Found this receiver at my local Salvation Army store today - I grabbed it as they were bringing it in from the back. I almost passed on it because I have never heard of the name "Planar", but this receiver just had something about it that spoke of good quality: nice wood case, very heavy, solid rear plate, decent speaker connectors. I plugged it in and while none of the lights came on, the stereo signal meter would move as I tried to tune stations. So I decided to take a chance and paid the $20 they were asking for it.
The thing must weigh 35 pounds - its a b*tch to carry! After opening it up and replacing a 3A fuse, everything lit up. It is loud, and surprisingly detailed. Superb build quality, almost looks like it was built by hand... the stickers on the bottom have a lot of hand-written info. It has large caps that are laid on their side (I never saw that before). I don't know the wattage - but I would guess it's probably around 60-70 watts. It has a large power supply.
Based on the info I found in the threads below, it looks like the Planar units were more or less "experimental", and may not have ended in stores at all. They were manufactured by Electrohome in Ontario.
http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=218246
http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=210510
I am posting a few pics of the guts and labels, and will add more once I am done cleaning & lubing and the unit is back together...
Cheers
Ben
