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Any fans of the earliest (1966-70) vintage SS gear?

jay

jay

Active Member
Hi guys, it suddenly struck me as weird that we see very few references to the earliest vintage SS stuff. Personally I've had two of these pieces, a Kenwood 6160 receiver, rated at 70 wpc, and a Pioneer 1500T. both sounded at least acceptably good, but the looks were 'odd' compared to the stylish later stuff we like so much.

So, does this early stuff have any particular virtues? Any fans?
 
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Well as I think my Marantz Model 19 was released around 69-70, I would put that one up as an example of what could be designed and built at that time. 50 watts per channel with full complementry output stage and very fine model 20B tuner circuit. Retailed for $1,000 in those 1969 dollars...

Lefty
 
My Concord Mk-10 might date back this far, I mean the thing has transformer coupled outputs, more like a tube design than anything. Been hooked up to my computer almost since I bought it. Runs a 4 ohm load quite well, it sounds pretty decent. Just sort of became part of the ones that are used on a regular basis, mainly because it fit on that computer desk.
 
First Stereo

My first stereo was a Kenwood (dont remember the model) SS unit with a two tone brown case. I think it was somewhere around 50 wpc and I think it was TOTL in its time. Seems to me that it had 11 transistors written on the glass. I learned about feedback, burnt VCs and a multitude of problems with that old KW. It was bought new in Viet Nahm and brought home left at a friends audio and TV shop and when the owner never came back to claim it I got it for the 80 bucks worth of parts that were in it. This would be around 1970.. . Many fond memories from that guy. I ended up selling it to my brother who uses it to this day.
 
I collect USA made Sherwood products from the latter tube years into the solid state beginnings (Sherwood's last USA made product was the 7900A/8900A receiver). Among the solid state units I have the S-9900A integrated amp and the S-3300 tuner, both made around 1968, which are standout products, IMO. Excellent reception with the tuner and warm tube-like sound from the amp (exceptional with jazz and blues). Nice quality build with solid stainless knobs, thick face plates, etc.

Best virtue? They can be had for next to nothing with great sound if they are in good working order.

Jon:)
 
Early Solid State

JonTee,

Nice looking Sherwoods!

I like the H H Scott 342. I use one for the kitchen radio and one the office radio. The 342 dates about 1966-67. It is compact in size but provides more than enough power. The sound is H H Scott sweet.

tcdriver
 
I use the first generation SS McIntosh (MX112, MC2100) in my bedroom rig, through 1960's JBL speakers. What can I say, there
is synergy of McIntosh with JBL speakers. Yeah I know, why 135
WPC through 100db speakers?
Just cuz! ;)

Carl
 
The receiver that got me into this hobby is a 69' Sansui 3000a that I still have today. It's a freakin' monster at 50 Lbs. and 38 WPC. Beautifully constructed, it really is built like the proverbial tank... the switches and knobs are an absolute joy to switch and turn between detents, they all move so postively with solid "thunks" when selecting functions. It looks amazing too, blue lighted dial, painted glass. Very old-world but far from crude. Here's one sans gorgeous wood case that mine sports: http://www.classicsansui.net/images/Sansui 3000a1.jpg
 
IIRC, the conventional wisdom in the late 60s was that SS was considerably noiser than tube; it wasn't until the early 70s that the S/N ratio in SS equipment got down to the tube level.
 
I have a 1500T as well, and I love the beast. I personally prefer the looks of that era equipment over a lot of the later stuff. And it might not have as good specs as later SS gear, I really don't know, since I've been unable to find much about it, but IMO it sounds just as good as any of the other SX- series... Oh, and I got it cheap, that helps, too. :banana:

I don't otherwise have a lot of experience with any other gear of the era other than some early SS Fishers which are quite good too. I do think that era of gear is underappreciated, though prices are starting to climb on eBay lately...
 
I recently picked up a Harman Kardon SR-900 from 1964. The very first generation of receivers from the company who invented them. Germanium transistors throughout. Interesting piece. Sounds nice to me.
 
I still have my McIntosh C28, MC250 and MR77 all bought new in about '70 and a MC2105 I bought about 5 years ago. Also have and enjoy a Fisher TFM300 tuner,well it is actually hybrid ss/tube unit, and the matching TX300 ss amp. Plus the Sony STR6060FW reciver for about '69. My favorite receiver is the Marantz 18 followed by the 19 both form this period but do not have either. Not sure when the Sony STR6065 and 6045 were introduced but they may also qualify.

So many of my favorite units in use are actually from that era.
 
Attitudes

Take a look at Roger Russell's McIntosh history site. The very early SS Mc gear sells well on eBay all the time. Someone here said the early SS stuff was noisy, but looking there, it appears that the first Mc SS gear was quieter than their immediately preceding tube stuff. Of course, Mc could have been the exception, but I think that opinion prevailed back in the day.

Having lived through that era (as a kid), what I recall is that transistors were first commonly found in portable stuff, and no one took them seriously for home audio uses. I remember my dad buying one of the last tube Fisher consoles, with an amazing new multiplex FM tuner. The multiplex unit was a separate chassis wired in next to the main chassis. I saved up a long time and got my first stereo, a Scott 344C. I recall the big Fisher had 35 wpc, while my Scott had 40, and I can still vividly recall one of my father's friends hypothesizing that transistor watts must be smaller than tube watts, so he was going to buy some other tube unit. Moron, but it was common belief that transistors were inferior, and always would be. I also recall feeling vindicated when only a few years later, Pioneer and Kenwood effectively put all the old tube makes out of business. Didn't feel so jolly when it happened to Fisher and Scott, too, even after they switched to SS.

Anyway, this long babble was leading up to wondering whether the prevailing attitude back then has caused the very early SS gear to be less sought after than the later stuff. Comments, anyone?
 
There has been a Lux SQ-77T in our family since then. My grandparents bought it back in the 60s. It became the basis of my first non-home built stereo in 1992 and apart from renewing the speaker connectors (which fell apart to age) and replacing the rectifier diodes it has performed flawlessly since. It has a nice clean sound which does not seem to be biased in any particlar way. It is still used to this day. A fantastic piece of gear.
Cheers
Tony
 
I've got an h/k SR900 and a Five Thirty. I like em' Mind you they are never pushed at all. I use the Citation stuff for that... :thmbsp:

Joe
 
I've got a Sony STR-6060FW from 1969. Not too pretty to look at but IMHO it is one of the better receivers at 45 wpc ever produced. The soundstage is wide & deep and the music is very melodious.
 
uhh... I guess that I might be, given how much of it I've got :-P
For example, these two Scotts:
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'n' this Sansui:
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'n' these Heathkits:
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oh, 'n' this Pioneer SX-1500T
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All dump finds, so far. Never listened to any of it enough to draw a firm conclusion on how good or bad any of it sounds.
 
I also have the HK SR900, and it's little brother, the SR400. They both sound pretty decent to me!

Jim
 
I have a Fisher 400-T - second generation Fisher SS. It sounds overly warm to me; I'll report if that changes after a capacitor overhaul. There are some scorch marks & non-factory looking resistors inside. :scratch2:
 
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