Which classic tuner/amp?

RadioRentals

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Here, Unsure about Shure. I described the loss of one phono channel that is almost certainly an amp issue.
Currently I have the Aiwa AX-7600 tuner/amp that I've owned from new in 1980. It was well thought of, back in the day.

I intend to get it fixed. By whom......

Meantime, I could buy a cheapie to keep the pot boiling.
Or I could buy another classic, and then keep the hopefully repaired Aiwa as a spare.

I play phono, CD, radio. The Aiwa has 45wpc, with the speakers I have that's probably overkill, the Mission 780s only need 20wpc.

I do require tone controls, so that eliminates early Quad and some other options.

Which classic tuner/amp would you buy?

RR
 
The Aiwa has 45wpc, with the speakers I have that's probably overkill, the Mission 780s only need 20wpc

You may have misinterpreted the specs. The 20W/channel figure is probably a minimum recommended amplifier power. Although I can't find specs for the Mission 780S, I can assure you that a 45W/channel amp is not overkill! Low powered amps are reputed to cause more speaker damage than high powered amps. Personally, 40 to 50W is a sensible minimum these days, especially when used with small bookshelf-style speakers which often sound best with a bit of power behind them.

Sometimes we wish to retain our old hifi gear, often for sentimental reasons, I get that, but I can't see any other reason for hanging on to this 40+ year old amp. The amp specs look quite poor by today's standards: 0.2% distortion, damping factor=50 and 40W/channel into 8 Ohms so, whilst I've never heard it, these specs don't encourage me to seek it out for an audition.

Thing is with 40+year old amps/receivers is that you get one fault fixed only for another to develop. You could have the receiver serviced by a local repair company (i.e. capacitors and noisy potentiometers replaced, dry joints re-soldered, cleaned etc) but that may cost more than purchasing a modern equivalent. That said, budget stereo receivers with phono inputs and tone controls are a dying breed. There is this Sony:


It's the cheapest stereo receiver I've found from a known brand that has most of the facilities you require (no MW radio though - and it's suitable for 6 to 16 Ohm speakers only). The Audio Science review concluded that it had ample power and low-ish distortion though objected to being driven at full power for long:


Yamaha make more expensive and better stereo receivers (£250+) though they often include streaming features too and may not have a phono input.

Which classic tuner/amp would you buy?

I wouldn't. Maybe someone else can suggest some?
 
Rotel RTC850 or Nad 7020/7130.

the nad will be a bit warmer with a bass boost that can sound a bit muddy with certain speakers, the Rotel will be clean but may be a bit bright depending on speakers.

or buy a streamer box to use for internet ratio, Chromecast audio or Yamaha WXAD10 And plug this into any amp. Reception should be improved and most stations are available online.
 
Your question is meaningless without the context of price. I have a range of kit ..the latest being about 10 years old and the oldest is Nikko 5050 Receiver and amplifier. .. purchased about 1980 What is surprising about this beast is not only does it still work, which it does ..a few of the display bulbs need to be replaced.. , but how very smoooth it sounds . Any of my later kit is sharper, tauter crisper ,and the more modern it is, the tightness and clarity is higher. But the old boy is smooth.
So in a real sense I would go along with Dogfos .. 40 year old kit is OK, 15 year old kit ,from good manufacturers is better , and very affordable.
Now I am continually being reprimanded or scolded ,on this forum for daring to suggest that a 15 year old AVR from one of the major manufacturers ..say Yamaha ,Sony, Marantz sold as a flagship product back in the day is unbeatable for value and reliability. ..and dare I say sound quality. The very best value is in those higher power units which just predated HDMI, since they are being scrapped as Modern TVs use HDMI for audio. They are built like battleships and in two channel stereo mode have ample power, and will not break into a sweat. They may or may not have "pure direct" or similar marketing terms ..meaning that they can bypass most of the audio processing of Dolby surround, for simple stereo. They will also have access to reasonable DAC streaming, ..
Even cheaper can be one if those all in one home cinema boxes ..I refer to the Sony 260 and similar... It makes a great sound for the price.
 
Budget, sorry yes, good point.

And I do take the point about old electronics potentially being a Forth Bridge.

If there is a local repair shop around here, I've yet to find it. There is one chap a few miles away who has a room piled up with work, tried him for a radio repair once, wasn't impressed. I think his main virtue is being cheap.

The wpc of the speakers is 20/75. Again, take your point.

