oldmako Posted October 14, 2010 Share Posted October 14, 2010 I have a bunch of the old stuff. I like it, and its all I can afford. I want to see a TON of knobs when I look at a piece. Yes, I'm a dork. I have the idea to find my 18 year old daughter a nice old integrated amp for one of her XMAS gifts. She loves Cream, The Who, Led Zep, Little Feat, Petty etc along with Cake, Weezer, etc etc etc. She loves music and it cracks me up when she puts on some Dino-Rock and sings along. She hates rap, and most of the junk that kids listen to these days. I give her high marks for that and I'd like to reward her for it. Last year I bought her a set of Klipsch KSF 10.5s. She also has first dibs on my KG 3.2s. Now I want to work on the other end. My question is what do you guys recommend in the 40-80 watt range? It doesn't have to be just an integrated amp, IOW I am also looking at old Marantz / Sansui / Pioneer / HK etc receivers. But I want it to be fairly robust and have the power to make some quality noise, and allow her to have more flexibility in the future as she upgrades. I was always told that the more you spent on an old silverface piece, the better the quality of the components that were in it as well. So, I 'd like to pick an apple from fairly high up the tree. Money IS an object, but I don't want to buy a piece of (relative to high end audio / tube / MacIntosh, etc) junk. Any ideas? Or older stuff to avoid??? I picked up a mint Pioneer SA 8100 for 60 bucks. Something along those lines perhaps? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bonzo Posted October 15, 2010 Share Posted October 15, 2010 I like the mid 70's Pioneer stuff personally. Mainly because they are usually east to fix, if needed, plus they look and sound great! You can generally find a nice SX (fill in the number) at very good prices. I paid $5 for an SX-750 (conservatively 50 watts), a little rough cosmetically, but works great! I cleaned the pots and switches, blew out 35 years of dust and replaced 6 lamps. I maybe have $20 in it and it kicks butt! It's virtually the same circuit as the SX-1250 just less output power. The trouble I have encountered with the "monster" receivers is they were generally used and abused! It often takes serveral $$$ to have them fixed correctly. I would look for a 50 to 80 watt Pioneer. They will push any Klipsch speaker you have nicely and won't break the bank. Just my $.02. Oh, I have included a pic of the sweetest receiver from that era I have ever heard, a Setton RS-440! It will make any Marantz from that time run home and cry for it's mother LOL! It's a real keeper! The only SS receiver that gives my Scott tube amp a run for it's money. "Obviously you're not a golfer" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davis419b Posted October 15, 2010 Share Posted October 15, 2010 SANSUI 8080db is the best of best for the money IMHO. ( 85 wpc) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamesV Posted October 15, 2010 Share Posted October 15, 2010 I know what you mean about the older receivers. I have 3 working at the moment, Marantz 2238B w/Cornwalls, H/K 730 w/Cornwalls and a Yamaha CR-1020 w/Heresy. I also have a H/K 930 that isn't working but a buddy picked it up for almost nothing so I want to see if it's worth fixing. Out of the units that I have the Marantz and Yamaha have a lot of buttons and switches. James Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.