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Looking for opinions on less popular brands of 70's receivers. Sherwood etc

Nice to see Lafayette mentioned.
I've had 3 of the LR series receivers, the 2020, the 9090, and currently have the 120DB.
The higher powered ones worked well with my 4 ohm speakers.
They fly somewhat under the radar compared to the better known brands that have their own inherent "tax" include in their prices.

As mentioned some of the Radio Shack receivers also might be worthy of consideration. Most, except maybe the toroidal 2100 also fly a bit under the radar.
 
Akustic said:
Like everything depends on the comparison measure.. we probably tripped over each other in those stores ..

Compared to the tube amps available .. no ..
Compared 80's amps when the SS technology matured .. no ..
Compared to the early high end or AR and Conrad Johnson gear .. no

SS was having growing pains in the 70's .. no damping factors ... edgy transistors ..
Mostly dark and syrupy or edgy to my ear .. but everyone has their standard.
I'd take any of their tube amps over their early transistor amps every time ..

Every one talks about build quality but all I ever cared about was sound quality ..
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I would say another you cannot leave out is McIntosh. For sure, their SS designs and parts were very good quality, and stood the tests of time. All would commonly measure better than advertised specs across the board.

No, none of the early Mac SS Amps had high damping factors, I think as an example, the MC-2105 had a damping factor of 16. I think my Bryston 7BSST2 Amps have something like >1000.

But because of Autoformers, things are then a little different in that regard I understand so one is not comparing apples to apples.

Throwing Speakers into the mix, that's of course another can of worms.
Often many of the mid-low end, and less expensive Receivers were usually never auditioned, nor used with high quality Speakers.

Sure, there were some quite nice vintage Speakers in the day, I think we can all agree, but on the other hand, there were a lot of dogs as well.

Beauty is/was in the ear and eye of the beholder, Just to put in into general terms, audition something like $150-$300/pr Speakers, then hear those that are better, and usually more costly, sure, those lesser Speakers begin to be classified as 'dogs". LOL

I know well from memory, many speakers really looked cool, very nice build quality in the day back then, but lots of them just didn't cut it sonically.

I reckon in a nutshell, we can come back to what is known as "the weak link".

I think that's how I somewhat felt then, and as well today, and that when something just didn't cut the mustard for a variety of reasons, sound, size, power requirements, cost, it was then axed from my personal list.
 
Donny said:
I've read good things and that's what put them on my radar. There's just not the vast wealth of info and opinions on them like the pioneers,marantz and sansui. I'm trying to find the right model for me :)


I have a hk 330a awaiting recap and repair. It will be my first real ss project. I started vintage years ago with pioneer the sx1010 was my fav of the bunch but pioneer just wasn't my sound. I've only had one marantz a 2270,it's a battle between it and my sansui 551 for the vintage top spot. Currently on the look out for an 881 maybe a non db 8080 as well. I don't think I want anything newer than the 8080.


I'll look into those.


I think you are right on the 4ohm load. Sansui's no problem but my marantz 2270 sound signature changes dramatically as volume increases. I know this is somewhat normal,every amp seems to have a sweet spot. I think the 4ohm load makes it a little narrower.
From what I've read the 8900a has a big sansui type sound and the 9910 leans more towards a marantz sound. Not a whole lot of people talking about the sound signature.
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The sound signature... the 8900a has a great sound signature, rock solid foundation from which it plays. People who had them loved them... thoughtfully chosen among a field of other units. Everybody seemed to have the opinion they sounded good and they did.
 
Tom Brennan said:
Back in the 70s quite a few audiophiles thought Sherwood made the best sounding SS receivers.
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I really liked the classic aesthetic lines of brands such as Kenwood, Sherwood besides many others.
Fisher, just beautiful, HH Scott, HK, even Yamaha produced some real beauties, just killer.

They shied from stupid gaudy eye candy, all the blue, green, red lights, lit up like a frikken christmas tree.

Like I always say, "whadaya want, good grammar, or good taste"? Or good looks, or good sound?

Twenty years ago, perhaps with a bit of ignorance which I don't think was unusual for the time, I began to shy from Vintage Gear, of course like "Lone Wattie" said in Josey Wales, I was "looking to gain an advantage" with more modern Gear.

