Looking for a Vintage Receiver

J

Jet757f

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I know this is a very broad subjective question but it still will give me more ideas on what to look for and hopefully narrow my search.

I am looking for a vintage receiver 100 wpc plus that will be reliable and at a fairly reasonable price. Also I prefer the more bassy type sound. Initially I will use with Dual 701 turntable and eventually CD player.

I have been looking at Marantz, Sansui, Kenwood and Pioneer.
I have found sound Kenwood Elevens that interest me. They seem to be in good shape with good wattage and at a fairly reasonable price.

I have found a Kenwood Super Eleven but I'm concerned the owner mentions that the volume knob has some static and the pot needs to be cleaned.
I am not familiar with opening these up to clean pots let alone doing solder work. Would a novice like me be able to clean a pot on these receivers?
Is Kenwood a reliable receiver or will I have more problems?

I also found a Kenwood Eleven II and Eleven III. Do any of the Kenwood Eleven series have a reputation for more reliability over the others?

Also how is the sound compared to Marantz and Sansui?

I'm open to suggestions to other brands and models.

I had experience with these when I was overseas in the military in the early 70s but I don't even remember which models I had. I do remember that I never like the 8 track because it would never work right.
The only thing I have held on to are some Kenwood 777 speakers that I bought overseas around 1973.

Anyway sorry for the long post.
 
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I believe the super eleven is higher power (125wpc) than the other eleven series (100wpc) . I had one for a little while, great looks, nice warm sound, but still had punch/snap to it. I don't think anything but the timer is irreplaceable. It would be a solid choice.

Noisy controls and switches can sometimes clean up just by working them back and forth several times. If further action is required a can of Electronic parts cleaner and a few hours will usually do the trick. It can seem a little daunting at first but there are many here that can walk you through it.

Welcome to AK, let the journey begin.........
 
wmgwizard said:
I believe the super eleven is higher power (125wpc) than the other eleven series (100wpc) . I had one for a little while, great looks, nice warm sound, but still had punch/snap to it. I don't think anything but the timer is irreplaceable. It would be a solid choice.

Noisy controls and switches can sometimes clean up just by working them back and forth several times. If further action is required a can of Electronic parts cleaner and a few hours will usually do the trick. It can seem a little daunting at first but there are many here that can walk you through it.

Welcome to AK, let the journey begin.........
Click to expand...

So when the pots need to be cleaned can it be done after opening the case and spraying on the outside or do you have to remove the switch to clean it?
 
Check out HionFi's listing in the Business and Vendor classifieds forum. They just purchased a huge lot of vintage Marantz receivers and are restoring and selling them. I saw some of them last week and they are really nice, very fairly priced, come with a 90 day warranty and they ship.
 
Cleaning a switch

Cleaning a switch is easy. Very easy. It is one of the things even
beginners can do with a high degree of success.

There is a sticky about it here:

http://www.audiokarma.org/forums//showthread.php?t=207005


If you have any more questions after reading that just come back
and ask them. There a lots of threads on this site started by people
who bought old gear and then did a simple spray cleanup. Frequently
that is all the unit needed.

Having said that; bear in mind that all 30-40 year old equipment is going
to need serious service at some point. Nothing lasts forever.
 
AlleyKat said:
Check out HionFi's listing in the Business and Vendor classifieds forum. They just purchased a huge lot of vintage Marantz receivers and are restoring and selling them. I saw some of them last week and they are really nice, very fairly priced, come with a 90 day warranty and they ship.
Click to expand...

This really helps. I replied to his thread and also PM'd him.
Thanks
 
Fun2Learn said:
Cleaning a switch is easy. Very easy. It is one of the things even
beginners can do with a high degree of success.

There is a sticky about it here:

http://www.audiokarma.org/forums//showthread.php?t=207005


If you have any more questions after reading that just come back
and ask them. There a lots of threads on this site started by people
who bought old gear and then did a simple spray cleanup. Frequently
that is all the unit needed.

Having said that; bear in mind that all 30-40 year old equipment is going
to need serious service at some point. Nothing lasts forever.
Click to expand...

It looks like the pots are fairly easy to clean. I will have to sit down and read that whole sticky when I have more time. Seems like a wealth of information.
I appreciate that link.
 
I'm not sure how much you want to spend, but I think THE sleeper amp is the Sansui G7700. It's 120 wpc, and has all the insane freq and slew rate stats of the G series. I have two G series amps, a couple of nicer Pioneers. I've had a couple of 70s Marantz (sold 'em) and spent time with other classic amps of the era. The G series are my faves for open accurate sound reproduction. That's why I own two.

There's one on ebay right now for $369 +shipping (no affiliation).
 
Jet757f said:
...

I am looking for a vintage receiver 100 wpc plus that will be reliable and at a fairly reasonable price. Also I prefer the more bassy type sound.
Click to expand...

ALL "vintage" gear, in my book is from the 70s and that is 40 years ago.
Reliable is a tough request.
ANY of them can lay down at any time.
Who knows where they've been, how they've used or stored.

Bassy is mostly a Marantz characteristic. Most models have the "three martini sound", the 2230 and 1060 and 2270 do not, in my experience.

Realistic (Radio shack) of the 70 can have a very heavy bass with the loudness on.

