I remember 1978 very well, I was 14. Grandpa had given me a calf to raise the year before and I sold it in 1978 and for the first time actually had money. Dad drove me to the big city (Toronto) and I came home with a pioneer sx-680, PL-200 and some audio reflex speakers with 12" woofers. It wasnt just my first stereo but the first stereo in the house as all dads stuff was mono from the 50s and 60s. Holy crap did that thing ever sound fantastic, even dad was impressed. And loud, wow. it rattled every window in the old farm house , much to moms horror. Played that system for many hours every day all through high school and university. It finally died in the late 90's but I got every penny of enjoyment out of it. This summer I bought another sx680 and pl200 and set up a nostalgic system in the rec room . I have a 7070 in my office love the look and sound. My favourite pioneers are the x2x and x3x which look very similar. Marantz did change slightly, they added the silver strip where the balance control is. The older versions have more black which I prefer. Thanks for the videos
@@stereoniche well mine was a TX-1000 from Pioneer the turntable was a PL-41 or 43 or 53 can´t remenber for sure but still have them, including some speakers from Philips that some time ago they discover them ,even looking like garbage two squares and wrotten cloth had a fantastic sound , well for some it takes years to know what was better or not, the 1970 X-165D crossfield was my second open reel deck first i had a giant grundig from late 50´s with 7 speeds, yesterday found an old reel recorded there and put it to play on a GX-4000D from Akai also 1978/84 and it sounded amazing good in a BASF ferric tape,maybe recorded in 75 or close to it
In 1978, I was planning on purchasing a SX-980 but instead, I bought an SX-1250 that was on clearance for the same price. That turned out to be a good decision and I still have it today.
@@badvinyl4531 Yes, this is especially true considering that I still have the original box and packing material. I believe that I paid somewhere around $570 CAD for the receiver back in 1978.
Great video I really enjoyed it. I remember going into the Stereo stores in 1978 literally drooling now I’ve been a collector for over 45 years and own most of the models that you feature in your videos. Keep up the good work and thank you.
Awesome topic and video. I remember that year, freshman year in college, on the 1st issue of Stereo Review magazine I got on the mail, there was a pic of well dressed guy with a stack of receivers, i think it was titled Stereo wars!
To me 1978 was the pinnacle of hi fi. My ship was in Japan for two months and I would go to the Navy Exchange and drool over the monster receivers and amplifiers. They carried everything. I bought a Kenwood KA-7100 with matching tuner. 60 watts per channel but incredible specs. I also bought some Pioneer speakers that were only sold in Japan. Guys were buying Pioneer spec 1 and Spec 4 separates and monster receivers, and I couldn't because I was married and sending most of my money home. D'oh! BTW I think my Marantz 2220b is the prettiest receiver ever made!
i had a kenwood that was incredible good, i even bought kenwood decks in the 80´s and 90´s and they still record and play with perfect sound and i for more than 20 years was using only cds, minidisc and DAT and hundreds of cds recorded from dowloaded files from internet and they sound real good , even had a minidisc player in a Lancia i had most of the 90´s
The large Japanese companies produced a lot of stuff directly for the military exchanges and had switchable power supplies from Japanese 100/120v 50/60Hz - 240V 50Hz knowing that people would be stationed in Europe and other places.
@@stereoniche yes it was i have some components bought in 78 that still today sound amazing good, perfect clean sound as some refer after hearing it, a Pioneer amplifier with 80´s mission speakers and other 70´s components like cassette deck and turntable also a very good tuner
@@kennixox262 not because of the militar but because it could be sold in the U.S. and Europe , 100/110 volts 60 HZ and 220/240 volts 50 hz in Europe, allthough i have a friend who worked as a electronic engenier in Azores, he bought me a very good cassette deck like if it was for himself ,a appart island with a militar U.S.airforcefield and it wasn´t easy as they never sold nothing to Portuguese civilians , i remenber seeing a thick catalog that sold from clothes to electronics, i´ve ordered some sunglasses and some jeans and jacket from levi´s Strauss but to other worker, had luck as it wasn´t easy to buy there anything
This was great, Scott. I really enjoyed it. I remember 1978 too. I was a teenager and none of the cool audio gear I could not afford until many years later. But. This was great.
This takes me back. I entered the HiFi realm in 1980 as a Junior in HS. My first system comprised a Pioneer SX-3700 Receiver driving Pioneer HPM-500 Speakers. My turntable was a Technics SL-D303. My Technics Cassette Deck was forgettable, but good enough to make tapes for the car. I miss those days before plastic junk became the norm. As you said, those receivers were well built and the controls were robust. I'd flip the switches just to feel that satisfyingly precise thrown and the muted 'thump'. The knobs rotated within their own profile rather than looking like a planet orbiting its star, and of course the 3700's fluorescent station display and power meters were gorgeous.
While there is some cool new stuff, it just doesn't replace that tangible feel of this era. The few second pause after the power button is engaged we hear that comforting "click" of the relay, then reach for the solid feeling volume or tuning knobs, etc. and off we go touching the physical media for our music choice. Ahhh, the good times are calling.... 🙂
I love the receiver wars back in the day. I had the Sansui 7070, bought it brand new , one of the best receivers I owned. I think I then tried a Onyko next which wasn't that bad either.
Damnit, this is making me wanna break out my Nikko 1019 and get er up and running again. I believe shes from 77-79, reeeeeeeal champagne beauty! Quality is right there with Marantz & Sansui, looks and sound. Its what I grew up around in my living room, keeping it forever : D
I have a great Pioneer SX-650. I had it re-capped locally and then I bought a Harman Kardon 430 Twin that I had him do as well. I am very happy with both and have them paired with newly acquired ADS L 710 speakers as speaker A and Homemade custom 3 way speakers (high end speakers from The Speaker Factory) on speaker B. On the Pioneer 650 I have a sub with a set of ADS L10s as speaker B so I can play all ADS plus sub for speaker A&B.
Thanks for your videos, I'm pretty new to vintage HIFI. I always had a love for Kenwood products and never had an issue. I keep reading that Kenwood kind of cut corners making equipment that weren't as good as a Marantz or Pioneer. From what I see the inside of many Kenwood from that era were built pretty good. I'm thinking to get a Kenwood KA-9100 or KA-7300. Can you do a video comparing the models and years of Kenwood from that era. I use Kenwood in my car system since the 90's and it has never failed me. Thanks in advance if you can
Welcome to vintage Hi-Fi! Unfortunately, I do not have as many Kenwood units as I have of other manufacturers, but I will see about doing a Kenwood model overview at some point. Thanks for watching!
1978 was the year I crossed the threshold into what might have been considered high end at the time. I traded my JVC 5550 receiver (1971) for a Quad 405 power amp and a Nakamichi 410 pre-amp. Then I sold my barnyard, home made speakers with chicken components, for a pair of Quad 57 speakers. I also added a Yamaha T-1 tuner. I think you're right about 1978 being the peak of "pure" home audio, before video and home theater gained in popularity and manufacturers began taking shortcuts in build quality with audio components. By the way, I still use the Quad 405 and the Nakamichi 410. The Quad electrostatics I sold for a pair of ADS 810 speakers and later upgraded to the ADS 1230s (1983) which I still have. As you know, Audio is a journey that for some never ends. You can get sucked into the vortex of terminal upgrade fever.
1978 - a bit of a magical year. So you sold the Quads or still have them? I am planning a video of them down the road. ADS are wonderful speakers as well, sound quite different though, all fun stuff.
