Needing some help to decide on a brand Yamaha, Pioneer, Sansui or other:

I am looking to buy a vintage stereo receiver and since y'all are the experts on this equipment. I know y'all will give me some great advice. I do have a Technics SL-D303 turntable, and a Sherwood RX-5502 Receiver. I would really would like to get a very nice Receiver from the 70's in the middle range. I can't really afford the top but something that is not only beautiful to look at but something I will appreciate for years to come. Also need some speakers, but what I don't know. I'm really new to all of this so any help would be appreciated and thank you. Oh I'm looking spend about no more than 400.00 on receiver and speakers.

 

Buy a Sansui 4000 receiver in top condition, buy a nice pair of Dynaco A 25 loudspeakers in top condition, enjoy it for life.

 

At that price point a Pioneer 780 and a couple nice speakers will do the trick for ya

 

The problem with your request is that vintage receivers require a pretty thorough recapping or they often won't continue to operate properly for all that long. If you want to go the vintage route, I would only consider recapped specimens.

 

I dunno. I have been doing the thrift shop thing and snagging vintage units for the last 5 yeara or so. Never had to re cap my Pioneer 780 or 880 but then again I have only had to invest $40 a pop or so..

I did find a Sansui G-6000 that needed a lot of work on it from the get go. $300 and nearly a total recap later and it sounds like a dream..

 

Be aware vintage receivers like the one you're using do not possess the ability to have their volume adjusted via remote control. Although this may be rather obvious, once the novelty wears off, you might miss that capability so you might as well get a friendly reminder before bothering with exploring vintage receivers.

As mentioned by @TarnishedEars old gear need to have their internals upgraded. Like your car's tires, when capacitors have been used for decades of mileage (so to speak), they would need to be replaced so that the receiver sounds its best. Otherwise, it might sound half as good as it can... or worse. Unfortunately, that requires a technician to open it up, remove the old capacitors, and solder new ones where the old ones were. This all costs money, far more than you're willing to spend. To moot, a member is selling a Marantz vintage receiver which has been recapped and serviced for $425. This is standard fare, price-wise.

Because of this, you have only the following choices, as far as I can see ;

1. Forego the vintage receiver idea. If you can ignore what the gear looks like and how old it is, you'll have access to much better sounding gear in your budget.

2. Find a vintage receiver that's already been recapped (i.e. had its capacitors changed). Typically, sellers will want to recoup some of the money they spent on the technician's work so the price increases accordingly. In such cases, you're likely to get near or above your $400 limit. Either you'd stick with your current speakers or would need to increase your budget to compensate.

3. Buy a vintage receiver which hasn't been recapped and judge whether it sounds great. If it does, terrific! However, *please* be aware you're very likely not hearing it at its best and that any day, one or more capacitor might become defective and in need of being replace. It could take days, weeks, months, or years but it eventually will happen where the sound quality will have degraded to a point where you won't be able to ignore it.

There are some risks with #3. If you're delighted with your choice but experience some major sound quality issues next year (for instance), you'll have to make the painful decisions to either have it recapped which isn't cheap, to go back to your Sherwood should you still have it then, or to buy something else entirely.

Buying audio equipment doesn't have to be complicated but I believe in knowing your choices and their consequences.

 

You will, eventually.

 

Not recommended. STK output modules which are now unobtainable, many counterfeits. If this was a SX 980, which is discrete transistor, I'd be more apt to recommend it.

 

Big issues is $400 today new does not buy him anything well made, with real sound quality. $400 does not buy today in audio what it did then. Today it barely buys you a cheap receiver, no better than the Sherwood he has, plus our poster will likely have to buy a phono preamp on top of this. To do better, he's looking at NAD or Parasound territory in terms of sound quality for music for a new one at 2-3x the price.

 

VERY recommended by me especially if you can get one for $40 like I did

 

If it's in perfect condition, and you don't have to get it repaired (that STK module for a genuine one, is getting ever more expensive, ever more harder to find, and if one fails, can render it a paperweight, no substitute alternative parts) it is nice. But discrete transistors are better, if they fail for whatever reason, there's substitute transistor options if you need them to keep yours alive. Discrete transistors also sound better when done right. In my area, on average a SX 780 is $200 in nice condition or nearly so. The previous SX 750 was a superior receiver, and better built with discrete transistors, and also sounded better. And still maintainable today and easier repaired. Less cost cut in design, build, and overall engineering. In that era, the lower Pioneer models like the SX 580 and SX 780 suffered first from cost cutting, they were the first to be cheaper built. As inflation then was rearing it's ugly head, and Pioneer was trying to not increase prices.

