Why are 1970's receivers so valuable now?

[itz_all_about_the_music]

1978 Pioneer SX-1280 MSRP $900, someone recapped it, now 44 years old and facing competition like Denon/Marantz/Yamaha/Anthem/NAD AVRs - seller is "asking" $3,000 ! 1978 Ford Granada MSRP $4,600, engine rebuild, new bias-ply tires, new shock absorbers, now 44 years old - would you pay $15,500 ?

 

[Neddy]

Huh. I still have my Sony STC7000 tuner-preamp and 2000F preamp (Japanese home market version)....and a JBL SA-660 (!!).

The 'receivers' I bought in the 90s were mostly junk in comparison and was happy to dump almost all of them eventually.

They both offer features not found anywhere nowadays (even "JRiver" thhhp) such as reverse speaker, both mono, check R/L, mic mixing, phone inputs, etc etc.
So, aside from the joy of just flippin switches, there are features worth having.

Pricing? Maybe for the very best re-capped and restored units, but I haven't seen that kind of price growth - maybe the nostalgia crowd is ageing out already?

THE STC7000, which I dissasembled to clean and test - has been sitting in parts for several years since I found a channel fault and just didn't feel like chasing it down though pretty sure it's a connection issue somewhere. Worked fine before I took it apart, of course.
Really bugs me that working in the electronics industry for so many years burned out almost all of my interest in that hobby.
May get back to it this summer - it'd work really nicely in the guest bedroom with a pair of powered speakers....!

Nice photos of the 7000 here:

Sony STC-7000 Vintage AM / FM Stereo Receiver

Shop The Music Room for thousands of HiFi audio products. Saving HiFi since 2011, we are the most trusted source for audiophiles of all budgets.

tmraudio.com

and my 2000TF:

 

[Mojo Warrior]

Baby Boomers causing audio inflation because nostalgia. But they were beautiful (to my eyes) and sound great.

 

[MakeMineVinyl]

My cat definitely appreciates the Pioneer receiver in the background more than today's black box appliances.

 

[Ken1951]

Huh. I still have my Sony STC7000 tuner-preamp and 2000F preamp (Japanese home market version)....and a JBL SA-660 (!!).

The 'receivers' I bought in the 90s were mostly junk in comparison and was happy to dump almost all of them eventually.

They both offer features not found anywhere nowadays (even "JRiver" thhhp) such as reverse speaker, both mono, check R/L, mic mixing, phone inputs, etc etc.
So, aside from the joy of just flippin switches, there are features worth having.

Pricing? Maybe for the very best re-capped and restored units, but I haven't seen that kind of price growth - maybe the nostalgia crowd is ageing out already?

THE STC7000, which I dissasembled to clean and test - has been sitting in parts for several years since I found a channel fault and just didn't feel like chasing it down though pretty sure it's a connection issue somewhere. Worked fine before I took it apart, of course.
Really bugs me that working in the electronics industry for so many years burned out almost all of my interest in that hobby.
May get back to it this summer - it'd work really nicely in the guest bedroom with a pair of powered speakers....!

Nice photos of the 7000 here:

Sony STC-7000 Vintage AM / FM Stereo Receiver

Shop The Music Room for thousands of HiFi audio products. Saving HiFi since 2011, we are the most trusted source for audiophiles of all budgets.

tmraudio.com

and my 2000TF:
View attachment 210060

Had one of these myself, back in the day!

 

[restorer-john]

The reasons are myriad.

HiFi in the 1970s was aspirational, expensive in relative terms, exclusive and very much the centrepiece of a modern man/couple's entertainment space. The fact that advancements in technology were happening very quickly meant the industry was enormous and the Japanese were showing the world their expertise in precision, miniaturization and performance improvements.

People who lived in that era as young people, can now afford the gear they wished they had bought back then. Many of them were paying mortages, putting kids through school and now they are in their 60s-80s and have plenty of money to buy what they want. Supply and demand. The original stuff is mostly in landfill so the mint gear is worth a fortune. I know, I've been repairing and restoring this gear for decades, long before anyone cared for it. I kept telling people the TOTL vintage gear was going to be future 'gold'. It now is. A good Pioneer SX-1980 is easily worth US$7k. A Spec1/2 pair is worth AU$12k.