The 9090 does it for me. I have the Sansui G7500, Fisher 500C, Concept 16.5, Mac 4100, Sansui AU717 with matching TU717. Love them all. Would like to get hold of the Sansui AU 20000 but prices are ridiculously high. Thx for the video. Enjoy your channel.
You certainly have a great collection going! And thanks so much for watching. The AU20k are certainly getting premium prices these days. One sale made the upcoming video, in fact.
When I look back to ‘68, when my folks bought an HH Scott console unit that was basically a Scott receiver, a phono, and two drivers made by Cerwin Vego,, and pushing an ear popping 10WPC, then fast forward only 10 years to the receiver wars, its mind blowing. I remember them paying a pretty penny for that console, which was not exactly state of the art, but pretty advanced for the day. Then in a single decade, solid state receivers became works of art, with enough punch to knock the pictures off the walls. Certainly a decade of advanced technology.
Yes it was. The late 60's still had the console as being considered the "stereo", but as well, solid state was still fairly new and manufacturers were honing their engineering skills. But as you point out, just 10 years later they were hitting on all cylinders and cranking out the watts in their models.
I agree that year was the zenith for stereo components of the 70s. I was already to separates by this year but I loved the looks of the receivers. Sony and Nikko also had beautiful looking units too. Both were undervalued if you ask me.
I had a Sansui 9090b back in the late 70s. I drove a pair of ESS AMT 1Bs with it. It had a lot of power and was huge and heavy. Looked cool at night with the room lights off and the turntable glowing. Getting nostalgic.
From 1978, I have Pioneer SX-1280 , Hitachi SR-2004 , Telefunken Opus Hifi 7050 , Marantz 1550 , Pioneer SX-780 , Pioneer SX-680 . Great year for audio equipment!
@@stereoniche I was also going to add Nikko NR-1219, Technics SA-828 and Realistic STA-2080, but I realized they are 1979-1980. That seemed to be about the end, before build quality really started to drop in the early 1980s.
My 78 Toshiba SA775 has a door hiding the tone and balance controls for a cleaner look and to keep people especially the kids from playing with it. It has tone crossovers main in/out power meters all the bells and whistles except connections for a 3rd set of speakers and sounds exquisite. I would only replace it with the top of line 7100 or the best of them all the MAC 4100 if it wasn't so expensive, but actually a good deal at around 1700 average compared to top model competitors...
@stereoniche I have their top of the line in 77 SA620 for sale. However I'm not a fan of the all push button and slider controls except for the volume and tuning knobs, and I doubt you are either. It's a nice collector quality all original unit but the advancements made cosmetically and mechanically just the following year make the 775 and 7100 more desirable and presentable. They also have one higher model top of the line quite advanced for 78, the 7150 with a pll digital tuner and 150 wpc. All 3 are considered monster receivers and worthy collectibles ranging from 500 to 1400 in ascending order. Thanks for your videos always interesting and informative 👍
I worked in both a mall stereo dealer and a "high end" shop during this timeframe. The big names went all out as is obvious in your presentation. At the mall what usually sold these units was the great looks and lights they presented. A real matter of personal taste of the look most of the time. Not many shoppers got past how loud they would play on their favorite speakers. What was their "watts"? Not a whole lot of time spend on what receiver actually sounded musical. There were exceptions for sure but not as a rule. The shop I worked in carried a couple of receiver lines that the owner felt were musical, reliable and some not too expensive for the average shopper. The esoteric end was Tandberg. Next was Marantz. my favorite line was Yamaha. Mid 70's Yamaha seemed to win every head to head competition in the store. The CT-7000 Tuner was a great unit as well. I still have my Yamaha receiver and am seriously considering my favorite Tandberg from back in the day.
Yamaha certainly has some head turners. I almost brought out my example, but in the end, left it in the back room. Tandberg, I am still in the hunt for a good example to add to my collection. But what a great time to have experienced selling gear, you got to see it firsthand.
I think Pioneer receivers were best selling in that era because they were good sounding and looking units AND they were heavily discounted unlike some other brands!
It must have been 1978 when I traded out my Pioneer receiver for used McIntosh C26 and MC2505 and paid for them from cutting lawns. Still use them pretty much every day.
Great investment of those lawn cutting years. I had several lawns near my home that I would cut weekly for $5/week. I really thought I was rolling in the bucks. LOL
I think 1978 was the peak of the all-in-one Receivers "Power Wars". I didn't purchase ANYTHING that year since I was still enjoying the equipment I purchased in '73 and '75.
1978 Harman Kardon Citation Receiver. I have brochures, users and service manual. Not well known, not many out there. Only 750. Made $1100. List price 1978. Way ahead of its time.
Still have a Realistic STA-2000D from that approximate year. Wished I would have kept my old Kenwood and Optonica receivers that were given away in the late 80's...
Some great looking stereo's you have, U was given a nice Yamaha receiver a few years ago and I thought he said be bought it new in 1978 , it has the wood top on it. I never knew how much this old stuff goes for now. I could have been rich off the super cheap systems i could have bought over the years. Advent Bose ect.
@stereoniche Okay I will check that out tomorrow, I have it boxed up in the garage and let you know what my model it is. I'm studying these older systems now because I run across them in the retirement communities That I work in and everything is in really good condition when I see it, now they have estate sales and things are more money but I'm usually there before they get the stuff, so I will start collecting.
It's a cr2020 the speakers that I also got with it is Yamaha NS A380 speakers they definitely look newer and are pretty tall, I need to get the stuff out and hook everything up and see what kind of sound I get. Thanks for your help.
You can pick up these units today cheap at garage sales. Last spring I picked up a Pioneer model AH-71 Centrex tuner and record player system with original speakers. 12W amplifier with low distortion factor. I have it set up with 4 speakers. Two 3 way Centrex speakers and 2 good size Bose speakers. Now I bought complete system for 65.00. The record player was frozen but everything looked new...I tore the record player apart...De gunked it with engine cleaner then let it set it the hot sun for four hours. That freed all the old grease that was hard. Then I regreased the unit and gears. The tone arm the pin was not put in right at the base. I fixed that....the needle was broke off so I ordered a new needle on line. Well it sounds super and I can rattle the windows with Led Zeppelin and Moody Blues, Pink Floyd and Beatles! I have my Technics cassette player hooked up to it as well as my 8 track unit and my Reel to Reel player. I restored all these other units too! Sounds Great! Keep up the good work with your channel! And keep listening!
Back around 77 a friend had a Digital Time Delay - Phase Linear I believe. Talk about sound stage when a horn just starts playing 4 feet in front of you and perhaps 29 degrees to one's right etc etc. Almost bought one but common sense said better not - about $450 back then. Oh so sweet though
Actually digital time delay units messed up the focus of the front channels. Bert Whyte, one of the best audio journalists ever, noted that in several of his monthly write ups in Audio magazine. Many people bought the magazine, mainly to read his monthly feature. Plento of time delay units cheap on ebay. Just one more proof that the world is not running out of vintage gear....there will always be plenty out there.
Simple because they are durable and made easy for repair and the spare parts are visible enough to repair...The sound quality of receivers is so excellent and the reception is good. Tuning capacitor is durable not plastic.
I became a Tandberg guy in 1981 - buying their model "TR-2045" (still have it - still nice - sits near my keyboard even now (with FM - classical playing) They were well made in Norway - nice veneer cases standard. Mid-seventies ones had blue lighting - later ones (liek mine) amber lighting. More "modern" design - and Great Sound. I also had (later) their big flagship "2080" with controls for Everything! Not as common as the Japanese-made ones - but worth covering I think.