I bought some oldies around the mid-late 90's, had a slew of vintage Marantz (Japan) Sansui goodies, and basically sold it all. I bought when prices were pretty good. Looking back, I wish I never sold any of it, and even collected more.

But, it's not too late! The biggest problem now, is inflation, collector value, rarity, and if you want to play, you gots to pay!

But as this thread suggests, and is based upon, what units still seem to fall under the radar, but are still very worthy of love and affection?

There's a vintage audio show right this minute in Mt Prospect Ill, and I know had I went to it, (which I dearly wanted to) I'd probably be kicking myself for not walking in with about $4K-$5K Cash in hand, and a U-Haul Van sitting in the Parking Lot.

You never know the treasures that might be?! LOL

And who knows what I might've walked out with?! It's an addiction of mine, and so it is with many other folks.

Same with vintage Drum and Guitar Shows. You've turned loose a maniac! LOL

Scour local Craigslists, but be careful, Audiomart, Audiogon, there's tons of nice gear popping up every day.


Last two drum shows I went to, I walked out $4K lighter, but a lot happier.
 
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allmanbros said:
Don't overlook the Sony STR series, particularly the 6065 and 7065......Sony made some high quality gear in the 70's....built like tanks and very good looking with the real wood cabinets.....plenty of power for your mentioned needs.......also the Mac 4100 would fill the bill, but would cost a few bills as well.
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I won an auction on a 6065! However the seller never shipped it :( I managed to get my money back. I'm still sony curious. I had a mac1700 years ago and was unimpressed but the 4100 is prob an improved unit.

Te-Te said:
I had a Zenith MC-7040 receiver that I thought sounded good. I believe it was around 25 watts per channel.
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Interesting when I think zenith I think antique tube radio.

old 2080 said:
Don't overlook the RS gear, many good models in the 70's, many bashers and many that love their gear, I have no complaints and own many models from the late 50's, 60's, 70's, 80's, and up to the early 90's.
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Did you have any stand outs? If so what were they?
 
@markd51 I have a kenwood on the way just because I dig the look. Kr5200. I'm scouring local sources as well as online. It is an addiction but a good one right?
 
Akustic said:
Like everything depends on the comparison measure.. we probably tripped over each other in those stores ..

Compared to the tube amps available .. no ..
Compared 80's amps when the SS technology matured .. no ..
Compared to the early high end or AR and Conrad Johnson gear .. no

SS was having growing pains in the 70's .. no damping factors ... edgy transistors ..
Mostly dark and syrupy or edgy to my ear .. but everyone has their standard.
I'd take any of their tube amps over their early transistor amps every time ..

Every one talks about build quality but all I ever cared about was sound quality ..
Click to expand...
Good points,I haven't had many early ss but by around 74 or so ss seemed nice and smooth. Late 70's things had better specs and possibly more controlled bass but not as smooth from my exp. I'm getting away from heavy modern amps and just looking for enjoyable gear. I haven't loved tube amps but maybe that's because I've been buying modern tube amps.
 
The first SS I found truly pleasing was the 2nd generation Dynaco SS--the PAT5 preamp and ST 400 amplifier. I thought they were significantly superior to McIntosh, Crown and Phase Linear and SS Japanese receivers weren't even in the game. My PAT5 and ST 400 rig, used with a Thorens record player with an ADC XLM and Klipsch LaScalas, of all things, made a huge soundstage and depth that went through the wall and out to the street, no ****. And the tone was robust and smooth with no electronic glare (I knew because I also owned Magnepans and KLHs).

The early Quad SS stuff sounded great too but I always heard it with Quad ESLs, so that helped.
 
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Maybe I'm a looks guy but Sherwood 70's Recievers look cheesy, the lettering, the little square printed boxes and the off the shelf generic switches just don't have any character, even after 40+ years. I think I have one or two but never pull them down for rotation because they are not that pretty. There's two or three other companies that also had very similar face-plates, they probably came out of the same factory.

I do like Realistic and Sony, they look nice and can put out nice sounding music, Realistic seems to be more wattage heavy than Sony but both can still be bargains.

Big bass on old units might be hard, my stuff is 100% vintage so cranking a lot of bass really moves the speakers more than I'm comfortable with, I'd stick with newer if thumping bass is your goal.
 
