I'm so glad it cleaned up as nice as it did. It was really dirty, decades of cigarette smoke caked on. I was shocked that the knobs were actually clear plastic! They were yellow when I got it.
Insides I used copious amounts of goo gone, orange citrus cleaner and Windex. All lovingly applied via toothbrush or Q-Tip. This unit reeked of tobacco smoke and I found the citrus cleaner plus goo gone and a few stints outdoors mostly dissipated it. Outside citrus cleaner, diluted, plus goo gone and windex on the case to get rid of the tobacco residue. Shined the metal sparingly with stainless steel cleaner being careful to avoid the lettering.
That's a one owner unit in immaculate condition I picked up at a garage sale for $10. In fact there is a known issue with one IC chip but the owner had that replaced via a service bulletin from Pioneer shortly after he bought it.
Any Marantz 2230 or 2270, magic SS three martini sound that only Saul could do, killer phono section, most need a recap and good deOxit and LED lights. Gimme, Gimme!!
Well, these appear to be JC Penney receivers ... Did not know a dept store would sell its own brand of receivers.
I was thinking the same thing. Did a search for some of the components and they are still out there! Yamaha CR640 receiver (beautiful!). BIC Venturi 44 3 way speakers. Stax SR5 Headphones (still have since 1981!). Went through multiple turntables and cassette decks.
I just picked up a Pioneer SX-950 in Providence. Is not minty, but ain't bad either. I got no service history on it, but there is a sticker from some shop on the back- so I know someones been in there before<g>. It has scratchy pots- but I can work that. I've been reading up on getting these re-capped, and replacing problematic transistors, etc. I may have someone do some restore on it. Chris
Yes, it was a contract brand for JC penny. The consensus is that it was made by Technics (Mastushita). It was and is lo-fi made for a low price point and not to be the best on the market. Recently with prices going sky high for the big Sanui's and Pioneer SX models, people try to flip MCS for big dollars since they look similar. The last two numbers of the model generally indicate watts. It's way more show than go. It will generally cost way more to recap than it is worth in perfect condition. One might think of it as fool's gold.
I look about everyday and a G9000 is going to cost about $1,200 to $2,000. Same for the SX 1250 or 1280, if you can find one. People see that and the see the MCS and think they should get the same money.