Interesting to observe that the companies that avoided the 'receiver wars' such as Mcintosh, Quad, Naim, Sugden etc are all still going strong and yet all of the companies that got into the receiver quagmire are all but gone. I wonder if all these beautiful, big Japanese products were actually loss leaders and eventually brought about their demise. Companies such as Mcintosh and Quad clearly knew their customer base. My first experience of one of these monsters was my uncle who had a huge Akai receiver, an AA1200, with Wharfedale wardrobe size speakers. 🙂
I wish I had some historical business metrics to review for those decades. I've always been curious how their numbers compared, but I agree, there were certainly those that were chasing volume at any cost to their long term customer base.
@@stereoniche Yes indeed. I was interested to read in the book ' Mcintosh, for the love of music' that they sent out questionaires to their customers at one point and assumed that their customer base were mainly Doctors and Dentists etc. They got one hell of a backlash when it turned out that their customers were truckers and they hadn't included that profession on their questionare. It's a funny old world.🙂
I've never owned vintage Pioneer anything. I currently own the other three manufacturers. Sansui takes the cake for me Sansui 881 Marantz 2245 Technics 5570
I want to know more about Quadrophonic please. It wasnt that useful for rock music but for orchestral music it was sensational. Imagine listening to John Barry Dances with Wolves in Quad. Please please please do an indepth on quadrophonic. It is almost frowned on. I really like what you are doing and how you are doing it.
Here’s the Cliff Notes version. Quad was a good idea. It was an attempt at surround sound. The big problem was that there was no industry standard for quadraphonic. The quad equipment was being built by different manufacturers with different incompatible standards. Quad recordings were expensive, and would require the record and radio people to buy new more capable equipment (expensive). The consumer was confused about the benefits and standards. Few people got on-board and Quad failed in the marketplace. The industry got better with standrds. VHS/ Betamax/ laser disk got resolved pretty quickly. Compact Disk also adopted a standard quickly. So the industry got better at this sort of cooperation over standards.
I àppreciate the fact the lights weren't converted to LED on the Pioneer. The incandescent bulbs suit those receivers. The LED's give them , even the Marantz a cheap 80s look. .
It starts to have better sound that anything from the same range after 1979, i have a Luxman that resembles the Sansui but without the Dolby NR module that seems dificult to fix and not possible to bypass it, at least i was told, as the macintosh receiver/pre i have very old(72 maybe) sounds better than the 90´s ones, mine only a sony integrated amplifier needed a repair but others all worked only some electric parts do need to be changed from 40 something years to more than 50 years of use , they work just not so crystal clear sound as when it were bought ,one only notices after having the first restored with original parts no upgrades, and yes in 78/79 new lines were released from several brands with more modern at the time features, about Marantz which is a great brand the thing that sets it appart is the radio tuner knob being horizontal not vertical as all others had a blue strong light with a thick dark glass in front of the lights. Also the sansui you have there is better not just the look but how nice they sound till 1979 after only trash.
@@stereoniche the 79 was "Next year wi´ll make them afordable to more people...", but why decrese the quality of the more expensive components, in 79 the SX-408 from Pioneer is not only beautifull but with some SB-F3 from technics it sounds a lot better than most of the amplifiers sold today ,even cds sound better there, no DAC needed allthough the cd player had already a very good internal dac , a PCM 58 Burr Brown, the also Pioneer PD-7300,my first standart size cd player, it looks new better than the ones bought almost 10 years later and today till 500€ at least, i´ve seen turntables selling by more than 1.000€ and i have none since late 60´s with such a bad sound, if one can call that a turntable like the cartridges expensive as hell, no sound and prices are extremelly high and a few hours of use , when i bought a substitution needle for the EPS-270ED , when it arrived i said to the seller that the tip must had fallen ,nothing there i said, the reply was , all are perfect , well straight to the garbage, one buys records for decades than destroy all with a modern stylus , i have now a Grado Prestige III Gold ,bought 5 years ago and a 2Mblack from Ortofon ,well i have some old needles not thinking of using them when having still 2 or 3 needles of substitition bought in the late 90´s but were in the same store since the 80´s and they don´t need the pre-amplifier the cartridges that were doble or triple the size make`hem sound perfect and loud enough , i was using a amplifier with two phono inputs from late 77, now i couldn´t use any input because of the new cartridges, there was a time when MM cartridges sounded louder , well today they sound even lower than old good MC cartridges and new comopnents seem the worst i ever seen and some talk about evolution ,if to the stone age , reduce costs increase prices that´s evolution?
I have no interest in "new" gear, since I primarily collect hi-fi stereo amplification equipment from the '60s and '70s (mostly the latter, mostly solid state). I have some 21st century DACs and streamers, some newer speakers and turntables and cartridges made within the last ten years or so, but I hook them all up to and play them through my vintage receivers, separates and integrateds. No question (as Sinatra sang) that 1978 was a very good year (even though he sang it in 1966). I like the black meters in the Pioneer X80 series, and the black dials in the alternate X90 models even better. Thanks for the always-fascinating overview! The only Technics receiver I have is one of the more recent items in my collection, a 1980-82 SA-303 (my stuff tends to be from 1965-1979) -- which still looks a lot like the 1978 SA-800 you have here with the little LED level meters that replaced mechanical VU meters in the '80s. (Love the blue ones on my Pioneer SA-708 from 1978-80.)
We each have our favorites, but the Onkyo's were certainly very nice at that time. Sadly, we may not see any future products from them after this year.
I agree with this year (1978) for solid state (often Japan-made) stereo receivers. Not that 76 - 77 - 79 - even 80 were good too. (I bought in Jan. of 1978 a Harmon-Kardon 430)
I'd like to see some panel speakers on your show. Like Magneplanar Tympany I or Tympany III, or Infinity Servo-Statik, Quad ESL, Acoustechs, KLH 9, etc
I have actually been working on just such a video showcase. It will probably be a few more months, I am still trying to get some historical details, but that is certainly in the works.
The problem with these vintage receivers is that AM/FM radio broadcasts are pretty much dead. So much of the face of these units are dedicated to frankly very attractive radio dial scales but nothing to listen too.
Indeed. This is exactly why I do not give tuners any points in my receiver rankings of functions. Going forward, just not a big need for it. I have toyed with the idea of getting a small broadcaster to send out radio in the house from a streamer just so I can use the tuner, but that would just be for fun, not really practical.
Hello sir, I'm new this channel. I know this not related to this videos topic. But what reputable online store can I order capacitor kit for restoring my 1974 TRIO KA-9006? Thank you so much sir.
Thanks for watching. For capacitor purchase, I typically only use the large online provides like Mouser.com or Digikey.com as they are very reputable. But for kits for your Trio unit, I cannot say with any certainty who to recommend. Perhaps some others here can give you a recommendation, but there are some kits on eBay for various units and you can at least review their feedback to get some kind of idea on their reputation.
First Scott l owe you a sincere apology. If that's ok, l'm submitting my first of many cool and unusual pieces l own. They're a source of pride for me. This is a JVC VR-5660 an early attempt at digital using super cool nixie tubes. The build quality is second to IMHO absolutely nothing, and the sound is powerful and robust. I took a picture, but have no idea how to attach it.
what made these 70s era receivers special were their phono section great sonics playing vinyl LPs that newer digital receivers can't match or don't even have anymore the phono section on my Pioneer SX-828 blows away the one on my Denon AV 5700 and Luxman R-112 receivers
Hard to believe that your Pioneer receiver has a better phono section than Luxman. Assuming you have proper listening skills, your Luxman was probably serviced at some point and instead of the superior Sanken and Motorola transistors which were the original parts, a repair shop just threw in whatever replacement transistors they had on hand. Most of the Luxman amps from the 1970s I know from first hand experience were problematic. Gear from that era that said Luxman, often seen the repairman. But Pioneer was no Luxman, and the whole reason Luxman existed was to offer sound quality a cut above (really many cuts above), brands like Pioneer and Kenwood. Even Luxman tuners are a whole new experoence and actually elevate your idea of the quality of FM FM radio. Luxman never offered a great watts per dollar ratio like those brands, but it made you realize there way more important things than how many watts.
