Are the vintage Sony receivers any good?

[alwayslooking]

My brother has my 7065 or 7055, not sure model but it is very well built, sounds great, and looks great.

 

[Stoffie]

IIRC the output amps on the V series are well thought of but are unobtanium. Hopefully someone will elaborate and have more info about those.

I think you're referring to the VFET amps. No Sony receiver has VFETs in them, so they're a pretty safe bet

 

[KingBubba]

I guess I didn't RC. :scratch2:

 

[tensleep]

Crash course on the 7065

Hi all,

A 7065 is on my local CL for $65. What should I look for and what can I expect for this much money?

Thx

 

[reggaenaut]

Hi all,

A 7065 is on my local CL for $65. What should I look for and what can I expect for this much money?

Thx

Make sure you getting output from different input. A fair price for this model.

 

[Whitehall]

A clean 7065 will go for $100 to $200 on eBay.

 

[Bradrock]

Yep; I just bought another 7065 yesterday on ebay for $135.oo shipped. I like mine so much, I bought a second one for parts security! Plus this one had the original owners manual & a nicer cabinet.

 

[Twenty20Man]

i think anything made in the 70's by one of the major players is going to be tough to beat..if you can get a Sony... well hurry lad go grab it..report back here with you Find and listening impressions

 

[reggaenaut]

Yesterday a clean 6800 went for $300+ on Epay. Sign of the times?

 

[Michael Powers]

To this list, I would add.....

The "search" function can be your best friend.

Scan the following:

7065
6060
6200
6120
STR-V7
6800
7800

4800

In my experience, sometimes the lowest powered version of a particular line sounds the best. I'm assuming that you're not playing music at levels that are likely to cause clipping, not driving stacked pairs, and that you are not driving electrostatic panels. If you are in any of these categories, go for the most powerful receiver you can find, or make the switch to separates.

 

[billyboyJBL]

i have following sony receivers:
two 6800's.a 7800,v5,v6,and the v7.
they will all go to the grave with me,if possible:thmbsp:

 

[onwardjames]

Another vote for the 7065, or the 7065A, which I own.

Fabulous, well-built, and one hell of a tuner.

Go get it!:yes:

 

[Woofman]

I found one!

Thanks for the info on Sony receivers. I found what seems to be a good one on ebay. It's a 7055. I did want more power, but I am thrilled with this one. It looks like it just came off the dealer's shelf new, or pretty doggone close anyway. I haven't checked it out fully, but so far it sounds great. Here is a couple of pics:

 

[Mchaz]

I have a 6065. I purchased it supposedly new in box, and I don't doubt it looking at the condition. It sounds great, and the build quality is very nice. You can see some pics in Sony pic post thread.

I really like the looks of these old Sony receivers. I find mine sounds a little more colored than the Yamaha equipment I have listened to, but it still manages to stay pretty neutral. The overall sound seems slightly warmer, with a little boost in the low end. All in all, my experience with vintage Sony is that they made some fine equipment.

 

[reggaenaut]

Woofman the 7055 looks pristine. Good find.

 

[James Hart]

Yesterday a clean 6800 went for $300+ on Epay. Sign of the times?

mine cost me about $35 shipping.

 

[Pilot]

I'm still using my STR-V55 which I bought around 1980. Done a few mods but the one that really mattered was to replace the crummy FM filter package with discrete components.

Bryan

 

[absolon]

great find woofman.

I've used one for a year as the daily driver in my shop. The 7055 is a nice sounding unit.

 

[tensleep]

Hi all,

Thanks for all the support. Well, I went and looked at the Sony yesterday. The young man was also selling a Marantz 2230, a Yamaha receiver, a Pioneer turntable and a couple pair of Bose speakers.

The Sony had a channel out. I couldn't isolate it to either the preamp or the amp. I was able to uncouple the preamps and the amps on both the Sony and the Marantz. This way, I was able to test both the amp and preamp sections on the Sony and it seamed the right channel was out on both. I also checked the input devices to make sure that they were sending signals on both channels. I also moved the input devices to different inputs on the Sony to be sure that the problem wasn't isolated to only one input.

Boy, that was a long way to say that I carefully checked the receiver and found that the right channel was out:screwy:.

Anyway, I passed on the sony, but will be looking out for this and similar models in the future.

 

[CucamongaDan]

I got an STR-2800 for $7.99 at a Goodwill a few months back. Don't know how many wpc its supposed to be, but the power consumption says 95W. It has some age-related issues- no lights except the tuner pointer work, and the right channel has no volume at all till the volume is past 9 o'clock. To set the volume I turn the balance all the way to the right, then turn the volume to about 10 or 11 o'clock till its loud enough, then I bump the balance just a little to the left till the left channel matches the right. I imagine this might have something to do with the visible deterioration of that big "Dual-C" capacitor. You can't see it in my pic, but from the bottom of its circuit board it looked like some rusty crud had leaked from it.
Funny thing is though, even in this condition it can sound darn good, hooked to some JBL 2500s in my bedroom.