 

Nah. I havent had any issues finding parts for the 780 or the 880 but in the 5 years i have had them i never had to buy anything for them either other than the repair of the case which i did myself

 

I repair equipment. I tell it like it is. Of the SX 750, I've repaired 8 of them over the years which came into the shop. All 8 were repairable at reasonable cost. The SX 780 was as repairable when new, and while STK modules were readily available. They are not now. They are discontinued and have been for several years. And no substitute part. The last SX 780 I had in to repair had two blown STK modules. I could not buy new genuine replacements at any price. I had to buy two used pulls from donor units to repair this. Both took 4 months to find. This last SX 780 was in otherwise, pristine cosmetic condition. It's the nicest one I've seen in many years. If this one had been cosmetically beat up, I'd have not recommended it be repaired. Your history is different. In my area, when new, this was Pioneer's most popular receiver. And was nice in good order. But STK output modules on everything which uses them, are getting to be very difficult to find parts. And unavailable new from parts suppliers.

 

I never suggested new gear as in new from a store. Since vintage gear was discussed, I assumed she'd have no issues buying used more modern gear.

 

OP appears to be female. Further, they want to spend $400 total on a new (or new to them) receiver + speakers. That's a tall order for new gear. I'd be inclined to keep the current receiver and spend $300 on a decently efficient pair of bookshelf speakers + $100 on fillable speaker stands + filler.

OP could spend $400 on a recapped vintage receiver but would have no money left for decent speakers.

 

Used vintage has served me well.
Less than $100 invested here..

 

Some points from my view:

- Plan to recap or buy one recapped. An issue buying one already completed is you don't know for sure what has been done inside and the quality of the work.

- As McLover has stated, watch out for the ones with the unobtanium parts. A resource like McLover is nice to have when making choices like this.

- I have seen some nice integrated amps sold around the $400 mark on ole AK, from reputable folks. Beyond a simple recap actually. Superb bargains

- Nice specimens from Pioneer, Kenwood, Sansui etc. I'm a little partial to Sansui and Yamaha

 

I'm not disputing cheap vintage gear can be had. What I am stating which is either ignored or downplayed by some is the gear will very likely not sound its best and/or will require some servicing sooner rather than later which will offset any deal that might be had.

If a specific piece was rarely used, that's a different story... but there's no way to verify the seller's claim about little usage.

 

Inderstamd your point. Some of us PREFER vintage and would NEVER pay for newer equipment!

The quality of the materials used in vintage equipment is FAR superior to the materials used in recievers in the $200-$300 range today .


I test them at the thrift shop before I buy them and then get to know a good tech in the area if needed.

The only vintage unit I had to repair was an almost DOA Sansui G-6700..

Since the exterior was in show room condition AND it came with a pair of vintage SP X7700's I had zero problems with paying $300 for a full recap..

ZERO regrets about bringing this beauty back to life and to MY ears it sounds better than anything new at that price point.

 

Don't forget that I am responding directly to the OP's concerns and budget. I am glad your purchases panned out and that spending $300 to have one receiver brought back to life was no hardship for you. The OP's situation is different, however.

 

$300 is their apparent budget for a unit though...

Spending $300 or so for a vintage unit versus $300 for a newer unit that is of inferior quality is my point

 

That is not entirely accurate. $400 for both a receiver and speakers is what was mentioned. For that amount, she is expecting to buy new (to her) speakers as well as a receiver which will be an upgrade in contrast to what she currently uses.

I understand your point and, if you read upthread, even agree with it. However, keep in mind her budget and expectations don't exactly match in terms of being subjected to a noticeable SQ upgrade... hence why I suggested buying speakers later on and focusing exclusively on upgrading her receiver with her allotted budget.

 

Thank you for y'all help this is not going to be easy, but I think I knew that coming into this discussion. Great advice from everyone, still looking for a great deal if anyone of y'all in the Dallas area that can or know someone works on this equipment that won't cost me a arm and a leg. Please let me know I would like to keep a reference in the near future.

 

Can I ask why you want vintage? Do you like the way it looks? Like the way it sounds? Both?
And, do you really need a receiver? Will an integrated amp suffice?
Aesthetics are important, but I'd say sound quality and reliability might trump that to some degree. What if you could have the whole package...

I vote for gently used, recent gear with a vintage look, such as a Yamaha A-S301. There are many used units available in nice condition from reputable sellers, and you can get it in black or silver. Even a new one is only $349 (or possibly less). It's a GREAT amp. I used to have one.



Add to that a $50 used pair of the Andrew Jones designed Pioneer SP-BS22-LR speakers and you'll be in really nice shape. At some point you'll realize you need more bass and maybe want to add subwoofer and--wouldn't you know it--the Yamaha has a subwoofer connection, and Pioneer makes a matching sub!

 

I really think this is the best option.