@@sidesup8286 the Luxman was brand new when i changed over from my Pioneer tried different phono cartridges and still not happy with the sound quality Pioneer was 1973 model Luxman was1990s model neither have ever been serviced with replacement parts i'm a musician and know what music is supposed to sound like the Pioneer came closer to sounding like a live performance
I have never used a Luxman receiver, but have used quite a few of their 1980s integrated amps. If the Luxman receiver was from the 1990s, lps were on the way out (before their comeback), and maybe they gave the phono section low priority and maybe their receivers were not of the same quality as their amps..That was a bit surprising to me though. In retrospect Pioneer's best products, sound quality wise back then was their reel to reel tape decks and cassette decks. But that is not to say that they couldn't have come out with a receiver line that was a cut above. Maybe a new head designer who is a stickler for detail etc. I'm glad you like it.
What years were the Low Distortion Wars? Or did that battle run concurrently with the power wars? They got way lower distortion figures by adding lots of negative feedback into the circuit, which grained up the sound. These words probably occurred a hundred million times throughout the world back then, "It got more kick , but the sound is grainier or something." A gray haired British reviewer who has real "ears" says the best sounding Sansui's were from the early 1970s even though they didn't have much power. He said it was fairly unusual that Sansui made their own transformers.
i´ve spent a lot of money on a 70´s Exclusive Pioneer system from mid to late 70´s ,today i can buy excessive expensive material, but none sounds good as my 70´s more expensive system, basically are two M6 mono blocks a M3 control amplifier a set of twin 2401 speakers , a P3 turntable, a Akai open reel deck the GX-4000D sold from 78 to 84 and a CT-F1250 cassette deck , my father was a Nakamichi freak once i tried with a C60 maxell XLII-S ,recorded in a just bought 1000ZXL to compare them , well Pioneer are flat recorders and even the cassette recorded in the Nakamichi sounded better in the Pioneer, lucky me that after he died all cassette decks and systems , really expensive ones ,even a home studio with all that was expensive in 1970 and improved till 2018 all his mine ,i ended moving to his house instead of getting all and put it on mine
I have an 1180dc marantz. Everyone talks about receivers and nobody talks about just amps, entrigrated or not. Don't have a need for a reciever. They talk too much on AM, and even on the 60's Underground FM stations.
Hey Charles. Receivers have had the most sales volume, mostly due to them being all in one package, but I have reviewed some integrated amps and pre/amp combos in prior videos. I do not own an integrated Marantz example though. If you watch one of my prior video reviews, I do not give points for the tuner section as I agree with you, not much need for them any more.
Normally if a video is about new gear, that's a hard-pass for me. #1. Not interested and #2 if I was interested, I don't want to spend $1900+ for a machine that plays CDs.
Agree. I start coughing when I see the MSRP of this new gear and cannot believe anyone really says vintage gear is too expensive. Just take a few minutes to get some current gear pricing and vintage will look dirt cheap, even with restoration cost added.
That means try to shop local. Frequent estate sales, thrift stores, FB Marketplace, etc. so you can see the gear firsthand and avoid the added expense of shipping. But also, perhaps there is a local used Hi-FI shop in your area.
That's wrong about ebay; or at least an overgeneralization. SOME THINGS from SOME SELLERS are priced very opportunistically. But the whole world didn't suddenly become. "IN THE KNOW". There are still bargains galore on vintage equipment, on ebay and elsewhere from sellers both unknowledgeable AND knowledgeable. The bigger dilemna is whether a vintage piece stacks up sonically to some of the better newer stuff. That is something I would realky like to know myself.
The best way to get vintage equipment is what I've done: Buy it Before everybody else does, as in ten or more years ago. Waiting until now doesn't work. I can't afford to get rid of anything I own because it would cost twice as much to replace as I got out of it.
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I remember 1978 very well, I was 14. Grandpa had given me a calf to raise the year before and I sold it in 1978 and for the first time actually had money. Dad drove me to the big city (Toronto) and I came home with a pioneer sx-680, PL-200 and some audio reflex speakers with 12" woofers. It wasnt just my first stereo but the first stereo in the house as all dads stuff was mono from the 50s and 60s. Holy crap did that thing ever sound fantastic, even dad was impressed. And loud, wow. it rattled every window in the old farm house , much to moms horror. Played that system for many hours every day all through high school and university. It finally died in the late 90's but I got every penny of enjoyment out of it. This summer I bought another sx680 and pl200 and set up a nostalgic system in the rec room . I have a 7070 in my office love the look and sound. My favourite pioneers are the x2x and x3x which look very similar. Marantz did change slightly, they added the silver strip where the balance control is. The older versions have more black which I prefer. Thanks for the videos
We never forget our first.
@@stereoniche well mine was a TX-1000 from Pioneer the turntable was a PL-41 or 43 or 53 can´t remenber for sure but still have them, including some speakers from Philips that some time ago they discover them ,even looking like garbage two squares and wrotten cloth had a fantastic sound , well for some it takes years to know what was better or not, the 1970 X-165D crossfield was my second open reel deck first i had a giant grundig from late 50´s with 7 speeds, yesterday found an old reel recorded there and put it to play on a GX-4000D from Akai also 1978/84 and it sounded amazing good in a BASF ferric tape,maybe recorded in 75 or close to it
@wooddragon576 Very good memories for you!!!
I wish I had them back then!
In 1978, I was planning on purchasing a SX-980 but instead, I bought an SX-1250 that was on clearance for the same price. That turned out to be a good decision and I still have it today.
When I was buying new gear, I always timed it to buy the prior year's gear at extra discount/clearance. Your timing could not have been any better.
Wow! Good move . There is a big difference in used prices between those two models nowadays.
@@badvinyl4531 Yes, this is especially true considering that I still have the original box and packing material. I believe that I paid somewhere around $570 CAD for the receiver back in 1978.
That's how I snagged my Pioneer SX-850 Autumn 1977
@stereoniche
I just finished restoring a 1978 Harman Kardon HK-560. I like the look and it sounds great.
Great video I really enjoyed it. I remember going into the Stereo stores in 1978 literally drooling now I’ve been a collector for over 45 years and own most of the models that you feature in your videos. Keep up the good work and thank you.
No matter how MUCH I Love Digital Stereo - YOU Just Can't Beat the Stereo Quality of Stereo Sound of the 1980's
My brother sent me a 9090 when he was in the marines at Okinawa in '77. It was about $350. Marines got a sweet discount at the time.
I’ll say! What a gift!
Awesome topic and video. I remember that year, freshman year in college, on the 1st issue of Stereo Review magazine I got on the mail, there was a pic of well dressed guy with a stack of receivers, i think it was titled Stereo wars!
That title sounds about right for that timeframe. Stereo wars were certainly in full swing! LOL
To me 1978 was the pinnacle of hi fi. My ship was in Japan for two months and I would go to the Navy Exchange and drool over the monster receivers and amplifiers. They carried everything. I bought a Kenwood KA-7100 with matching tuner. 60 watts per channel but incredible specs. I also bought some Pioneer speakers that were only sold in Japan. Guys were buying Pioneer spec 1 and Spec 4 separates and monster receivers, and I couldn't because I was married and sending most of my money home. D'oh! BTW I think my Marantz 2220b is the prettiest receiver ever made!
