Choosing a '70s Receiver

Marantz receivers from the 70's are much more attractive than their later receivers ...

 

Plus, (and I don't know about later ones) they have midrange tone controls in addition to bass and treble!

 

The gyro tuning has to be its most distinctive feature, which no doubt was patented by Saul Marantz ...

 

I recently bought one of those, fully restored.

I will shortly be using it for a band recording project in 4-track mode, but it has already impressed me with its stereo playback performance. I've also done some test-recordings from LPs on it, and it sounds fantastic.

 

Not correct. The Panasonic name is ubiquitous in Japan, as is its sister company, National. They make everything from washing machines to air conditioners to rice cookers.

http://shop.panasonic.com/

The parent company of Panasonic, National and Technics is Matsushita Electric.

 

I am an avid stock investor and the corporate information on Panasonic seems to suggest its main business nowadays is Lithium ion battery and it has a long-term deal with Tesla Motor to supply battery packs. Panasonic has pretty much lent its name to some third party (contract) manufacturers to continue the production of various household appliances.

 

My HS buddy recently told me his Teac A-2340S has continued to perform beautifully after almost 40 years ...

 

Well, you didn't specify manufacturing!

I thought you were saying that the brand had mostly disappeared.

 

l guess quality electronics can live a long time with regular use keeping them limber.

 

I used to work with a guy from Taiwan whose brother was in contract manufacturing and he told me the name Panasonic in household appliances is in name only, as Panasonic really has had nothing to do with those products after a massive corporate reorg. He also told me it cost Apple about $1 to make the iPod Shuffle ...

 

Next you're gonna tell me that these two Crosley radios were not made in the same factory!

 

You never know.

 

I listen to muisc a few times a week on a bedroom audio system powered by this Tandberg amp that is over 30 years old ...

 

One of the problems with vintage equipments are the costs of overhaul. I spent close to $1K to have the following deck overhauled by a Nakamichi specialist when he replaced all the caps and did a bunch of upgrades ...

 

Hands down a Sansui Eight

 

Is this the receiver?

 

That's the Deluxe. It came out after the Eight, supposedly a step up? I've heard that the Eight has better innards. I just picked up one and the imaging is astounding. I had a 9090db and a Pioneer SX 1250 and the Eight sounds better to my ears

http://www.thevintageknob.org/sansui-EIGHT.html

 

I'm not certain how accurate Wiki is, but it looks like Panasonic is building manufacturing plants in Vietnam (they already have them in other parts of Asia), purchased a household appliance manufacturer in Slovenia, and are involved with the battery venture with Tesla Motors. Looks like they still make cameras and camcorders in Japan (whether we get those models here in the US or not is another matter), as well as other products in their various facilities around the world. From what I read there, it looks to me like they've been trimming the workforce in areas that are losing money (like consumer electronics), but they are apparently still in the manufacturing game as well as using contract manufacturers. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panasonic and from their website: http://www.panasonic.net/corporate/ BTW, the Tesla battery plant won't be completed until 2020. To date, they still have over a quarter million employees worldwide.

 

Philips has exited the home audio electronics entirely. The Philips flat panel tv's are made by other companies (usually a contract manufacturers) using the Philips name. Panasonic has been doing the same for the audio electronics business but conceivably it still has a presence in the photography business. Low-end home audio electronics has been a money loser for most European and Japanese companies. Only Chinese companies and other countries with even cheaper labor costs can still make money in that business ...

 

Very true. I just can't find any source to say who makes Panasonic's TVs, and they claim to make them themselves. My question is this: if they own a manufacturing plant, no matter where it's located, isn't that the same as that product being made by the company? Several of their products, like Blu-Ray players are made in their plant in Malaysia. I know that their HTIB products are made in China (probably in the same plant(s) that Sony and Samsung use), as well as some of their household products like irons. I have a cousin who is involved in import/export from China (he lives in Hong Kong), I'll ask him about that, he might just know. The washing machines they sell in Europe are made in the factory they bought in Slovenia. They seem to be a rather diverse company, which means they're probably a survivor as the world economy goes through the changes brought on by globalization. It may well be that they'll end up only making batteries, but right now, as far as I can tell, they still manufacture a variety of products around the world in various facilities they own.

 

I have seen the following Technics open-reel decks - made during the golden days of Panasonic being overhauled with modern electronics and sold as $20K tape deck. There has been a quiet resurgence of the open-reel format among the high-end audiophiles over the past decade ...

 

Nice deck! Yes, the new demand has driven the prices very high, both for refurbished/restored decks and the pre-recorded audio tapes from the past. As you pointed out earlier, blank tapes are pretty pricey too. I know that 3M quit making audio tape a while back, and that BASF still makes it. Do you know of any other makers of audio tape still in business?

 

TDK and Maxell exited the business entirely a few years back. I have heard of a brand name Quantegy but have never bought any. I still have a bunch of NOS Ampex tapes on 10 1/2" reel.

http://www.tapestockonline.com/reeltoreel.html

 

Here is a Setton receiver, which I saw at the NY Audio Show back in 78 and was quite impressed with the sound. Setton was billed as an audio electronics company that drew engineering expertise from the US, Japan and Europe. Alas, it went out of business pretty fast and its products were on the US market for no more than a year or two ...

 

This Sansui QRX-9001 is a monster. What is the power rating of this quad receiver?