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Your Favorite Low-Power (70s) Receiver

S

slev

New Member
All - I have a pair of 16ohm single driver speakers (92/watt), and I'm looking for your favorite low-power 15-40 watt) receivers from the '70s. Speaker manufacturer suggests damping factor around 40. I want a GREAT tuner section and an overall engaging sound. Some ideas I have are: Sansui 771, 5000A/X, 1000A (tube); Pioneer SX636/838, HK X30, Sony earlier models... Are there any "under the radar" that can be had for $400 or less? What are your thoughts?

Looking forward to your replies.
 
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I have a Pioneer SX-680 (about 30 watts?) on my desk hooked to a pair of Paradigm Atoms that sounds quite nice.
 
slev said:
I've read about some caution with the power/volume switch - any experience with these going bad with no easy replacement? Thanks!
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They aren't as fragile as people think (lasted longer than the power switch on my kr-9600, until I killed it with deoxit. Don't use deoxit with solvent on the power/volume switch. Depending on which deoxit you use it might kill it. I just hit them with faderlube now.

There is a replacement for the power/volume now. Some guy sells them on EBay. I can't vouch for how good they are. Haven't bought one yet.
 
dlucy said:
A Pioneer SX-626 or a Harman Kardon 330A or 330B will sound great at 20 watts AND they will sound "warm" as they both have cap-coupled outputs.

@sfox52 has a 626 up for sale to Ak'ers somewhere here.
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Thanks Doug - I think I will be experimenting with both "warm" and "detailed" receivers to see which type is the best match with my speakers. I know that a highly damped amp will NOT be the ticket - no bass. The speaker manufacturer suggests a damping factor around 40-50. Along with those you suggested, I'll keep my eye out for a good deal on Sansui and Sherwood.
 
A Kenwood KR4140 is what got me started on this path. Lovely rich sounding unit, and definitely has a few more watts up its' sleeve than the spec sheet lets on.
 
FluxT said:
A Kenwood KR4140 is what got me started on this path. Lovely rich sounding unit, and definitely has a few more watts up its' sleeve than the spec sheet lets on.
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Excellent unit!

That whole series, KR-2120 (was there a KR-3130?) KR-4140 KR-5150 and KR-6160, had cap-coupled output. I have a few KR-6160 units, they have PLENTY of power (almost as much as the cap-coupled Sansui Solid State 7000, but they are a little harder than normal to work on. Not quite a bird's nest inside but close.

Well worth the restoration effort, though.
 
Falstaff said:
I actually prefer the lower powered receivers. Of the ones I have experience with my preferences are the Pioneer SX-4xx and SX-5xx series, the Sherwood 7100 and the Harmon Kardon 300B.
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I haven't heard the KR-2120 or KR-4140 yet. Your replies here makes me think I'm missing something cool... hmm, where is that eBay search function....
 
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