It was quite the year.
i had a kenwood that was incredible good, i even bought kenwood decks in the 80´s and 90´s and they still record and play with perfect sound and i for more than 20 years was using only cds, minidisc and DAT and hundreds of cds recorded from dowloaded files from internet and they sound real good , even had a minidisc player in a Lancia i had most of the 90´s
The large Japanese companies produced a lot of stuff directly for the military exchanges and had switchable power supplies from Japanese 100/120v 50/60Hz - 240V 50Hz knowing that people would be stationed in Europe and other places.
@@stereoniche yes it was i have some components bought in 78 that still today sound amazing good, perfect clean sound as some refer after hearing it, a Pioneer amplifier with 80´s mission speakers and other 70´s components like cassette deck and turntable also a very good tuner
@@kennixox262 not because of the militar but because it could be sold in the U.S. and Europe , 100/110 volts 60 HZ and 220/240 volts 50 hz in Europe, allthough i have a friend who worked as a electronic engenier in Azores, he bought me a very good cassette deck like if it was for himself ,a appart island with a militar U.S.airforcefield and it wasn´t easy as they never sold nothing to Portuguese civilians , i remenber seeing a thick catalog that sold from clothes to electronics, i´ve ordered some sunglasses and some jeans and jacket from levi´s Strauss but to other worker, had luck as it wasn´t easy to buy there anything
This was great, Scott. I really enjoyed it. I remember 1978 too. I was a teenager and none of the cool audio gear I could not afford until many years later. But. This was great.
Thanks Richard! It would be many more years for me as well before I bought my first decent setup, but oh what a feeling!
Proud SX-780 owner here!
Excellent model!! :-)
Just sold mine today, I replaced it with a Dynaco ST-70@@stereoniche
@ryansmith7974 ...Dynaco..are you kidding me. I had problems with that unit back in the day.
Same.
Dynaco has quite a bit of 3rd party support of replacement parts, boards, etc. that should make them quite reliable and sound quite good.
This takes me back. I entered the HiFi realm in 1980 as a Junior in HS. My first system comprised a Pioneer SX-3700 Receiver driving Pioneer HPM-500 Speakers. My turntable was a Technics SL-D303. My Technics Cassette Deck was forgettable, but good enough to make tapes for the car.
I miss those days before plastic junk became the norm. As you said, those receivers were well built and the controls were robust. I'd flip the switches just to feel that satisfyingly precise thrown and the muted 'thump'. The knobs rotated within their own profile rather than looking like a planet orbiting its star, and of course the 3700's fluorescent station display and power meters were gorgeous.
While there is some cool new stuff, it just doesn't replace that tangible feel of this era. The few second pause after the power button is engaged we hear that comforting "click" of the relay, then reach for the solid feeling volume or tuning knobs, etc. and off we go touching the physical media for our music choice. Ahhh, the good times are calling.... 🙂
Hi!!! I also have a 9090 DB Sansui and i love it! This age it was wonderful for big and good equipaments! Congratulations for your vídeo!
They are GREAT! Thanks for watching!
Bought a Sansui g22000 new for $1,400 in 1978. Wanted the 33000 but couldn't justify $500 more. I still have it and it works fine!
A fantastic buy and a great investment! I've to actually run across one or the 33k model.
I love the receiver wars back in the day. I had the Sansui 7070, bought it brand new , one of the best receivers I owned. I think I then tried a Onyko next which wasn't that bad either.
That x0x0 line from Sansui was really top notch at all levels. The fit and finish were very well done, but expensive.
Damnit, this is making me wanna break out my Nikko 1019 and get er up and running again. I believe shes from 77-79, reeeeeeeal champagne beauty! Quality is right there with Marantz & Sansui, looks and sound. Its what I grew up around in my living room, keeping it forever : D
LOL, no pressure, but YES, you REALLY NEED to get it going again! 🙂
I bought a Setton during that time. What a beast. Clipped it one time on my roommates ESS speakers
I have a great Pioneer SX-650. I had it re-capped locally and then I bought a Harman Kardon 430 Twin that I had him do as well. I am very happy with both and have them paired with newly acquired ADS L 710 speakers as speaker A and Homemade custom 3 way speakers (high end speakers from The Speaker Factory) on speaker B. On the Pioneer 650 I have a sub with a set of ADS L10s as speaker B so I can play all ADS plus sub for speaker A&B.
Nice setup! All great brands and models that are appreciated by most.
Thanks for your videos, I'm pretty new to vintage HIFI. I always had a love for Kenwood products and never had an issue. I keep reading that Kenwood kind of cut corners making equipment that weren't as good as a Marantz or Pioneer. From what I see the inside of many Kenwood from that era were built pretty good. I'm thinking to get a Kenwood KA-9100 or KA-7300. Can you do a video comparing the models and years of Kenwood from that era. I use Kenwood in my car system since the 90's and it has never failed me. Thanks in advance if you can
Welcome to vintage Hi-Fi! Unfortunately, I do not have as many Kenwood units as I have of other manufacturers, but I will see about doing a Kenwood model overview at some point. Thanks for watching!
@stereoniche an overview would be perfect. I still have to invest in speakers and eq so budget is important. Thanks for replying
1978 was the year I crossed the threshold into what might have been considered high end at the time. I traded my JVC 5550 receiver (1971) for a Quad 405 power amp and a Nakamichi 410 pre-amp. Then I sold my barnyard, home made speakers with chicken components, for a pair of Quad 57 speakers. I also added a Yamaha T-1 tuner. I think you're right about 1978 being the peak of "pure" home audio, before video and home theater gained in popularity and manufacturers began taking shortcuts in build quality with audio components. By the way, I still use the Quad 405 and the Nakamichi 410. The Quad electrostatics I sold for a pair of ADS 810 speakers and later upgraded to the ADS 1230s (1983) which I still have. As you know, Audio is a journey that for some never ends. You can get sucked into the vortex of terminal upgrade fever.
1978 - a bit of a magical year. So you sold the Quads or still have them? I am planning a video of them down the road. ADS are wonderful speakers as well, sound quite different though, all fun stuff.
@@stereoniche Yes, I sold the Quads and never looked back. They have a great mid-range, as you know, but also well-known shortcomings.
The 9090 does it for me. I have the Sansui G7500, Fisher 500C, Concept 16.5, Mac 4100, Sansui AU717 with matching TU717. Love them all. Would like to get hold of the Sansui AU 20000 but prices are ridiculously high. Thx for the video. Enjoy your channel.
You certainly have a great collection going! And thanks so much for watching. The AU20k are certainly getting premium prices these days. One sale made the upcoming video, in fact.
One thing that does stand out is the astetics, which today's components fail terribly.
Yes, industrial design was hitting on all cylinders at this stage.
When I look back to ‘68, when my folks bought an HH Scott console unit that was basically a Scott receiver, a phono, and two drivers made by Cerwin Vego,, and pushing an ear popping 10WPC, then fast forward only 10 years to the receiver wars, its mind blowing. I remember them paying a pretty penny for that console, which was not exactly state of the art, but pretty advanced for the day. Then in a single decade, solid state receivers became works of art, with enough punch to knock the pictures off the walls. Certainly a decade of advanced technology.
Yes it was. The late 60's still had the console as being considered the "stereo", but as well, solid state was still fairly new and manufacturers were honing their engineering skills. But as you point out, just 10 years later they were hitting on all cylinders and cranking out the watts in their models.