There's nothing remotely interesting about modern/obsolete AVRs as compared to say an Pioneer SX-1250, and SX-1980, a Marantz 2600 or many of the midrange receivers where the battles for people's wallets took place.

By the time 1990 came around, the traditional HiFi receiver was morphing into a platform for guaranteed obsoletion every few years. Surround decoding systems appeared every other year. More amplifier channels, video/SVHS/Composite/HDMI v1etc connections. Everything is cheap plastic, poor construction, poor performance and not much more. I often pick up high range obsolete AVRs for a few dollars, not to use, but as a supply of NLA parts.

It's no accident that Yamaha resurrected its much loved vintage look about a decade ago- the original designs were by a Japanese design house that won several good design awards and was iconic. Marantz even have tried (poorly) to evoke the look of their past products. The trouble is, people want the original gear, not a modern take on it. They yearn for a simpler time, when you had a turntable, an AM/FM tuner and maybe a few other sources that always worked. You turned them on and they just worked. No menus, touchpads, internet, dropouts, reboots, crashes, glitches, bluetooth or phones.

2 channel HiFi survived barely during the AV/HT onslaught. But survive it did, and it came out the other end stronger and more in demand. Vintage receivers are part of that. I know plenty of guys with esoteric six figure audiophile systems that also have a few systems where handpicked, fully restored vintage 2 channel makes up the setups.

 

[600_OHM]

For me, it was a totally sensual - not sexual - experience. It wasn't just utilitarian, it *invited you* to touch it, become part of it if only just for a moment.

That experience was cheapened quickly in the late 80's / 90's, with cheap-a** membrane buttons and gawdy led's and so forth. It was simply too costly to do it like they did in the 70's. The invitation to play was lost.

You took it new out of the box, preferably after you had fondled it with a live demo, and the senses go nuts. You didn't even have to play music through it.

So it looks good, but more importantly to me FELT good - silky smooth tuning or perhaps well lubed detents, the push of brushed aluminum buttons, made even more sensual if you could feel the ridges in the brushed aluminum when toggled. (stop laughing!)

After you fire it up comes that gorgeus perfume of new electronics (and perhaps the wood surrounds) wafting from the vents to you across the room.

So yeah, I've relived that with my beloved Sansui days. Then it came time to recap, send it to a pro for alignment, yadda yadda.

It's different now. I don't *need* that kind of sensual involvement with my gear, but I sure do remember how it made me feel. I miss it truth be told.

 

[Vacceo]

For me, it was a totally sensual - not sexual - experience. It wasn't just utilitarian, it *invited you* to touch it, become part of it if only just for a moment.

That experience was cheapened quickly in the late 80's / 90's, with cheap-a** membrane buttons and gawdy led's and so forth. It was simply too costly to do it like they did in the 70's. The invitation to play was lost.

You took it new out of the box, preferably after you had fondled it with a live demo, and the senses go nuts. You didn't even have to play music through it.

So it looks good, but more importantly to me FELT good - silky smooth tuning or perhaps well lubed detents, the push of brushed aluminum buttons, made even more sensual if you could feel the ridges in the brushed aluminum when toggled. (stop laughing!)

After you fire it up comes that gorgeus perfume of new electronics (and perhaps the wood surrounds) wafting from the vents to you across the room.

So yeah, I've relived that with my beloved Sansui days. Then it came time to recap, send it to a pro for alignment, yadda yadda.

It's different now. I don't *need* that kind of sensual involvement with my gear, but I sure do remember how it made me feel. I miss it truth be told.

Even being anecdotal, this may explain McIntosh's design philosophy and appeal today.

 

[fordiebianco]

No one uses FM anymore, but a lighted FM dial also looks pretty cool.

