Underrated or under valued Gear

[Quadrocker]

My TEAC AG-6500 Stereo Receiver. It's unknown to most people but it was TOTL in thier early 70's range. It's built as good as any early 70's receiver and has a rather unique quality....in that....just about everything else I've got SEEMS to sound better than it. (...like my Marantz 4400, Sansui QRX-6500, Marantz 2252B etc). But when I listen to it for a few days in isolation, I tend to forget any flaws it has, it just really makes me want to listen to music. It's stopped me dead on a couple of occasions listening to jazz when I was doing something else, it just really sounded good.
I have times when I like it and times when I don't. It seems like it has the potential to be modded or upgraded to something much better....although I haven't tried that yet.

One of those sleepers that most people will pass up...because it's a TEAC.

Hear's a Photo....

 

[kirk57]

I have a few favorites, but if somebody else sees the the units I want and googles it, up comes this AK page about how great it is, and the price doubles.

So I'm keeping it to myself.

 

[Theophilus Punoval]

Yo

Scott 335 R

 

[slow_jazz]

MCS gear pre 1982 with Made in Japan on back.

 

[Brian]

Thanks to our collective big mouths or more accurately well trained ears, helpful nature and ability to use a keyboard there are fewer and fewer offerings out there.

 

[henkuk]

Toshiba SA-304 Quad receiver
Not a lot of real grunt but very detailed with an excellent phono stage.

 

[jdcglasnost]

1. Optonica
2. Sony modern (90's)
3. 60's to very early 70's Garrard Changers
4. Nikko of any sort
5. Akai Receivers

Thats a good start I think.

 

[hatrack71]

5) Marantz 1090- sooooo.....smoothe
4) Sansui 881
3) Heathkit AA-151 and tube gear they made in general
2) Bose 901- due to the fact it is under appreciated greatly and bashed heavily
1) Harman Kardon twin receivers- best buy in my opinion and hard to beat

 

[HomeBody]

 

[Theabs]

Underated:

1) Toshiba SA-7*** line of receivers
2) Kenwood Basic series separates
3) Sony STR-V* series receivers
4) AR M* Holographic speaker series
5) Sanyo Plus series components

 

[audioman00]

JVC Digifine and SuperDigifine gear from the late 80's and early 90's. was jvc's attempt at high end in the U.S. market. really under the radar and beautiful gear IMO.

 

[legal eagle]

Agree about MCS. Like their integrated amps OEM'ed from NEC.

That one brings tears to my eyes: a few years ago I won one exactly like that, rack handles and all - did not have pay pal yet, so I sent the guy the money. Shall I continue? :tears::tears::tears:

:tears::tears::tears:

:tears::tears::tears:

If I may add my 2c to this thread:

Hitachi seperates - the hca & hma amp/preamps are just wonderful.

Technics seperates are getting plenty of respect, but the silver integrateds of the 70's are right up there with the kenwoods and the sansuis. The su-8600 is outstanding.

Older JVC quad integrateds.

 

[Frenchkris]

Teac ag 6500

My TEAC AG-6500 Stereo Receiver. It's unknown to most people but it was TOTL in thier early 70's range. It's built as good as any early 70's receiver and has a rather unique quality....in that....just about everything else I've got SEEMS to sound better than it. (...like my Marantz 4400, Sansui QRX-6500, Marantz 2252B etc). But when I listen to it for a few days in isolation, I tend to forget any flaws it has, it just really makes me want to listen to music. It's stopped me dead on a couple of occasions listening to jazz when I was doing something else, it just really sounded good.
I have times when I like it and times when I don't. It seems like it has the potential to be modded or upgraded to something much better....although I haven't tried that yet.

One of those sleepers that most people will pass up...because it's a TEAC.

Hear's a Photo....

I also have this Teac AG 6500 and it goes like a rocket! I've own Rotel, Marantz, ... and this really is pretty good i gotta say. It was hard to find any info but i managed to get this article from a mag that explain why it's so good. The tuner is one of the top dog with 5 gangs & 6 ceramic filters.
Looks stunning too.

i'm keeping mine. :thmbsp:

 

[melofelo]

akai receivers are absolutely dreadful...