I agree that year was the zenith for stereo components of the 70s. I was already to separates by this year but I loved the looks of the receivers. Sony and Nikko also had beautiful looking units too. Both were undervalued if you ask me.
Nikko is under the radar. I am hoping to pick up some examples at some point.
I had a Sansui 9090b back in the late 70s. I drove a pair of ESS AMT 1Bs with it. It had a lot of power and was huge and heavy. Looked cool at night with the room lights off and the turntable glowing. Getting nostalgic.
They still look cool with the lights off and still sound just as good also. Join us and you can relive it all again. :-)
From 1978, I have Pioneer SX-1280 , Hitachi SR-2004 , Telefunken Opus Hifi 7050 , Marantz 1550 , Pioneer SX-780 , Pioneer SX-680 .
Great year for audio equipment!
So many great models from that year, they are all fantastic! Nice collection!
@@stereoniche I was also going to add Nikko NR-1219, Technics SA-828 and Realistic STA-2080, but I realized they are 1979-1980. That seemed to be about the end, before build quality really started to drop in the early 1980s.
My 78 Toshiba SA775 has a door hiding the tone and balance controls for a cleaner look and to keep people especially the kids from playing with it. It has tone crossovers main in/out power meters all the bells and whistles except connections for a 3rd set of speakers and sounds exquisite.
I would only replace it with the top of line 7100 or the best of them all the MAC 4100 if it wasn't so expensive, but actually a good deal at around 1700 average compared to top model competitors...
It is nice to keep those little curious fingers away. I need to find a nice Toshiba to add to the collection.
@stereoniche I have their top of the line in 77 SA620 for sale. However I'm not a fan of the all push button and slider controls except for the volume and tuning knobs, and I doubt you are either. It's a nice collector quality all original unit but the advancements made cosmetically and mechanically just the following year make the 775 and 7100 more desirable and presentable. They also have one higher model top of the line quite advanced for 78, the 7150 with a pll digital tuner and 150 wpc. All 3 are considered monster receivers and worthy collectibles ranging from 500 to 1400 in ascending order. Thanks for your videos always interesting and informative 👍
I worked in both a mall stereo dealer and a "high end" shop during this timeframe. The big names went all out as is obvious in your presentation. At the mall what usually sold these units was the great looks and lights they presented. A real matter of personal taste of the look most of the time. Not many shoppers got past how loud they would play on their favorite speakers. What was their "watts"? Not a whole lot of time spend on what receiver actually sounded musical. There were exceptions for sure but not as a rule. The shop I worked in carried a couple of receiver lines that the owner felt were musical, reliable and some not too expensive for the average shopper. The esoteric end was Tandberg. Next was Marantz. my favorite line was Yamaha. Mid 70's Yamaha seemed to win every head to head competition in the store. The CT-7000 Tuner was a great unit as well. I still have my Yamaha receiver and am seriously considering my favorite Tandberg from back in the day.
Yamaha certainly has some head turners. I almost brought out my example, but in the end, left it in the back room. Tandberg, I am still in the hunt for a good example to add to my collection. But what a great time to have experienced selling gear, you got to see it firsthand.
Atelier Hifi specializes in VFets amplifier restoration. He is out in California and he restored my Yamaha B2 and my Sony TA-5650 VFets amp is next.
Very cool!
Good video Jeff👏
Glad you think so!
I think Pioneer receivers were best selling in that era because they were good sounding and looking units AND they were heavily discounted unlike some other brands!
@@ccadp1219 I agree... Steve! 🙂
Great sound
Those ‘78 units cranked their xss-off without breaking a sweat!* That’s exactly why they were great.
It must have been 1978 when I traded out my Pioneer receiver for used McIntosh C26 and MC2505 and paid for them from cutting lawns. Still use them pretty much every day.
Great investment of those lawn cutting years. I had several lawns near my home that I would cut weekly for $5/week. I really thought I was rolling in the bucks. LOL
I think 1978 was the peak of the all-in-one Receivers "Power Wars".
I didn't purchase ANYTHING that year since I was still enjoying the equipment I purchased in '73 and '75.
It is a milestone year for many reasons, but who needed new gear when you had it from '73-'75! 🙂
@@stereoniche I'm still using my re-built SONY TA2000f pre-amp as my daily driver today. They don't make 'em like they used to...
MR255: late `78, phased out slider balance and gyro tuning. Specs, notably distortion, were still top notch.
That was a "transitional" unit for the era.
Muse Audio n Ann Arbor, Michigan did an excellent job on my Marantz !
1978 Harman Kardon Citation Receiver. I have brochures, users and service manual. Not well known, not many out there. Only 750. Made $1100. List price 1978. Way ahead of its time.
Very Nice! If you could send digital versions of the brochures, etc. that would be very much appreciated.
Yes, I would love to find an HK Citation Receiver. Ya, me and everybody else.
Still have a Realistic STA-2000D from that approximate year. Wished I would have kept my old Kenwood and Optonica receivers that were given away in the late 80's...
The more expensive models all have a midrange tone control. Not so the lower
Tier units. I like this feature.
Very true, you had to go to the higher level models to get mid control.
Some great looking stereo's you have, U was given a nice Yamaha receiver a few years ago and I thought he said be bought it new in 1978 , it has the wood top on it.
I never knew how much this old stuff goes for now.
I could have been rich off the super cheap systems i could have bought over the years. Advent Bose ect.
Thanks John. If the Yamaha is from 1978 the last two numbers would be 20, like CR-820, CR-620, etc.
@stereoniche Okay I will check that out tomorrow, I have it boxed up in the garage and let you know what my model it is.
I'm studying these older systems now because I run across them in the retirement communities That I work in and everything is in really good condition when I see it, now they have estate sales and things are more money but I'm usually there before they get the stuff, so I will start collecting.
It's a cr2020 the speakers that I also got with it is Yamaha NS A380 speakers they definitely look newer and are pretty tall, I need to get the stuff out and hook everything up and see what kind of sound I get.
Thanks for your help.
You can pick up these units today cheap at garage sales.
Last spring I picked up a Pioneer model AH-71 Centrex tuner and record player system with original speakers. 12W amplifier with low distortion factor. I have it set up with 4 speakers. Two 3 way Centrex speakers and 2 good size Bose speakers.
Now I bought complete system for 65.00.
The record player was frozen but everything looked new...I tore the record player apart...De gunked it with engine cleaner then let it set it the hot sun for four hours.
That freed all the old grease that was hard. Then I regreased the unit and gears.
The tone arm the pin was not put in right at the base. I fixed that....the needle was broke off so I ordered a new needle on line.
Well it sounds super and I can rattle the windows with Led Zeppelin and Moody Blues, Pink Floyd and Beatles!
I have my Technics cassette player hooked up to it as well as my 8 track unit and my Reel to Reel player. I restored all these other units too!
Sounds Great!
Keep up the good work with your channel! And keep listening!
Back around 77 a friend had a Digital Time Delay - Phase Linear I believe. Talk about sound stage when a horn just starts playing 4 feet in front of you and perhaps 29 degrees to one's right etc etc. Almost bought one but common sense said better not - about $450 back then. Oh so sweet though
Actually digital time delay units messed up the focus of the front channels. Bert Whyte, one of the best audio journalists ever, noted that in several of his monthly write ups in Audio magazine. Many people bought the magazine, mainly to read his monthly feature. Plento of time delay units cheap on ebay. Just one more proof that the world is not running out of vintage gear....there will always be plenty out there.
