Which To Keep And Refurbish

[Gain]

Hey everyone, hope I am not breaking any rules with this first post, but I have just arrived, and I am still getting costumed (used to be more active around here, but the latest years draw my focus elsewhere!) to the AudioKarma way =)

TLDR: I need help choosing which devices to keep and restore and which to sell.

Some 10 years ago, when vintage audio came my way, I was under the brilliant illusion that these things not only sounded good, they were made to last and 40+ years on they were still pumping out magic tunes no matter the source.
Some years ago my daily runners started failing on me, the usual intermittent channel volume drop, sound loss on one channel, device on for a few seconds after power off button was pressed... the run-of-the-mill age-related sicknesses I guess.

Fast-forward to 2019 and my son came to this world and I basically lost the time and logistics to keep what I owned, so I sold a lot of stuff and kept some of my favourites:

Receiver: '77 Marantz Model 2238
Receiver: '76 Harman/Kardon 730 - Twin Powered
Receiver: '77 Fisher RS-1058
Tuner: '74 Denon TU-500
Integrated: '75 Denon PMA-700Z

The crux is this, I really don't want to give up on vintage audio, but the reality is that if I am to keep and sustain one or two of these for a vintage setup, they should probably undergo a thorough revision with probably a recapping procedure for starters.

The question is then: in your experience of these devices, which is/are the easiest to keep healthy for years to come and the safest investment?

• I have heard some units have really hard or even unobtainable components, which is scary because I have already invested in buying them and after a recap, I don't want to end up with several hundred dollar worth of doorstops;
• I know the most popular is the Marantz, especially the 22XX and 23XX series, so parts availability should be plenty;
• Output wise, at the 90 Watts mark the Fisher is the more muscular of the bunch and power is never too much;
• the Denon set is exquisite, aesthetically very out of the box, and I always loved them;
• the HK being having dedicated power sources for each channel never failed to impressed me, even when driving big ass floorstanders (like a pair of JBL 3000 Ti I used to own);

Bonus question: I live in Europe and have recently been quoted a little bit over $200 for a full recap on the Denon integrated, is this a reasonable proposition or is the technician being either way too optimistic or way too cheap to be true? I have no idea of the cost, but If I set like $60 for all the capacitors there is only around $140 remaining which divided by 24h (~3 working days) amounts to a mere ~$6/hour, that is less than what the housecleaning lady currently charges me...

 

[Blue Shadow]

HK being having dedicated power sources for each channel never failed to impressed me

Reads like you prefer the sound of the HK. It does sound good, maybe best of the bunch, but there is such strong attraction to Marantz worldwide and that contingent might say otherwise whether they have heard the HK or not.

200 sounds cheap for a recap but amps have fewer caps than receivers and if done properly for that would be a great price. I would get it done and if they can do the tuner, too, you have a set to use as you figure out what receiver to use in the other system. At this age the tuner might benefit for an alignment for best results. See if your guy does that.