Old school stereo

Ronstar

Ronstar

Moderator Emeritus
Joined
Aug 23, 2007
Messages
18,633
Location
Northern Illinois
In the 80's, we had a nice stereo system. Turntable, receiver/amp and some big B&W speakers. We moved on to cd's and our receiver/ amp died. We gave our speakers to MIL. She has now moved in with us, and I'm taking back the speakers.

I want to build an old school stereo system. I need an amp and turntable. Don't really need a receiver with several different inputs for radio/ cd/ dvd or whatever. I just want power a turntable. I'm going vinyl.

Any suggestions?
 
Yeah, our whole stereo system purchased 1969 finally went belly up 20 years ago. Since then, we've used boom boxes or CD players with built in speakers.

Now those devices are also dying and no one carries that sort of thing anymore. I'd be happy just finding a nice boom box.

Where do we old fogies find the ancient technology to exploit our records, CDs and 4-tracks?
 
I love my Sansui Amp. I have an AU-417 I bought new back in the 70s but I still covet the AU-717. You can find nice ones on Ebay, but you may need to rebuild it.

My turntable of choice would be a Technics.

Like this.

Or this one, which I recently bought to replace my vintage table.

1781997881414.png
 
Koolau said:
Yeah, our whole stereo system purchased 1969 finally went belly up 20 years ago. Since then, we've used boom boxes or CD players with built in speakers.

Now those devices are also dying and no one carries that sort of thing anymore. I'd be happy just finding a nice boom box.

Where do we old fogies find the ancient technology to exploit our records, CDs and 4-tracks?
Click to expand...
Look on eBay, and craiglist. The old Sansui, Pioneer, Marantz, Kenwood, etc... receivers of the 70-80s are collector items and cost a few hundred dollars, particularly the ones that have hardwood enclosures or sidings.

However, much cheaper are the newer receivers of the 90s and 2000s that have surround sound but have only 5 channels instead of a zillion surround channels and do not have optical inputs, HDMI, USB, and all the new technology stuff. They can be had for $50 or less. One thing that gives them away is a phono input!

But you better hurry up before they are back in vogue. Old VHS recorders are getting rare. Same with cassette players.
 
Ronstar said:
I'm finding some things on eBay.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/2780350268...CjFe_Kn0VrFTKJVEG8k8WkgVjCsc4Y2EAdYi_Ld716utU

But I wouldn't mind something that looked vintage but was really new,
Click to expand...
Those Marantz receivers are excellent, but at this point anything vintage needs to be "recapped" and rebuilt. There are still guys out there that will take a good amp or receiver and rebuild it like new, or better. At that point they'll be good for the rest of your life. I sent my AU-417 out for a recap and it's humming along like new still.
 
erkevin said:
turntable has to have a pre-amp. Amp and turntable won't work; line-outs cannot be used for a turntable. Go amp/pre-amp or receiver.
Click to expand...
Vintage amps already have phono outputs with preamps built in.
 
NW-Bound said:
Look on eBay, and craiglist. The old Sansui, Pioneer, Marantz, Kenwood, etc... receivers of the 70-80s are collector items and cost a few hundred dollars, particularly the ones that have hardwood enclosures or sidings.

However, much cheaper are the newer receivers of the 90s and 2000s that have surround sound but have only 5 channels instead of a zillion surround channels and do not have optical inputs, HDMI, USB, and all the new technology stuff. They can be had for $50 or less. One thing that gives them away is a phono input!
Click to expand...
Vintage amps are HEAVY, and do not ship well. Definitely prioritize Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace to save on shipping and the heartache of a damaged unit.

Of course, do your research before buying, lots of YouTube videos on the best vintage gear. I'd suggest focusing on gear from the 60s and 70s. Quality fell off after that period.
 
I just saw on craigslist near me a Yamaha RX-777 receiver for $40. It is of vintage early 2000s, has phono inputs, no fancy surround sounds, HDMI and optical inputs, etc...

The 2-channel stereo receivers of this era do not have the tuning dial of the vintage receivers, are all black with a digital frequency display. Other than that, they work the same. If one does not need the nostalgic look, they work fine.
 
Crutchfield.....look at their outlet...I bought a receiver Amp, 2 bookshelf speakers and 6 CD player....I use receiver Amp also for TV sound switching between inputs. I use optical cables for TV and CD player connections to receiver Amp. The sound from newer bookshelf speakers is phenomenal and LOUD if you want it to be. Speakers tech has improved greatly over the last few decades.
 