@@sidesup8286 The sound sure impressed me.
Imo, 1978 was vintage audio peak year. That Technics SA series was my favorite receiver. Where it all started for me.
Well, you already know my thoughts on it.
Simple because they are durable and made easy for repair and the spare parts are visible enough to repair...The sound quality of receivers is so excellent and the reception is good. Tuning capacitor is durable not plastic.
Great point!
I became a Tandberg guy in 1981 - buying their model "TR-2045" (still have it - still nice - sits near my keyboard even now (with FM - classical playing) They were well made in Norway - nice veneer cases standard. Mid-seventies ones had blue lighting - later ones (liek mine) amber lighting. More "modern" design - and Great Sound. I also had (later) their big flagship "2080" with controls for Everything!
Not as common as the Japanese-made ones - but worth covering I think.
Still have my tandberg 2075 using as a preamp tuner mated with a crown dc300a
Interesting to observe that the companies that avoided the 'receiver wars' such as Mcintosh, Quad, Naim, Sugden etc are all still going strong and yet all of the companies that got into the receiver quagmire are all but gone. I wonder if all these beautiful, big Japanese products were actually loss leaders and eventually brought about their demise. Companies such as Mcintosh and Quad clearly knew their customer base. My first experience of one of these monsters was my uncle who had a huge Akai receiver, an AA1200, with Wharfedale wardrobe size speakers. 🙂
I wish I had some historical business metrics to review for those decades. I've always been curious how their numbers compared, but I agree, there were certainly those that were chasing volume at any cost to their long term customer base.
@@stereoniche Yes indeed. I was interested to read in the book ' Mcintosh, for the love of music' that they sent out questionaires to their customers at one point and assumed that their customer base were mainly Doctors and Dentists etc. They got one hell of a backlash when it turned out that their customers were truckers and they hadn't included that profession on their questionare. It's a funny old world.🙂
Although the focus here is receivers, one can not forget the the legendary NAD 3020 hit the market in 1978.
Indeed, NAD was putting out great product in this timeframe as well.
I've never owned vintage Pioneer anything. I currently own the other three manufacturers. Sansui takes the cake for me
Sansui 881
Marantz 2245
Technics 5570
I cannot argue with Sansui and Marantz! 🙂
I want to know more about Quadrophonic please.
It wasnt that useful for rock music but for orchestral music it was sensational.
Imagine listening to John Barry Dances with Wolves in Quad.
Please please please do an indepth on quadrophonic.
It is almost frowned on.
I really like what you are doing and how you are doing it.
Great idea. I will put that on the list!
Here’s the Cliff Notes version.
Quad was a good idea. It was an attempt at surround sound. The big problem was that there was no industry standard for quadraphonic. The quad equipment was being built by different manufacturers with different incompatible standards. Quad recordings were expensive, and would require the record and radio people to buy new more capable equipment (expensive). The consumer was confused about the benefits and standards. Few people got on-board and Quad failed in the marketplace.
The industry got better with standrds. VHS/ Betamax/ laser disk got resolved pretty quickly. Compact
Disk also adopted a standard quickly. So the industry got better at this sort of cooperation over standards.
I have a Sansui G9000 And a G8000
Fantastic! They are both very nice receivers! 🙂
I àppreciate the fact the lights weren't converted to LED on the Pioneer. The incandescent bulbs suit those receivers. The LED's give them , even the Marantz a cheap 80s look. .
The Marantz is glowing quite a bit. Not sure exactly what is in it as I bought it this way, so I will need to check it out.
It starts to have better sound that anything from the same range after 1979, i have a Luxman that resembles the Sansui but without the Dolby NR module that seems dificult to fix and not possible to bypass it, at least i was told, as the macintosh receiver/pre i have very old(72 maybe) sounds better than the 90´s ones, mine only a sony integrated amplifier needed a repair but others all worked only some electric parts do need to be changed from 40 something years to more than 50 years of use , they work just not so crystal clear sound as when it were bought ,one only notices after having the first restored with original parts no upgrades, and yes in 78/79 new lines were released from several brands with more modern at the time features, about Marantz which is a great brand the thing that sets it appart is the radio tuner knob being horizontal not vertical as all others had a blue strong light with a thick dark glass in front of the lights. Also the sansui you have there is better not just the look but how nice they sound till 1979 after only trash.
Certainly big changes were right around the corner.
@@stereoniche the 79 was "Next year wi´ll make them afordable to more people...", but why decrese the quality of the more expensive components, in 79 the SX-408 from Pioneer is not only beautifull but with some SB-F3 from technics it sounds a lot better than most of the amplifiers sold today ,even cds sound better there, no DAC needed allthough the cd player had already a very good internal dac , a PCM 58 Burr Brown, the also Pioneer PD-7300,my first standart size cd player, it looks new better than the ones bought almost 10 years later and today till 500€ at least, i´ve seen turntables selling by more than 1.000€ and i have none since late 60´s with such a bad sound, if one can call that a turntable like the cartridges expensive as hell, no sound and prices are extremelly high and a few hours of use , when i bought a substitution needle for the EPS-270ED , when it arrived i said to the seller that the tip must had fallen ,nothing there i said, the reply was , all are perfect , well straight to the garbage, one buys records for decades than destroy all with a modern stylus , i have now a Grado Prestige III Gold ,bought 5 years ago and a 2Mblack from Ortofon ,well i have some old needles not thinking of using them when having still 2 or 3 needles of substitition bought in the late 90´s but were in the same store since the 80´s and they don´t need the pre-amplifier the cartridges that were doble or triple the size make`hem sound perfect and loud enough , i was using a amplifier with two phono inputs from late 77, now i couldn´t use any input because of the new cartridges, there was a time when MM cartridges sounded louder , well today they sound even lower than old good MC cartridges and new comopnents seem the worst i ever seen and some talk about evolution ,if to the stone age , reduce costs increase prices that´s evolution?
I have no interest in "new" gear, since I primarily collect hi-fi stereo amplification equipment from the '60s and '70s (mostly the latter, mostly solid state). I have some 21st century DACs and streamers, some newer speakers and turntables and cartridges made within the last ten years or so, but I hook them all up to and play them through my vintage receivers, separates and integrateds. No question (as Sinatra sang) that 1978 was a very good year (even though he sang it in 1966). I like the black meters in the Pioneer X80 series, and the black dials in the alternate X90 models even better. Thanks for the always-fascinating overview!
The only Technics receiver I have is one of the more recent items in my collection, a 1980-82 SA-303 (my stuff tends to be from 1965-1979) -- which still looks a lot like the 1978 SA-800 you have here with the little LED level meters that replaced mechanical VU meters in the '80s. (Love the blue ones on my Pioneer SA-708 from 1978-80.)
I too do not have much in the way of Technics models, the SA-800 is my only example outside of several turntables.
My dad had an Onkyo receiver that he bought in '78. I still think that it is prettier than any of these show here.
We each have our favorites, but the Onkyo's were certainly very nice at that time. Sadly, we may not see any future products from them after this year.
I agree with this year (1978) for solid state (often Japan-made) stereo receivers. Not that 76 - 77 - 79 - even 80 were good too. (I bought in Jan. of 1978 a Harmon-Kardon 430)
McIntosh MA6200 had decade plus long run beginning in '78
I'd like to see some panel speakers on your show. Like Magneplanar Tympany I or Tympany III, or Infinity Servo-Statik, Quad ESL, Acoustechs, KLH 9, etc
I have actually been working on just such a video showcase. It will probably be a few more months, I am still trying to get some historical details, but that is certainly in the works.