 

[Gang-Twanger]

Mid 70's Rotel receivers.

Late '60's/early '70's Sansui receivers (1000x, 2000a, 2000x, 3000a [I think that's the model #], 5000x and also the 4000, which is nearly-identical to my 2000x). What's also cool is that they have very-effective controls - The "low-filter" switch on my 2000x has a low, 50hz crossover point, and it works beautifully at compensating for my living room's lousy acoustics, which add a boominess to the low-end and makes the bass sound larger than it actually is (Most of the time, I have the low-filter switch turned on).

Wharfedale W**D and W**E Series speakers (W40D, W60D, W70D, W40E, W60E, W70E) from late '60's through mid '70's (These were the result of Wharfedale's foray into acoustic-suspension models - Prior to this, Wharfdale used ported designs). - Great if paired with a warm, smooth-sounding receiver from the same late '60's/early '70's era. NOT to be confused with those god-awful E-series Wharfs (with the metal trim-rings on the drivers) from the late '70's (like the E50's). The company had returned to a ported design, but something went wrong with these later models (I think they were looking to compete with the other late '70's kabuki speakers with all those drivers in them - Not my kind of thing - Overkill IMO).

Pretty-much any well-built receiver from the late '60's/early '70's qualifies as a sleeper. They sound great and can be had for very-little money compared to all those "big dog" models from the late '70's/early '80's. I prefer the lower-wattage stuff (My main receiver is only 39w per-channel, but it sounds like it's twice that much).

Fisher's "Studio Standard" line of receivers are also sleepers.

 

[SaSi]

• Technics SU-9070 preamp, (excellent performer with 3 tape loops and 3 phono inputs and the ability to record a source or dub between tapes and listen to another source)
• Technics RS-AZ7 cassette deck, (excellent playback)
• Aiwa AD-F880 cassette deck, (top deck, IMHO equivalent to the Excelia series)
• Dual C-844 dual speed cassette deck, (takes any type of cassette, excellent performance in low speed, astonishing in high speed)
• Technics SL-1200MkII (very popular but bears the DJ stigma)

 

[jhoyt]

Sony ES HT receivers, especially with S-Master Pro amplification. Not for vinyl, though, as their onboard phono pre's were the most "afterthought-ish" of all afterthoughts. But hook up a digital source, using digital inputs, and look out Nellie.

 

[Phase700b]

Underrated Technics, MCS

The Technics 1979 to 1980 receivers are under rated and have better internals and specs than many comparable Pioneer units.

In particular these models:

SA-500
SA-600
SA-700
SA-800
And. .. if you ever see one. .. THE SA-1000

All, have quieter discrete phono stages than the mid to late 70's Pioneer units (which use cheaper ICs), discrete transistor output transistors, rater than the now difficult to find genuine Sanyo STK modules, and generally superb FM sections besting their rivals. They have very clean and low distortion (0.04%) amplifiers that can drive many lower efficiency speakers.

I also like the detented Volume control with numeric markings and the black shadow box recessed ring around both the volume and tuning controls. And, who doesn't like the Dual Range LED power output Indicator and dual Tuning meters on many of these models.

The internal components and design are very open and easy to service as well. Something to think about when buying a vintage receiver.

I'm looking at getting another one like the one below for the wife's craft and reading room. . .. (an excuse for me to create another listening room for jazz).:yes:

 

[BP101]

I can't vouch for all of the LXI stuff (the brand that was sold by Sears in the 1980s), but my LXI AM4023 amp is actually a Sherwood AD-2220, and I find the Sherwood stuff to be under-rated even when not hidden behind a house brand. It isn't much to look at, but it has 65 really clean watts, some great engineering (full DC non-switching), and is just a reliable performer and great to listen to. Enough punch to match up with pretty well any speakers you want. Don't count on finding it for $15 at a Thrift Store (I got lucky), but I have seen them advertised for under $100.

 

[Shadowdog]

I got a Viking sold by Eaton's in Canada (Identical to Samsung SS-3585 & same model #) 1970's Rec. for free and it's a very solid quality and sonically quite nice . The discrete parts like the output transistors must help. Pic off the web.