Donny said:
I won an auction on a 6065! However the seller never shipped it :( I managed to get my money back. I'm still sony curious. I had a mac1700 years ago and was unimpressed but the 4100 is prob an improved unit.

Interesting when I think zenith I think antique tube radio.

Did you have any stand outs? If so what were they?
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If it's a 70's unit you're trying to stay with, I'd be on the lookout for an STA-90, but there are many others that would fit the bill, the 90 got very good reviews when it came out, ironically my first RS unit was an STA-90 that I bought used back in the early 80's, it really performed well, I did buy another that I came across several years later "just because", still have that on the shelf waiting it's turn......;)266065181_733cd5b3ea_b.jpg
 
I think almost everything I've heard from the 70's solid state receivers sounds great.The early 80's were good too but the build quality started failing off and then of course there was the "Black Plague":eek:
 
Erik Tracy said:
Lafayette and Radio Shack are oft overlooked for 70's era receivers of decent quality.

And thru the wall of smoke looking back...cough cough...I seem to recall the 80's was the decade receivers went to the garish looking mish-mash of buttons, sliders, graphics, and SQ went in the dust bin.
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I am unfamillar with lafayette. Never heard much about them. I do have some goodmans by lafayette from the 50's a very impressive speaker with vocals.

Te-Te said:
Technics and Akai also.
View attachment 2412071 View attachment 2412072
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I have an akai I remember liking it very much. I need to clean the pots and give it another try. No exp with technics,I wouldn't know what models to look for.
 
Tom Brennan said:
The first SS I found truly pleasing was the 2nd generation Dynaco SS--the PAT5 preamp and ST 400 amplifier. I thought they were significantly superior to McIntosh, Crown and Phase Linear and SS Japanese receivers weren't even in the game. My PAT5 and ST 400 rig, used with a Thorens record player with an ADC XLM and Klipsch LaScalas, of all things, made a huge soundstage and depth that went through the wall and out to the street, no ****. And the tone was robust and smooth with no electronic glare (I knew because I also owned Magnepans and KLHs).

The early Quad SS stuff sounded great too but I always heard it with Quad ESLs, so that helped.
Click to expand...
High praise on the Dynaco!

Bone Yard said:
Maybe I'm a looks guy but Sherwood 70's Recievers look cheesy, the lettering, the little square printed boxes and the off the shelf generic switches just don't have any character, even after 40+ years. I think I have one or two but never pull them down for rotation because they are not that pretty. There's two or three other companies that also had very similar face-plates, they probably came out of the same factory.

I do like Realistic and Sony, they look nice and can put out nice sounding music, Realistic seems to be more wattage heavy than Sony but both can still be bargains.

Big bass on old units might be hard, my stuff is 100% vintage so cranking a lot of bass really moves the speakers more than I'm comfortable with, I'd stick with newer if thumping bass is your goal.
Click to expand...
I've found most modern gear to be a bit lean bass wise. Even my NAD that all the reveiwers commented on the strong bass. The NAD put out as I can best describe as fake bass. I've been more impressed with vintage,the bass may not be as well defined but at least it's there!
 
I'm confused by most of it, weren't Harmon Kardon's mostly made in Japan in the 70's, the early 70's one I have is. As far as recievers I also like Technics a lot but they don't have a common sound, some of the little ones are best used for small rooms; they just don't have a well-rounded punch like the larger models. I think they were pretty popular but they had some many and some do fly under the radar as well.
 
I know one Receiver that was always a personal favorite of mine, I probably sound like a broken record as to how I really liked this unit above so many others of the day.

And that was the Sansui Seven Receiver.
Sure, this Receiver was highly popular the moment it hit the market 45 some years ago, and is still a sought after unit today.

No, it's not the power monster that so many people then and today want, but this IMO was just one totally kick ass Receiver. What, 45wpc? A mighty strong rock solid blow you outta the house 45 watts when paired with the right speakers.

The build quality, the weight, the connections on back, the superb performance. There were countless Receivers I've heard at twice the price, and still liked the Seven better.

These "sort of" fall under the radar perhaps, no it isn't the 9090, or G-8000 that everyone today is falling over to buy, but this IMO was some of the best gear Sansui ever made. I always felt the Seven was a masterpiece!

https://goldenageofaudio.blogspot.com/2014/07/sansui-seven-stereo-receiver.html
 
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