@@stereoniche GREAT!!!! 👍
The problem with these vintage receivers is that AM/FM radio broadcasts are pretty much dead. So much of the face of these units are dedicated to frankly very attractive radio dial scales but nothing to listen too.
Indeed. This is exactly why I do not give tuners any points in my receiver rankings of functions. Going forward, just not a big need for it. I have toyed with the idea of getting a small broadcaster to send out radio in the house from a streamer just so I can use the tuner, but that would just be for fun, not really practical.
Hello sir, I'm new this channel. I know this not related to this videos topic. But what reputable online store can I order capacitor kit for restoring my 1974 TRIO KA-9006? Thank you so much sir.
Thanks for watching. For capacitor purchase, I typically only use the large online provides like Mouser.com or Digikey.com as they are very reputable. But for kits for your Trio unit, I cannot say with any certainty who to recommend. Perhaps some others here can give you a recommendation, but there are some kits on eBay for various units and you can at least review their feedback to get some kind of idea on their reputation.
First Scott l owe you a sincere apology. If that's ok, l'm submitting my first of many cool and unusual pieces l own. They're a source of pride for me. This is a JVC VR-5660 an early attempt at digital using super cool nixie tubes. The build quality is second to IMHO absolutely nothing, and the sound is powerful and robust. I took a picture, but have no idea how to attach it.
You will need to send me an email to stereoniche@gmail.com and attach any pictures to the email.
what made these 70s era receivers special were their phono section great sonics playing vinyl LPs that newer digital receivers can't match or don't even have anymore the phono section on my Pioneer SX-828 blows away the one on my Denon AV 5700 and Luxman R-112 receivers
Yes, being that the record was the primary recorded source, the phono section took top priority and had to be quite good.
Hard to believe that your Pioneer receiver has a better phono section than Luxman. Assuming you have proper listening skills, your Luxman was probably serviced at some point and instead of the superior Sanken and Motorola transistors which were the original parts, a repair shop just threw in whatever replacement transistors they had on hand. Most of the Luxman amps from the 1970s I know from first hand experience were problematic. Gear from that era that said Luxman, often seen the repairman. But Pioneer was no Luxman, and the whole reason Luxman existed was to offer sound quality a cut above (really many cuts above), brands like Pioneer and Kenwood. Even Luxman tuners are a whole new experoence and actually elevate your idea of the quality of FM FM radio. Luxman never offered a great watts per dollar ratio like those brands, but it made you realize there way more important things than how many watts.
@@sidesup8286 the Luxman was brand new when i changed over from my Pioneer tried different phono cartridges and still not happy with the sound quality Pioneer was 1973 model Luxman was1990s model neither have ever been serviced with replacement parts i'm a musician and know what music is supposed to sound like the Pioneer came closer to sounding like a live performance
I have never used a Luxman receiver, but have used quite a few of their 1980s integrated amps. If the Luxman receiver was from the 1990s, lps were on the way out (before their comeback), and maybe they gave the phono section low priority and maybe their receivers were not of the same quality as their amps..That was a bit surprising to me though. In retrospect Pioneer's best products, sound quality wise back then was their reel to reel tape decks and cassette decks. But that is not to say that they couldn't have come out with a receiver line that was a cut above. Maybe a new head designer who is a stickler for detail etc. I'm glad you like it.
@@sidesup8286 in 1973 the Pioneer SX-828 was their top of the line receiver
I would love to own one of those 4 units ❤ I’m from 68’
Greetings from Copenhagen Denmark 🇩🇰 Europe
They certainly are all very nice examples and welcome from Denmark! 🙂
What years were the Low Distortion Wars? Or did that battle run concurrently with the power wars? They got way lower distortion figures by adding lots of negative feedback into the circuit, which grained up the sound. These words probably occurred a hundred million times throughout the world back then, "It got more kick , but the sound is grainier or something." A gray haired British reviewer who has real "ears" says the best sounding Sansui's were from the early 1970s even though they didn't have much power. He said it was fairly unusual that Sansui made their own transformers.
i´ve spent a lot of money on a 70´s Exclusive Pioneer system from mid to late 70´s ,today i can buy excessive expensive material, but none sounds good as my 70´s more expensive system, basically are two M6 mono blocks a M3 control amplifier a set of twin 2401 speakers , a P3 turntable, a Akai open reel deck the GX-4000D sold from 78 to 84 and a CT-F1250 cassette deck , my father was a Nakamichi freak once i tried with a C60 maxell XLII-S ,recorded in a just bought 1000ZXL to compare them , well Pioneer are flat recorders and even the cassette recorded in the Nakamichi sounded better in the Pioneer, lucky me that after he died all cassette decks and systems , really expensive ones ,even a home studio with all that was expensive in 1970 and improved till 2018 all his mine ,i ended moving to his house instead of getting all and put it on mine
The Sansui lights are wrong.
The analog lights are much warmer and pleasant
True, original lamps, as seen in the Pioneer, for example, are more warm in many cases.
1978 was about the time pioneer switched from discreet outputs to darlington power packs. Not desirable in my experience.
theres still a lot of this stuff out there and its as good as any of the new stuff,,most new is computerized shit
there was a bigger Yamaha , that one isn´t the biggest model and in 78 Technics by Panasonic that used to be in 73/74 at the most , at least in Europe
I have an 1180dc marantz.
Everyone talks about receivers and nobody talks about just amps, entrigrated or not.
Don't have a need for a reciever.
They talk too much on AM, and even on the 60's Underground FM stations.
Hey Charles. Receivers have had the most sales volume, mostly due to them being all in one package, but I have reviewed some integrated amps and pre/amp combos in prior videos. I do not own an integrated Marantz example though. If you watch one of my prior video reviews, I do not give points for the tuner section as I agree with you, not much need for them any more.
Normally if a video is about new gear, that's a hard-pass for me. #1. Not interested and #2 if I was interested, I don't want to spend $1900+ for a machine that plays CDs.
Agree. I start coughing when I see the MSRP of this new gear and cannot believe anyone really says vintage gear is too expensive. Just take a few minutes to get some current gear pricing and vintage will look dirt cheap, even with restoration cost added.
1978 so SPECIAL?....................
In 1978 there were popular Radio Stations.
Vintage stereo gear is getting to expensive to buy eBay is out of sight
That means try to shop local. Frequent estate sales, thrift stores, FB Marketplace, etc. so you can see the gear firsthand and avoid the added expense of shipping. But also, perhaps there is a local used Hi-FI shop in your area.
That's wrong about ebay; or at least an overgeneralization. SOME THINGS from SOME SELLERS are priced very opportunistically. But the whole world didn't suddenly become. "IN THE KNOW". There are still bargains galore on vintage equipment, on ebay and elsewhere from sellers both unknowledgeable AND knowledgeable. The bigger dilemna is whether a vintage piece stacks up sonically to some of the better newer stuff. That is something I would realky like to know myself.
The best way to get vintage equipment is what I've done:
Buy it Before everybody else does, as in ten or more years ago. Waiting until now doesn't work.
I can't afford to get rid of anything I own because it would cost twice as much to replace as I got out of it.
It's pronounced TEK-NEEKS
Not in my house! But either pronunciation is fine. :-)
Just in the world is it pronounced.Tek neeks.
Wow, almost 6 minutes of self promotion. Way too many channels on utube to waste my time even as an audiophile interested in this subject.
I should have sent it out in my newsletter. Wait….. I don’t have a newsletter…..hmmmmmm
UNIITS??
I WORKED IN A UNIT!!
Retro Addict in York PA. Are tops at fixing your vintage equipment problems.
Thanks!