguson 3482. Massive. Sturdy. Elegant. A fine XXXXX-rare receiver.