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Low Powered, Good Performing Vintage Receivers

Arthur Smith

Arthur Smith

Super Member
I have started enjoying these, matched up with efficient bookshelf speakers, for the bedroom. I have a Sherwood S-7010, which was modded with a separate power switch, replacing the built in combo Loudness/Power nightmare. That drives a pair of Paradigm Titan v.3's. I got the receiver for free. A beautiful little Nikko NR-315 that I bought from the original owner for $10, is matched with a pair of JBL HLS610's. And my Onkyo TX-810 that I bought for my parents in 1990, a 40 WPC receiver with tons of 'oompf", perfectly matched to a pair of Design Acoustics PS-CV's. Sure, I can mix and match, but these were the combos I settled on. The Sherwood and the Nikko are likely 12 watts, and 10 watts per channel, respectively.

The receivers sound wonderful, musical, and alive. Not once do they struggle driving the aforementioned speaker complements. The tuners are sensitive, selective, and precise. I have an Onkyo 6 disc changer, and a Sansui direct drive linear tracking turntable wired to the TX-810. Also available to mix and match, based on the physical proximity of the gear in the bedroom.

It's not a "high end" system,. but most of the gear was thrifted and obtained very inexpensively. It can be done.

Does anyone else in this forum have one of these "little systems" in the bedroom, or elsewhere, that they love? And that is good, solid performer quality?
 
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It's not currently hooked up, but at one time I had a Harman-Kardon 330c driving a pair of B&O Beovox S-60s in the bedroom that my two oldest sons shared. The sound quality was superb and the power was more than adequate for the space.
 
I've got little speakers in the bedroom. Not so much electronics as I needed a place to put a pre/power/tuner set I got for a c-note.
 
Arthur Smith said:
The receivers sound wonderful, musical, and alive.
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This is true of many of the lower rung units, sounding more musical than their big brothers. I've had a few and like them. Never turn down a HK (that what the pre.power.tuner set up is) as the 330c is the best easy to use stereo I have ever had. One button and XPN is playing and sounding great.
 
I drive the exact same Paradigm speakers with a Pioneer SX737 (actually an SX7730) to great musical effect. Maybe a few Watt more aboard but not exactly a true Powerhouse either.
 
I had a Leak Delta amp a while back and whilst not super powerful, it was very musical and easy to listen to. It emphasised the importance of matching speakers to amp.
 
Dr Tinear said:
It's not currently hooked up, but at one time I had a Harman-Kardon 330c driving a pair of B&O Beovox S-60s in the bedroom that my two oldest sons shared. The sound quality was superb and the power was more than adequate for the space.
Click to expand...

Agreed. Excellent little guy.

I am currently enjoying a Sony STR-6055 from the early '70s that sounds divine. If you find one in good condition, buy it. It shouldn't cost a whole lot either.
 
Had a Kenwood KR 4070 for a bit that was quite nice. At 40wpc, it had plenty of power and a nice clean sound. Very simple and easy to work on as well.
 
My son is running a 1980-ish Technics SA-80 receiver through some 1970-ish B & O Beovox 2600's, and the pairing sounds wonderful (even though Technics receivers "don't like" 4 ohm speakers).
 
I have a Realistic System 7 in my closet/workshop. That's of course the STA-7 receiver and a pair of Minimus 7 speakers. It's nice that the receiver has a "small speaker" setting which boosts the bass response a touch.
 
I have a 30wpc Hitachi Sr 603 receiver that I used to power my Dynaco A25s for awhile, I still have it but my bigger Hitachi Ha 610 has replaced it at the moment. It is a great little receiver, super powerful and sounds really "big".
 
I have a Sony STR-7025 with 18 WPC that sounds quite nice and is attractive, too. It's not a receiver, but my Marantz 1060 is a really sweet capacitor-coupled integrated Amp. I believe that its amp and pre-amp sections are based on the 2030 receiver. I have a 2035B receiver too, but I think the 1060 sounds better.
 
I'm currently running a Sherwood s-5500 with Univesity Medallions, and an old Sherwood turntable in the bedroom that God only knows who really built. Probably 25 watts of power out of that amp, but it gets loud enough for my tastes, and I really enjoy the sound.

It's a combination you can listen to all day. The highs are much better than you would expect, but the midrange from the diffusicone 8in full range driver and the 12 inch really give them a special sound with tubes. They are a totally different animal than when I ran them with the S-8900. Sounded good with the S-8900, but sounds exceptional with the tube amp.

The Sherwood pieces came from Goodwill. The Universities were a very affordable Craigslist find, and at the time I had no idea what they were.
 
I have a Pioneer SX-680 on my desk doing computer duty. I also have an Audiotechnica AT-LP60-USB TT hooked up to it, along with a Fisher CR 4013M Cassette deck and a Sony 5 disk CD player hooked up, all putting out sound through a pair of Paradigm Atoms I refoamed a couple of years back. All in all it sounds pretty good although it will never replace my main system out in the shop/music room. I don't play much music in the house but I like to have the option.
 
It’s funny, I was using Paradigm Titan v.1 speakers for a long time and then moved on to more interesting vintage units, I find them a bit dull now in comparison but they are still a solid choice.

Most of my amps are low power, I’ve got a Marantz 1030, a Marantz 27 (30 wpc) and a new obsession, a Harman Kardon 430 (25 wpc). They’re all perfectly good sounding in normal sized rooms.
 
This 1964 Harmon Kardon SR 900 was the most powerful of HK's first three solid state receivers, the 300, 600 and 900. About 25 watts rms x 2 I think. Smooth clean power right from the start with this first solid state HK.
It works very well with the very sensitive big box ElectroVoice Empire 15 inch with horns and the big box Knight 1280 12 inch (Electro Voice) full range. No surprise , period correct I guess.
It doesn't work with mid size acoustic suspension boxes. Except Pioneer CS99a and Kenwood KL777a class speakers.

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