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Receiver shopping

L100A

L100A

New Member
Hello Aker's,

I'm new to the forum. I'm in the market for a replacement receiver. My original set up wasn't that good, so I'm looking into upgrading a little. I had a small cheapo 2 channel no name receiver that blew at the left channel because it was built with supreme craftsmanship(sarcasm). I scored a decent pair of Boston Acosutics A60II'ss bookshelf speakers which aren't bad but not extremely great at GW for 20 bucks. I'm stuck between buying a new amp/receiver or buying a vintage receiver 70's/early 80's. I'm looking for a small bedroom set up, 15 wpc to maybe 35 wpc max. The BA's are rated from 90pwc and below, so 15-35wpc should do the trick. My budget is a 100 bucks. I imagine a small vintage receiver is my best bet. I'm mostly a jazz/classical listener, low volume, warm sound. I'm also getting a decent turntable to run through the phono stage for some vinyl listening. For the time being ebay is the only way for me to get a vinty recevier because the GW in town has junk receivers. Ebay is always a risk, everyone says they're vinty receiver sounds great but who can believe them. What would be the best route for me? I've been looking at forums and ebay listings and sansui,pioneer, kenwood,marantz,and yamaha are good. Is it realistic to get a receiver from ebay for around 50-70$ shipped and buy some deoxit for a clean/tune up, and from that have a nice running receiver that will do what I need to do?
 
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check out an advent 300. Small, vintage and sounds great. Could also use as a pream if you decide you want more power later.
Beer
 
The Sony STR 60XX and 70XX series has a number of real nice well built units. My Sony STR-6055 rated at 40 watts per channel is an excellent receiver. It's running my KLH 6 speakers beautifully.
 
Good bargains to be had with vintage Realistic. Pioneer SX636, Onkyo TX2500, Sansui 3900Z etc.
 
L100A said:
Hello Aker's,

For the time being ebay is the only way for me to get a vinty recevier because the GW in town has junk receivers. Ebay is always a risk, everyone says they're vinty receiver sounds great but who can believe them. What would be the best route for me? I've been looking at forums and ebay listings and sansui,pioneer, kenwood,marantz,and yamaha are good. Is it realistic to get a receiver from ebay for around 50-70$ shipped and buy some deoxit for a clean/tune up, and from that have a nice running receiver that will do what I need to do?
Click to expand...

Welcome to the party pal.(bonus points for anyone who knows what movie that line was from)It might be a little tough to get what you want for 50-70$ on ebay.Try craiglist and garage sales.Maybe $100 to $150 plus shipping on ebay is a little more realistic.Good luck.
 
For a nice, warm sound NAD receivers from 20-30wpc are hard to beat, but not quite the vintage you may really want and no silver faces. So may not be your cuppa, but they do sound good.
 
I use in my office a H/K 330C. Fully Recapped and Sounds Great.

I have seen on FleeBay and CL for under a C-Note...Marantz 2220B, Pioneer SX-780
 
Pioneer SX-636 is an excellent option, a great little receiver right in your price and power range. Nice tuner and phono sections, two tape loops as well as an aux in and beautiful to look at too. Usually can be found within your price range and there are a ton of them out there.
 
Thanks for all the comments, Looking at HK receiver's from reviews on the forum. I see myself liking the HK 3xx series... Checking ebay and If I'm lucky I can sneak a 80$ steal if the time is right... Just got to be patient and steal one. I might just go garage surfing and see if I can get some thing...
 
You may be able to score a Pioneer SX-3800 for less than $100 if you are patient. It was Pioneer's 1st Floroscan receiver, with quartz digital tuner and floroscan power meters. It still retained analog tuning as well. It had the Pioneer non-switching amp rated at 60 WPC, and that seems a bit conservative. I have had one for many years in my workshop and it has been a great unit for me. Clear crisp sound, a sensitive tuner and decent phono stage. It also has preamp outs so you can simply plug in a bigger amp and use it as a preamplifier. The 3800 and 3900 were some of Pioneer's better looking units. Which is saying something for that era.

http://vintageelectronics.betamaxcollectors.com/pioneerstereoreceivermodelsx-3800.html
 
I agree with the Craigslist / garage sale suggestion. Of course it requires some patience but it's a cheap way to upgrade along the way as well. I've "upgraded" so many times now that I have about 30 receivers. Almost all are from yard sales. Of course there is some risk in buying something someone just pulled out of their garage after 30 years but then again the risk is sometimes higher purchasing from eBay. At least at a garage sale you can look at the receiver and maybe plug it in. If you buy from eBay at least buy from someone with a good rep and with good pictures that knows what they are doing.

I also agree with the Sony suggestion. I have a Sony STR-7055 that is excellent and looks great too. They are somewhat of a sleeper so they can be found fairly cheaply - even on ebay.
 
L100, roll with pioneer man, sx-80"s, that way you have the good ole silver and the cool watt meters, plus you can hook all your stuff up to it, tt, ipod, etc. Look at a sx-780, seen many go for under a hun, thank me later, Roost
 
For $100 you may be able to get a Luxman RX-101 or RX-102. Very nice sounding receivers. They have the "suckface" that is supposed to move inwards to expose the controls when you touch the face. Most of them are broken but the "suckface" can be repaired or just defeated and left in the in position.
Check out MCS recievers. These are very nice below the radar receivers. I have a 3253 that I got for $5 at a garage sale. MCS was JC Penny's house brand, made by NEC and Technics.
Old HK receivers are nice and inexpensive.
 
I just replaced the H/K 330B in my bedroom system with an Advent 300. I wasn't so sure at first, but my wife loved the Advent's looks, and I've been increasingly amazed at its sound quality (I run Dynaco A25s in this setup). More than ample power for its 15 wpc rating. And I do like the H/K quite a bit, too.

Otherwise, you might consider one of the early Fisher SS receivers, which can be found cheap and sound very, very good. I've got a 201 Futura that needs some work done on it, but I love its warm, rounded sound signature. (I got mine for $20.) I've never heard a low-watt Sherwood receiver, but those are highly recommended (and I like my high-powered one), and I've got a NAD 7020 that I like a lot, as well. There are a lot of good options in your price range, and you might even have enough left over to upgrade your speakers.
 
Get a Sansui Six. They can often be had for around or under $100.

I used one as the basis of my system for many years.
Once I needed more power I just connected it to a Carver M-400.
 
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