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Looking to buy a vintage receiver - several choices

Which Receiver?

  • Total voters
    26
D

Daveys93

New Member
Hello all.

I have been in the market to buy a vintage receiver. I have been watching craigslist and there typically have not been a lot of receivers for sale or when they are posted up for sale they seem to be out of my cheapskate price range. There has been a recent influx of nice looking receivers for sale in my area and I was wondering if anyone had an opinion on the options (click links for images):

Realistic STA-42 with some bookshelf speakers - $75
Realistic STA-95 - $100
Mitsubishi DA-R8 - $90
Sherwood S-7100a (recently recapped the ad says)- $100
Sherwood S-7250CP - $125
Pioneer SX450 (fake veneer peeling slightly)- $145
Technics SA-500 - $125 but may be able to talk down to $100
 
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What’s the cost of rebuilding, which are the easiest to rebuild and which have the easiest access to replacement parts?? Because the money you invest today could be gone next month...
 
goodolpg said:
What speakers will you use?
That may have some bearing on which receivers to buy or avoid.
Click to expand...

I just bought a pair of Bose 901 mark 1 speakers a few months ago. I would maybe use the receiver to drive those, but probably would drive a pair of bookshelf speakers like some Realistic Minimus.
 
Djcoolray said:
What’s the cost of rebuilding, which are the easiest to rebuild and which have the easiest access to replacement parts?? Because the money you invest today could be gone next month...
Click to expand...

That is a good point. I do not know too much about repairing these systems, but I do have a local HiFi shop that does. I was reading a forum thatth about the Technics model and someone mentioned it having discreate components instead of stk modules.

This I relevant to me because I tried to get my girlfriend's father's old Yamaha receiver working and the HiFi shop said it would cost a fortune if it was even possible because the stk modules were bad and damn near impossible to find replacements for.

So yes, reliability and repairability are something I would be interested in taking into consideration. If anyone has any experience with those qualities for the selection of receivers I would be interested in hearing thoughts.
 
I would pass on all those listed. Djcoolray is right. All this equipment is coming to the end of its service life and could go any time.
You would be better off buying a Marantz, a Pioneer or Sansui with some power and assume that it will have to be rebuilt. It won't be cheap but it is the way to go.
At least if you have to sell it you will get your money back.
 
EVBoy said:
I would pass on all those listed. Djcoolray is right. All this equipment is coming to the end of its service life and could go any time.
You would be better off buying a Marantz, a Pioneer or Sansui with some power and assume that it will have to be rebuilt. It won't be cheap but it is the way to go.
At least if you have to sell it you will get your money back.
Click to expand...


I have never come across a Marantz or Sansui that is in my price range. I do drool over the listings I do see though.
 
Is your key decision making going to be based on looks or performance / reliability?

If aesthetics are important then vintage is going to tick that box but you can more or less guarantee some servicing or repairs will be needed.

If reliability is key then some ridiculous bargains can still be had on audio video receivers that once cost several thousands of dollars and are now being given away because they don't have HDMI or Dolby 19.5 or what ever. Some of them have separate pre and power amps so you can build a system around them. You also get convenience of remote control (usually).

My own system is based around a NAD T753 that I got for free. I feed a TEAC AS100 into it as a preamp and the NAD just serves as a two channel power amp. It sounds pretty damn good to my ears :-)
 
Go with the SA-500 (first choice) or STA 95.
Do exercise them for about an hour before purchase. If all is well, enjoy and hope for the best.
If it goes south later, go get another one.
 
These are all entry-level receivers, with the exception of the Technics and possibly the Realistic 95. I think the Technics is the only one I'd consider buying. You might also want to look at JVC, they made a lot of good stuff back in the silver era, and they generally fly under the radar.
 
Daveys93 said:
Hello all.

I have been in the market to buy a vintage receiver. I have been watching craigslist and there typically have not been a lot of receivers for sale or when they are posted up for sale they seem to be out of my cheapskate price range. There has been a recent influx of nice looking receivers for sale in my area and I was wondering if anyone had an opinion on the options (click links for images):

Realistic STA-42 with some bookshelf speakers - $75
Realistic STA-95 - $100
Mitsubishi DA-R8 - $90
Sherwood S-7100a (recently recapped the ad says)- $100
Sherwood S-7250CP - $125
Pioneer SX450 (fake veneer peeling slightly)- $145
Technics SA-500 - $125 but may be able to talk down to $100
Click to expand...
There's a Technics SA 600 for sale in California on eBay.. .
Don't know where you live but I vote you check out the SA 600 or get the SA500 If that is more convenient
 
Markoneswift said:
Is your key decision making going to be based on looks or performance / reliability?

If aesthetics are important then vintage is going to tick that box but you can more or less guarantee some servicing or repairs will be needed.

If reliability is key then some ridiculous bargains can still be had on audio video receivers that once cost several thousands of dollars and are now being given away because they don't have HDMI or Dolby 19.5 or what ever. Some of them have separate pre and power amps so you can build a system around them. You also get convenience of remote control (usually).

My own system is based around a NAD T753 that I got for free. I feed a TEAC AS100 into it as a preamp and the NAD just serves as a two channel power amp. It sounds pretty damn good to my ears :)
Click to expand...

Thanks for the advice. Something I will take into consideration for a main system.

You nailed it when you said aesthetic being important to me. I also really would like something with a decent reliability record.

I have some significant hearing loss so subtilty is lost on me when it comes to high end gear. I do have a good eye for design and a love of music. This would be for an upstairs stereo to run with Chromecast audio for whole home music and also to connect up to my girlfriend's father's bang and olufsen turntable.
 
The SA-500 at $100 would be a pretty good deal, assuming it is in good working order. This series is a bit under the radar, but they are quite competitive with the bigger names in receivers in that era (78-80). They look good, sound good, are fairly well-built, and use discrete output transistors. They can accommodate a 4 ohm load, are rated at 55 watts per channel (measured at 8 ohms), which is enough to drive most speakers to decent levels without excessive clipping, and have very respectable S/N and distortion specs.

The knobs and levers are not as nice as on some other receivers...they are painted plastic, and sometimes the finish begins to wear off of them. I remember repainting a whole set of them for an SA-500 I was restoring many years ago.

At $100 for one in good condition, I would not worry too much about the cost of repair or restoration. Frankly, unless you can do the work yourself, a restoration/rebuild probably can't be justified for this unit - you would be deeply underwater on it if you paid someone else to do it.

If it develops a problem after you buy it, come to AK for help. There's a good chance someone can help you diagnose and even repair it (or at least estimate the cost of having it repaired at a shop).
 
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Without much experience with any of them to offer a sonic review....
1) STA-95 I've always loved the dark metal look and slanted meter display.
2) SA-500 Power meters, nice layout, and that era Technics had some great specs
3) DA-R8 Well it's just so darn cute!
 
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