Ahem. Listening to BBC Radio 3 on FM via a seventies receiver this second.

 

[restorer-john]

Ahem. Listening to BBC Radio 3 on FM via a seventies receiver this second.

But are you listening to seventies music?

 

[sergeauckland]

But are you listening to seventies music?

On Radio 3 it'll be 1770!
S

 

[Vacceo]

Aesthetics. The newer stuff features cheapened looks, for the most part. A black brick that looks like a black hole on your equipment shelf. Machined knobs always feel better than plastic. No one uses FM anymore, but a lighted FM dial also looks pretty cool. For analog sources you get a few useful features that are usually missing from modern gear, like various mono switches, sub filters, and so forth. For the one or two who still have cassette players in their Plymouth Duster, there's often convenient dubbing features.

I listen to talk radio FM, everyday and for several hours.

I wouldn't mind listening on streaming to the same station, though, but the radios at home and the one in the car are perfectly functional.

 

[600_OHM]

I've hinted at this in another fm thread, but once you see what I'm running for a tuner, you'll probably kick me out of ASR

CCrane Skywave SSB. Headphone out to my amp. The SiLabs chip blew me away. I'd love to see arminm test it.

C.Crane CC Skywave SSB Radio

A much-anticipated addition to C Crane’s extensive (and excellent) line of portable radios, the new Skywave SSB is a worthwhile upgrade to the still available CC Skywave. The Skywave SSB sells for …

radiojayallen.com

The kicker is that it was designed by CCrane to use the Silicon Labs SDR chipset, which bypasses all that discrete analog demodulation circuitry and so forth. Same chips they put in vehicles these days, although on this model, there is no HD radio support, just normal FM Stereo.

So no PLL circuitry, just SDR. Put a towel over it so you don't see it - it's a glaring subjective offense to your system!

Whip reception only - no massive dipole array. SDR tuning of fm analog tends to make good stations better, and bad stations even worse!!. Might be an alternative tuner you can throw behind the bitchin' Sansui if the fm tuner has gone bad.

 

[DanielT]

HiFi is a hobby, it is about creating something. Realizing old dreams of buying HiFi now that you as young could not afford? Create some sort of time travel? Retro worm, also in general? As here for example:

If you have access to a designated listening room. Completely empty to begin with and you fix it. I understand the temptation to go all in with even with 70's furniture. In with a carpet over the entire floor, good for the sound and also 70's style. You do not have to read the text, look at the pictures and you will understand:

Page 2:

faktiskt.io • Visa tråd - Är det här bra mätvärden?

www.faktiskt.io

It seems itchy too much in his fingers, so in fat fat JBL speakers:

Page 12:

"Finally. The day before yesterday it was finished. JBL (what else?) 4355 with subwoofers built according to chief engineer Greg Timber's drawings from 1983."
Okay from 1983, but pretty close to the 70's

faktiskt.io • Visa tråd - Är det här bra mätvärden?

www.faktiskt.io

(Not my room / or Hifi system)

He he:

 

[600_OHM]

That room is crying out for a lava-lamp on one side, and a dippy-bird or maybe a bouncing mobile on the other side. Maybe a fiber-optic light.

Kicking it in your bean-bag chair early in the morning - like 25 or 6 to 4. Waaah, I want to go back!

 

[DanielT]

That room is crying out for a lava-lamp on one side, and a dippy-bird or maybe a bouncing mobile on the other side. Maybe a fiber-optic light.

Kicking it in your bean-bag chair early in the morning - like 25 or 6 to 4. Waaah, I want to go back!

Well, hm, lava-lamp he he.
Maybe so. You can actually go the other way too. Try to hide as much as possible. More concentration on music than physical HiFi stuff.

In addition, a pair of good modern active speakers along with streaming. Great sound at a great price. Unlimited with lossless music for around $10-15 a month.
Although, in recent years (decades?) Among young people, there seems to be a growing interest in vinyl. It can hardly be due to nostalgia, right? What do I know. In any case:
Each is his own successful blacksmith. As the saying goes.

