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question-who made the MCS 3260, and what year ?

I actually saw a 3275 in person last weekend when I picked up just about as far opposite a receiver as one could get, an Advent 300. I was looking for a kitchen sink in there.....
 

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I have a MCS oscilloscope/TV/monitor. You can use it as a 5" TV, two channel oscilloscope watt meter or a closed circuit monitor. Mine came from a launch pad at NASA. It has a NASA calibration stamp from 1979. Its kind of a weird early A/V unit.
 
lico said:
I think HTHMAN nailed it with those photos. A lot of MCS information out there is about Technics or Panasonic, but the MCS gear I've come across has been re-branded NEC stuff. In this case, hard to dispute.

I'll be pulling out my MCS-3253 for some listening over the holidays... decent but not great, but hey... nothing better than some old MCS gear from back in the day IMO.
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Funny thing, I have a 3253 too. Also supposed to be built by NEC but I do not have any supporting pics. I have it hooked up to a pair of JBL L-150s right now and it drives them just great. I like it a lot better then the 3260.
 
Matching 3722 Tuner 3522 cassette deck. (not exactly silver but some light bronze in it) I replaced the belts because it has a hi quality NEC copper core chrome head and good gearing. (motor runs all the time.. Need to put in a switch.) I adjusted the (I guess back then the new) dolby? up a tad as it was cutting off too much high end hz.

The tuner is no slouch with a common dipole. Good stuff if you can get it. Guts are usually laid out well, too. Good thing because there are literally no schematics available for any MCS unit.
 
HTHMAN said:
Funny thing, I have a 3253 too. Also supposed to be built by NEC but I do not have any supporting pics. I have it hooked up to a pair of JBL L-150s right now and it drives them just great. I like it a lot better then the 3260.
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Here's a pic of the NEC AUR-8055 (MCS 3253):
 

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I have an MCS-3700 tuner and it was NEC.

The made in Japan MCS gear was good stuff... 3275 and 3125 are TOTL....
 
I'd love to get a run down of all MCS models and OEM branding someday around here. MCS made great stuff!
 
Mcs

Almost finished restoring a 3125. Built by C Itoh from what I've been told.
 

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Frhodes said:
Almost finished restoring a 3125. Built by C Itoh from what I've been told.
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How'd you like pulling, tugging, twisting that eq controls board out?
Too bad it's not easier given the need to occasionally clean the controls.
I bought a 3125 3 months ago and had to disassemble it for control cleanings.
I sure do like it though.

Someone said look on the underside of the circuit boards for manufacturer stamps.
I'd like to know who really did make the 3125.
Many of the controls and switches and knobs appear to interchange with the 3275 which as has been said was made by NEC.
 
HTHMAN said:
Funny thing, I have a 3253 too. Also supposed to be built by NEC but I do not have any supporting pics. I have it hooked up to a pair of JBL L-150s right now and it drives them just great. I like it a lot better then the 3260.
Click to expand...
That is a handsome beastie.
 
goodolpg said:
Someone said look on the underside of the circuit boards for manufacturer stamps.
I'd like to know who really did make the 3125.
Many of the controls and switches and knobs appear to interchange with the 3275 which as has been said was made by NEC.
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All the circuit boards in the 3125 have the markings from NEC.:yes:
 
I really enjoyed the 3245 that I had. It could hold its own with a lot of the 30-50 WPC receivers I had at the time. Plus you didn't have to sit in a chair and plug something in your neck to go into the Matrix. Just push the Matrix button on the receiver and wooooosh, you were there.

02020045.jpg
 
tracker-x said:
A Technics is a step above a Panasonic or Matsushita.

that's the difference.

they are good amps for the price, but they are no Pioneer, Kenwood, Sansui, Sony, or Yamaha- those high end amps have much bigger power supplies, caps, heatsinks, and are much heavier- some can be had for the same prices or slightly more, than an MCS now.

I only paid $50 for a Pioneer SX-1250, it's all luck of the draw. I paid $10 for a really nice Kenwood- both are superior to an MCS. I paid only $100 for an original owner Marantz 2270, and $100 for a Fisher tube 500 C- both from the same original owner.

if it's made by Panasonic, I don't really seek it out, or want it.

there's really no reason to go on an MCS buying bender, they are not a diamond in the rough, they're just a decent, midpriced receiver, like an Emerson, Soundesign, Sanyo, Panasonic- made for JC Penney.

To be quite honest, there's nothing spectacular about a Panasonic or Sanyo, IMHO. Technics was a high end Panasonic, I have a vintage 1986 Technics 110 WPC rack system, bought it new- don't use it anymore. I use the speakers from it. I also have an old Soundesign receiver that would knock your socks off with fidelity, even though it's only about 10 WPC- paid $100 for it back in 1978 at Kmart, can't bring myself to sell it. It's a silver faced unit with really good transistors in it, and excellent tuner.

At one time, the front panels said "Techics by Panasonic" right on them. I had a quad 8-track recorder with that on it- it was a clunker. Looked impressive, but nothing like an Akai, Roberts, Telex. Heck, not even as good as a Sony or Pioneer.

To be honest, if I had to sell one, I'd sell the Technics. It has an IC amp in it, that burned out and had to be replaced, twice ! The vintage Technics from the 1970's are pretty nice, but being related to Panasonic, actually hurts their reputation. Panasonic never came across as high quality to me, something in that name just sounds cheap.
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"there's nothing spectacular about a Panasonic or Sanyo, IMHO"
You're kidding right?
You must be because there are a lot of Members on here who will swear by Sanyo especially their JCX Line and I include myself in that group.I guess you've never owned one for otherwise how could you know?:):scratch2:
 
goodolpg said:
How'd you like pulling, tugging, twisting that eq controls board out?
Too bad it's not easier given the need to occasionally clean the controls.
I bought a 3125 3 months ago and had to disassemble it for control cleanings.
I sure do like it though.

Someone said look on the underside of the circuit boards for manufacturer stamps.
I'd like to know who really did make the 3125.
Many of the controls and switches and knobs appear to interchange with the 3275 which as has been said was made by NEC.
Click to expand...

I took apart the push button switches to give them a good cleaning. shooting
teensy springs all over the house is sure fun when you re-assemble them.

C Itoh is from JC Penny answering that question.
 
Frhodes said:
C Itoh is from JC Penny answering that question.
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This was a mistake that JCPenney archives made. They also had the dates of manufacture wrong.

If you know the circuit board codes, then you can easily tell it's NEC made. I own many NEC pieces, and all the codes match. Also, the 5 band EQ is identical to the NEC AG-100 (see pic). The tuner is a cross between the (NEC made) MCS 3710 and the NEC AUT-8300E - same boards and all. Trust me on this one - I've done my research.:yes:

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I'll never forget the time - around Christmas 1978 IIRC when I actually saw some decent hi fi gear at a Penny's department store - who - up to that point had never carried anything even remotely hi fi.

The receiver I remember seeing was HUGE - and had a graphic EQ and display right on the front panel. Individual LED lamps at each center frequency showed the "curve" depending on the settings and it was HEAVY. No POS here!

I think it had one of the largest volume knobs ever made on consumer gear.

Anybody have a pic of that one?
 
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