Your old speakers likely need some work, The woofer surrounds usually dry out and you’ll need to refoam them. Takes an hour or two and you can typically do it at home. You can order a refoam kit when you know the woofer size.
 
This thread stirs up my interest in the used stereo equipment market, and I surfed eBay and craigslist for fun.
There's a place selling used stereo equipment in town. He has a Web site listing high-priced collectible stuff which he can ship. For inexpensive items, he sells locally on craigslist. I see interesting things there quite often, but how much do I want to hoard in my home? :)

Anyway, I saw a couple of decent AV receivers going for $10! Guaranteed to work. The older receivers with phono inputs cost more, like $40. I drove there to see what else he had, and came home with one of the $10 receivers. I have several AV 5.1 receivers, but for $10 I picked this up for fun because it looks even newer, and is 7.1 instead of 5.1, with 100W/ch.

At home, I found out that one of the channels can be reassigned to be a subwoofer channel. No need for an active subwoofer, and I happen to have 3 passive subwoofers. Everything works! No remote though. A used remote on eBay costs $20. It's usable without a remote, but programming its feature via the front panel switches/buttons is tedious, compared to having a remote control.
 
I would recommend the amp have a way to connect a digital source through HDMI (preferred) or Optical or you will have analog inputs and that will have obvious degradation.
 
Lots of great discussion here - sort of what I went through before I bought my system...I also had several conversations with the Crutchfield people - bottom line was what are you using for your source of sound, ie, streaming, vinyl, CD, TV, etc....then base your receiver/amp/pre-amp selection on that. What several posters mentioned regarding the inputs/outputs is good as well. I really like the optical input option - I ended up with a Yamaha RN600A receiver/amp and SVS Bookshelf speakers (and Onkyo 6 CD player - no vinyl for me). All of the controls are analog, ie, dials and knobs, but there are also remotes that I use. What I wanted was control over my systems in a fairly organized and simple way based on my engineering background...it all started when I was fighting with the TV and soundbar over the sound out of the TV - the software between the two 'smart' devices was fighting in the background and I was a victim - no more!

I even had to build my own cables for the speakers (those are copper monsters). Crutchfield had run out of the pre-built cables, so I bought the wire and banana clips and built them myself - ooohboy - that brought back memories of over 30-40 years ago ;-)
 
I have a vintage Technics direct drive turntable. Unless you're looking at tube preamps, the best bang for your buck IMO is a solid state preamp from Cambridge Audio.
 
Back in the day I had a nice Pioneer (or was it Scott?) system complete with reel to reel tape, tied to a pair of AR3s. The volume knob went to 11.

At this very moment I'm listening to my (originally owned by my uncle) huge Telefunken Opus...still sounds great! Tubes must be almost 75 years old now.
 
Last edited:
I have my father's audio setup in my home office. An old Scott receiver and turntable. I updated to a new Ortofon needle and got the turntable recalibrated and functioning properly. The receiver works, fm tuning and sound is amazing. However, there are a couple of lamps out and it needs some cleaning/restoration work. I also have what was left of his vinyl collection. Lots of Zeppelin, etc. I have purchased a couple of new albums but am alarmed at the price of new vinyl so staying pretty limited in that. I listen to the stereo whenever I'm working from home.

Good luck in getting back up and running. I thoroughly enjoy my setup.
 
Besides the 3, now 4, AV receivers, I still have a Technics and a Kenwood old-style stereo receiver from the 70s with a tuning dial. At the store yesterday, I saw that he had a Sansui 4000 (circa 1970) in mint condition. I had this in my youth. He wanted mucho money for this (>$1000).

I have never been into tube equipment. They generate too much heat, and don't have the same output power.

I don't think used equipment sounds better than new stuff. It would be the same as thinking IBM AT with a CRT VGA is better than an i9 PC driving a curved 49" monitor. :) However, I love the old stuff because of nostalgia, and a lot of people do. It's the stuff that's in between, not collectible but outdated such as old HDMI not supporting the latest hi-res, that goes for $10. For listening to music, it's a heck of a deal.

Now, speakers are more important than receivers. And these cost more.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

DrRoy
Upgrade home theater?
2
surprising
S
G
Classic car purchase - unexpected?
2 3
Golden Mean
Golden Mean
S
After 20 years, I’m DONE!
2
lem1955
lem1955
Z
Next bad idea for home TV sound
2
6miths
6
S
Financial planning for mom now and after her death
2
cute fuzzy bunny
cute fuzzy bunny

Latest posts

Back
Top Bottom