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Opinion time: What is your favorite small receiver of all time, and why?

All cap coupled and IMO sound very similar and I have owned them all. I'd take anyone of them back. In no specific order, HK 330B, Marantz 2015, Pioneer SX-424.
 
Anyone have any experience with the "other" brands like Toshiba, Hitachi, Akai, Nikko, Philips, Fisher, Realistic, or Sherwood?
 
It's funny, I have a slew of great gear that I have collected and restored, never to be sold. But when I was young my father had a Pioneer SX-626 receiver which although not the best sounding or most powerful I absolutely love. The simple controls, strong tuner, blue dial, phono stage. I can have the craziest gear, but when I go to his house and listen to that little receiver it just sounds great.

It may not be the best but it is certainly my favorite for a great reason.
 
I got sucked into old audio gear because of the sound of a Fisher 200 that I found at a thrift store. And along the way I found the Sherwood S-7100A which is, for me, one of the best little receivers. Sweet, warm, comfortable listening.
 
Eywadude said:
Anyone have any experience with the "other" brands like Toshiba, Hitachi, Akai, Nikko, Philips, Fisher, Realistic, or Sherwood?
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I have a Philips 7851. It's out of your original watt range, it's 30 WPC but it's the smallest working receiver I have. I think it sounds and looks great. What's interesting is the way the service manual reads it could handle a 2 ohm load, but I'm not positive on that yet.
 
waggs098 said:
I have a Philips 7851. It's out of your original watt range, it's 30 WPC but it's the smallest working receiver I have. I think it sounds and looks great. What's interesting is the way the service manual reads it could handle a 2 ohm load, but I'm not positive on that yet.
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Wow, that would be EXTREMELY surprising to see such a small amplifier section that could handle a 2 ohm load! I would never attempt it though, as you'd most certainly fry it. :P

MER71 said:
Sansui 221. Awesome sound from a 8WPC receiver!!
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Cool! Yeah, I have to admit, I am intrigued by those little Sansuis. How would you characterize its sound? What are its strengths? Cheers. :)
 
Although I'm not a receiver type, if I had to choose one it would be one of the lower powered Marantz receivers. They IMO just look right, plus I just love that gyro touch tuning. The blue glow doesn't hurt either.
 
Sony CMT-FX300i (actually a micro stereo) rated at 5 watts per channel. I plugged my Sony CD player in the front and connected my Boston Acoustics speakers to the back, and I am shocked at how good it sounds. The CD player in this unit is shot, but the amp in it sounds great with these speakers...some sort of weird synergy. In some ways it sounds better than my Onkyo integrated amp. Peace and goodwill.
 
onemug said:
I only have 1 that small in my collection and it's a Scott 399 (17 wpc tube receiver) but it's one of my favorites. I bought it for it's looks with the hope that the sound would be okay. Sounds as good as it looks. :thmbsp:

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I MUST get to recapping mine, now that a bunch of other real life stuff has settled a bit.

Another favourite is my H/K 330B (currently in the main system with Wharfedale W90s).

AK turned me on to all of this stuff. Thanks guys & gals!
 
^Yeah, stereo gear is the healthiest "sickness" I know of. lol And it looks like you are yet another happy H/K 330 owner. Those seem to be slowly building the case for me. ;)
 
It is amazing the amount of beautiful radios out there. This night the TV is off, the Marantz is off and pioneer is off, you say what's left? My little hallicrafter S-38C shortwave, been listening to the ham radio operators this night. All my radios are my favorite at times, like when I go to the garage the Pioneer SX-650 is my favorite.
 
While I wish I had more to compare with, some of the listed sound very intriguing, but from my own experiences, I bought a Rotel RX-400
rotel_rx-400a.jpg
at a garage sale for 10.00 nearly 20 years ago, it is still in my garage pushing a set of JBL-L46's and a set of Infinity RSb's with a nice enjoyable sound, but the longevity is what makes it special to me.
 
Just wondering; are there any Pioneer SX-300 users/lovers out there? I am curious about these tiny 7W receivers! :)
 
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