Kids today and their vinyl fetish!!!

So I was looking online at the fashion section of our local newspaper (as I do on a Saturday...not) keeping up with all the trends in black hoodies (one can never have too many black hoodies..perfect for casual and formal occasions) and they had an "interesting" article titled "New knitwear...

audiosciencereview.com

 

[600_OHM]

Without psychoanalyzing it too much, part of the resurgence may be the involvement of a tactile sensation, which for the most part is lost these days.

Unlike something as abstract as a music file, one is now dealing with something tangible like an LP. Most want to use techniques to take care of it.

Then depending on how vintage you want to get with your turntable system, one becomes a machine operator of sorts - did you check the strobe and adjust speed if necessary? That kind of thing, which was assumed in the past may also be a resurging interest in how the tactile / machine operator involvement plays a part.

One doesn't just click on an LP, but a whole process of involvement which you make time for, takes place first. Throw in the time it takes to do a disc-washer treatment and because of that, now you are a bit more subjectively involved!

 

[fordiebianco]

I have 12 seventies receivers, mainly Rotel, Trio, SABA, Sansui and JVC from the late sixties and from the seventies. I use them mainly to listen to FM. For me it's the looks: I have a spot on a mid-century display cabinet in the reading corner where such a unit just looks right, flanked by my KEF 105.1s They are all serviced and frequently get exchanged. My wife thinks I am mad, but can't deny the visual appeal. I don't mind that they don't sound as great as my all digital chain setups, it's all about the looks.

 

[sergeauckland]

Without psychoanalyzing it too much, part of the resurgence may be the involvement of a tactile sensation, which for the most part is lost these days.

Unlike something as abstract as a music file, one is now dealing with something tangible like an LP. Most want to use techniques to take care of it.

Then depending on how vintage you want to get with your turntable system, one becomes a machine operator of sorts - did you check the strobe and adjust speed if necessary? That kind of thing, which was assumed in the past may also be a resurging interest in how the tactile / machine operator involvement plays a part.

One doesn't just click on an LP, but a whole process of involvement which you make time for, takes place first. Throw in the time it takes to do a disc-washer treatment and because of that, now you are a bit more subjectively involved!

I think this is very much the way it is for me. Using vintage equipment is pre-touchscreens, pre-menus and mostly pre-remote controls, so operating the equipment is literally 'hands-on' as opposed to fingertips, or these days voice controlled (shudder!). Much of the time, I'm happy just to put some music on with my SBT on Random Play, but quite often, I want to play an LP, adjust the volume and tone controls, like a manual shift rather than auto. I will even get out the rear 'speakers and connect up the SQ decoder for an evening of Quadraphonics. I'm playing a tape on a 1965 Ferrograph reel-reel through a Yamaha CR1000 receiver as I type.



S

 

[DanielT]

Without psychoanalyzing it too much, part of the resurgence may be the involvement of a tactile sensation, which for the most part is lost these days.

Unlike something as abstract as a music file, one is now dealing with something tangible like an LP. Most want to use techniques to take care of it.

Then depending on how vintage you want to get with your turntable system, one becomes a machine operator of sorts - did you check the strobe and adjust speed if necessary? That kind of thing, which was assumed in the past may also be a resurging interest in how the tactile / machine operator involvement plays a part.

One doesn't just click on an LP, but a whole process of involvement which you make time for, takes place first. Throw in the time it takes to do a disc-washer treatment and because of that, now you are a bit more subjectively involved!

I have 12 seventies receivers, mainly Rotel, Trio, SABA, Sansui and JVC from the late sixties and from the seventies. I use them mainly to listen to FM. For me it's the looks: I have a spot on a mid-century display cabinet where such a unit just looks right, flanked by my KEF 105.1s They are all serviced and frequently get exchanged. My wife thinks I am mad, but can't deny the visual appeal. I don't mind that they don't sound as great as my all digital chain setups, it's all about the looks.

Feeling, the tactile, and the look as you mentioned. That together it probably explains the most regarding the craze for vintage.