Second to Marantz (in my book) is the Pioneer, followed by Sansui, Harmon Kardon, Kenwood, Technics. Least bassy is the Yamaha.

Marantz and Pioneer have a huge following (for good reason) and there is a LOT of info out there (especially repair info). And there seems to be a lot of them around.
 
Dr. Mordo said:
I'm not sure how much you want to spend, but I think THE sleeper amp is the Sansui G7700. It's 120 wpc, and has all the insane freq and slew rate stats of the G series. I have two G series amps, a couple of nicer Pioneers. I've had a couple of 70s Marantz (sold 'em) and spent time with other classic amps of the era. The G series are my faves for open accurate sound reproduction. That's why I own two.

There's one on ebay right now for $369 +shipping (no affiliation).
Click to expand...

Yes I was looking at those. The one with bids looks nice.

How is the bass sound on those compared to the Marantz?
 
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blhagstrom said:
ALL "vintage" gear, in my book is from the 70s and that is 40 years ago.
Reliable is a tough request.
ANY of them can lay down at any time.
Who knows where they've been, how they've used or stored.

Bassy is mostly a Marantz characteristic. Most models have the "three martini sound", the 2230 and 1060 and 2270 do not, in my experience.

Realistic (Radio shack) of the 70 can have a very heavy bass with the loudness on.

Second to Marantz (in my book) is the Pioneer, followed by Sansui, Harmon Kardon, Kenwood, Technics. Least bassy is the Yamaha.

Marantz and Pioneer have a huge following (for good reason) and there is a LOT of info out there (especially repair info). And there seems to be a lot of them around.
Click to expand...

So I should stick with Marantz at this point I guess.
 
Marantz are pretty bassy but in my opinion so are Sansui's both from the late and early 70's. G7000 and above from the late 70's and the 2000X, 5000X from the early 70's are nice. I also really enjoy my 3000A from 1967...very sweet sounding unit. My Sansui 5500 from 71-72? puts out some serious bass as well. Good luck.
 
The G series aren't bassy. They are flat. But they are so fast that you get transients other amps don't pass, so they actually have a peculiar openness to them; every recording seems to have a little bit more space.

The Marantz I've had have been very comparable sound wise to older Pioneers, Kenwoods, Fishers, Sonys, etc. Basically, tube amps had a 'sound', then transistor amps had a 'sound', then IC amps had a 'sound'. 70s Marantz has the transistor sound, which is darker and a bit less distinct. The G series have the IC sound, which is a bit brighter and more open.

But finding a 'transistor sound' amp with >100 wpc for a reasonable price may be a challenge. That's why I recommended the G7700. Another choice might be Hitachi SR-2004 which sell for fairly cheap on ebay but are true monster amps.

You may want to spend some time crusing this list if you haven't:
http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=1082

I personally would look for a old Kenwood or Pioneer before a Marantz, just because Marantz seems to be commanding top dollar these days. You can get a comparable amp for less if you buy a Pioneer or Kenwood. I sold my Marantz 4270 because the sound wasn't any better than my Kenwood KR-6160 or Pioneer SX-6000, but the Marantz was worth $400+shipping on ebay.

Actually, after it being out of commission for a couple of years, just tonight I recapped my Kenwood and rocked it with my JBL 4311Bs and was pleasantly surprised. It's a pretty damn good sounding amp.
 
I would recomend a marantz 2230 it has a very warm tube like sound its rated at 30 wpc but I have read it puts out around 45wpc they are underated in power like most receivers were back in the day the marantz is the only receiver I kept because it sounded so good.Sorry I re-read your post your looking for a 100 watts I missed that disregard my post..
 
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You said... (I am looking for a vintage receiver 100 wpc plus that will be reliable and at a fairly reasonable price.) One receiver that fits that bill perfectly is a AKAI AA1175 all the features you need and no hyper bullshit features , very well built , dual transformer , and a lil under appreciated , which means you should snag one at a fair price .
 
There's only one Akai AA1175 on ebay , but the ad says it's 75 wpc.

It does look like a nice amp, though. And 75 wpc is probly plenty for most applications.
 
I recently decided to get a reciever to hook up the old TT and listen to some old LP's. I was really unsure of what to buy and didn't have a large budget. I ended up with a Realistic STA-820. I have been very happy with it and it sounds so good compared to the more modern equipment i have listened to. The build quality etc seems super nice!

I know this reciever is less power than you want but they made some receivers in the 100 WPC like you are looking for. One of these might fit the bill nicely.

Good luck,

RD
 
I have been using that list of receivers over 100 WPC a lot and have found many possibilities on Ebay. In fact too many. I'm almost afraid to commit to one and then find out it was the wrong one.
 
:music:
Jet757f said:
I have been using that list of receivers over 100 WPC a lot and have found many possibilities on Ebay. In fact too many. I'm almost afraid to commit to one and then find out it was the wrong one.
Click to expand...

That was one of the reasons that I chose a Realistic. I felt like it had a good rep and would sound good, but worse case, it could go to the garage or office and it wouldn't be a big deal. I am so happy with it, I may look for another Realistic specifically for the office and the garage.

One day I will run across a steal on a big Pioneer, Yamaha, Sansui, or Marantz and I will happily grab it. For now, I am quite happy with the Realistic.
 
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