Trying to track down vintage receiver ...

Receiver didn't have digital read out. It was definitely one of those old-style dials

 

I'll look into some of these brands' receivers from back then and see if anything jumps out. Thanks

 

I will - thanks. I just wish that Pioneer tuner I found was a receiver! It looks so familiar

 

Here you have a couple of others

 

Is it possible that you have any photo from the time that shows your system or you with the system? (Oh I see this is answered mostly. Could your friends have any such photos?)
MCS was sold only by J.C.Penney. Concept was sold only by Pacific Stereo on the west coast.
Dixie had a couple of short lived house brands too.

 

Try looking into alternate names bigger companies used at the time.
For instance, Panasonic electronics were sold under other names such as Technics, Curtis Mathis, and Emerson.

I'm certain the aesthetics of the alternate badge items were similar to Panasonic gear, but not the same as the flagship Panasonic branded gear.

 

Sony STR-V15 through V45 from 1981 had analog dials with only the TOTL V55 having a digital display for the tuner. I own several of them from that series, great little receivers very under the radar.

 

Look up the receiver in a 1981 Sears catalog. I am sure you can find the catalog page by page on line. Then, post picture here and I suspect someone will know the brand of receiver.

 

Thanks for all the help and suggestions. Still no luck, but at least I've been able to search through a few more brands and narrow it down a bit thanks to all of your help. So far this is the closest thing to what I remember - even the green and red at the top look familiar. But I'm certain I didn't buy both a receiver AND a tuner back then - there's no way I could have afforded both at the time. And I needed a receiver for my new turntable, cassette deck and speakers!

 

Did Sears sell a lot of different brands back then? I didn't buy it at Sears.

 

Some of my friends and I bought the same brand first stereo at the same
dept store. Maybe you still know someone who also shopped at the same
place, that might be able to help?

 

By 1980, Pioneer receivers had digital tuning displays.

 

Good to know. As I mentioned before, even though I bought this in 1980 or 1981, it could have been a discounted model from a year or two earlier. I didn't have a lot of money back then, but I walked out of the store with a Technics turntable, Sharp cassette deck, Criterion speakers ... and whatever receiver I had.

 

I'm not sure why I've dived so deeply down this rabbit hole, but while looking for old Dixie Hi-Fi ads I came upon a Circuit City website and it says that Dixie Hi-Fi was converted to Circuit City in 1977. Are you sure you didn't buy it at Circuit City and everyone in town just referred to it as Dixie Hi-Fi out of habit? That would make some difference, I'd think, as they introduced more and different brands as they became Superstores in 1981.

 

Positive it was a Dixie Hi Fi - I can even recall the location and sorta what the front of the building looked like. Circuit City eventually bought out the Dixie later in the decade - I do remember that much.

 

Whoa! Criterion speakers were sold only by Lafayette, Lafayette's house brand of speakers.

Circuit City didn't buy out Dixie, Dixie just changed their name to Circuit City.

Lafayette had its own branded line of receivers - some were pretty good.

 

According to Funding Universe, which is a database of company histories, Dixie became Circuit City in 1977.

http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/circuit-city-stores-inc-history/

 

Did Lafayette have shops anywhere in the early '80s? Like in Northeast Ohio? Or were they mail order only? Or would a smaller independent stereo store stock them? I know these were Criterion speakers I had - I just got rid of them about 5 years ago. They were in my basement.

 

Lafayette collapsed in 1981, and their NYC stores and stock were bought by Circuit City. Lafayette still had a few other stores around outside NYC. Circuit City may have closed out any remaining Lafayette private brand stuff but I doubt there was much left. I remember the NYC newspaper ads from Circuit City announcing it bought the Lafayette stores - they called them Lafayette-Circuit City for a while using the last Lafayette logo typeface - but I was never in those stores. Certain small independent stores sometimes sold certain Lafayette stuff under some arrangement, much like TruValue and Ace hardware stores do to this day. Radio Shack did that too.

 

Well, this would fall into my purchase at Dixie Hi-Fi ... which may have changed its name to Circuit City by then. Doesn't bring me any closer to my missing receiver, but at least I think we've got the store now. Thanks.

 

Maybe so. Search google and ebay for "lafayette receiver" and you might find the one you had. It could be you forgot that brand name because the brand is pretty forgotten now. But some of their receivers were very good.

 

I don't think it was a Lafayette. And what color is the top of that one? Mine was all silver and don't recall it being as big as this.