Anyway, budget, I was thinking £500 or so.
This Akai perhaps Vintage Akai AS-1070 Monster Receiver | eBay
or this Akai, Akai AA-R20 FM/AM Stereo Receiver - Works Perfectly & Sounds Great - Norwich | eBay somewhat cheaper.

Although buying sight unseen is not perhaps a great idea, that's probably how it would be unless I get lucky locally.
I did look in the small ads on the forum.

I like old stuff because on the whole it's simple. It doesn't have features I don't want.
As an example, I wish we'd kept our 1984 Nordmende TV, 27", which we ditched in 2012 because we thought we had no space for it.

And my phone is a Nokia 3110.

RR
 
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Budget, sorry yes, good point.

And I do take the point about old electronics potentially being a Forth Bridge.

If there is a local repair shop around here, I've yet to find it. There is one chap a few miles away who has a room piled up with work, tried him for a radio repair once, wasn't impressed. I think his main virtue is being cheap.

The wpc of the speakers is 20/75. Again, take your point.

Anyway, budget, I was thinking £500 or so.
This Akai perhaps Vintage Akai AS-1070 Monster Receiver | eBay
or this Akai, Akai AA-R20 FM/AM Stereo Receiver - Works Perfectly & Sounds Great - Norwich | eBay somewhat cheaper.

Although buying sight unseen is not perhaps a great idea, that's probably how it would be unless I get lucky locally.
I did look in the small ads on the forum.

I like old stuff because on the whole it's simple. It doesn't have features I don't want.
As an example, I wish we'd kept our 1984 Nordmende TV, 27", which we ditched in 2012 because we thought we had no space for it.

And my phone is a Nokia 3110.

RR
Without intending offence, 500 for that Akai, is bonkers.. I have looked at its specs. But there is no accounting for taste.
 
-- As an eBay Associate, AVForums earns from qualifying purchases --
Hmmm, some people have more money than sense, including me sometimes.

With £500 in your pocket to buy something fifteen years old, what?

RR
 
I would go separate turner and integrated amp.

This would take some beating at the price -

Audiolab 8000T £110


Audiolab 8000A £200 but a few on auctions so may be worth a watch out, note, check that the rear phono connection are all ok, they can tend to get brittle and crack. It has a pretty good phono stage aswell.



this would be an alternative, the Audiolab may give a cleaner more details sound whereas the Arcam would be expected to be slightly warmer.

Arcam Alpha 10 tuner


Arcam Diva A75+ amp.


Finally, here is a ready made setup for £250 including amp, tuner and cd. Leaves £250 which can buy a fair bit of vinyl or cds.

 
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Harman-Kardon-AVR-355-Receiver-amp-separate-hifi-amplifier-premium-dolby-dts-hd

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Have one to sell? Sell it yourself
Harman Kardon AVR 355 Receiver amp separate hifi amplifier

this laddie is on ebay at 150. And is a beast
 
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Although I can't find specs for the Mission 780S, I can assure you that a 45W/channel amp is not overkill! Low powered amps are reputed to cause more speaker damage than high powered amps.
My Mission 780s say their recommended amp power is 50-150 watts.

And yes, an underpowered amp driven to clipping is more likely to damage speakers - they really don't like those square waves.
 
My Mission 780s say their recommended amp power is 50-150 watts.
Would they be the Mission 780 Argonaut? Mission produced quite a few '780' speakers.
 
Would they be the Mission 780 Argonaut? Mission produced quite a few '780' speakers.
Good point, no, not Argonaut (it would be nice if I had those). There's no model identification on them other than 780, but they look like this...

NZU_lE6KQQ5hfZiS8FNMuOhk11azOWqo_Dt9Xyo0GAGwmaxlcOI5TzRdLapJ7bw5_zcqmzKxUkgC0bfpT17Ds4BAuLx5hNfUEXeXHipFrOQfDneecJR0ofvdHaFkKATIBsg6KliYzojtTK4h3So

And, curiously, I've just found photos of some that look the same as mine but which say 50-200W for recommended amps.
 
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Mission were all over the place with their model references in the 1980's. I owned the "original" Mission 770 and a Mission dealer told me that there were at least two versions which looked the same and were both named as 770. Mission later released another version of the 770 which looked a bit different (and sounded very different) and, to their credit, named it 770 Mk2 (I wonder how many unofficial versions there were of the Mk2).
 

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