good vintage Amp/Receiver with good Phono-Stage

Hello my fellow WATMMers,

I'm thinking about buying a vintage Amp/Receiver with an outstanding Phono-Stage for a quite new listening pleasure, because my Set-up I now have for about 20 Years bores me a bit.

I thought about buying a Marantz or Yamaha Amp/Receiver.

I have this little, but very pleasing set of Speakers atm:

http://www.magnat.de/index.php?id=4406&L=1&cHash=d24e94152cab5ec6f88bec9f84a5b054

So what I'm asking now is:

Can someone give me a personal tip on what receiver/amp would do best for me/you?

I think I saw a Marantz in Oscillik's Setup. So Osc, what are your expiriences with it?

Thanks.

Why vintage?

mostly because I want to buy it used, I think. And I hope to get a good deal...

Someone here using a NAD 3020? I heard it has one of the best phono-stages ever made.

First and foremost, check this site: http://www.audiokarma.org/

If you see something, there's a really good chance you can find an thread on audiokarma about the vintage component you're interested in buying. Very helpful in avoiding rip-offs.

NAD's supposed to be pretty legit, almost bought one off CL before it was sold. The market for old receivers and amps where I live (Austin, TX) is insanely devoid of any "good" deals, let alone finding any vintage gear for sale at all. I'm hunting for a receiver myself, I have a nice little Technics SA-929 I bought at GW but it's only got one phono + 2 inputs. Coupled with some Realistic speakers I found as well it's the best $25 I've spent. Even 80s stuff is still better than most 90s equipment.

Besides Marantz, keep an eye out for 70s era Pioneers, Kenwoods, Sansuis, Onkyos, and Yamahas in particular. Nakamichi, Mitsubishi, JVC, Denon, Akai, Bang & Olsufsen, Sanyo, and Panasonic/Technics are great but they are better known for their cassette players and turntables. Even brands like Sony, Fisher, Luxman and Realistic (Radioshack's brand) are good but ONLY if it's pre-80s. Google when in doubt.

i have an Optonica SM 3636, which was the high end brand of Sharp as it entered the audiophile market(competing with Marantz and alike) in the late 70s/early 80s. you might get them really really cheap, as they were totally underdogs at their time..unbelievable build..rather neutral&direct sounding..

http://www.thevintageknob.org/optonica-SM-4646.html

I don't have a lot to compare it to, but I am very fond of my Kenwood KR-6400. Really warm sounding, and can get very loud & pump out loads of bass if you want it to. I am pretty sure anything in that line of vintage Kenwoods is worth checking out.

if you want a good phono stage, check out amplifiers by rega.

i for one have a rega brio 3 and i'm very happy with it. also they are not very expensive, you can get a really good amp for about 600€.

Look for a sansui, in the "au" series. Also luxman "L" series, or most NAD amps. Besides a good phono stage these amps are well powered, sound good, and are generally reasonably priced except for the highest models in the series which are quite rare...

  On 2/4/2013 at 8:37 AM, ganus said:

Really warm sounding, and can get very loud & pump out loads of bass if you want it to.

that sounds like what i am looking for. it hasn't to be neutral sounding, therefore i am considering the NAP amp, because i heard it has an almost tube-like sound.

  On 2/4/2013 at 1:48 PM, StephenG said:

Besides a good phono stage these amps are well powered, sound good, and are generally reasonably priced...

yeah, i heard the NAD has like 20 Watts, but it's powers speakers really good...

  On 2/4/2013 at 8:27 AM, iococoi said:

http://www.thevintageknob.org/optonica-SM-4646.html

this one looks really good. thanks for pointing out. never heard of that brand...

and thanks for the reply joshuatx!

What do you have now CJM?

i have this:

http://www.briarsfield-hifi.co.uk/sea900mk2.htm

with said Speakers:

http://www.magnat.de/index.php?id=4406&L=1&cHash=d24e94152cab5ec6f88bec9f84a5b054

and my player is a Technics SL-1200 Limited with Concorde Pro S.

  On 2/4/2013 at 3:37 PM, CJM said:

i have this:

 

http://www.briarsfield-hifi.co.uk/sea900mk2.htm

 

with said Speakers:

 

http://www.magnat.de/index.php?id=4406&L=1&cHash=d24e94152cab5ec6f88bec9f84a5b054

 

and my player is a Technics SL-1200 Limited with Concorde Pro S.

I like it's styling with the huge VU meters, far better than most stuff from that era. I like Technics a lot myself, especially their matte black vintage gear.

There's some good Technics amps that turn up on ebay every once in awhile. Stuff like this SE-9600 amp No idea what your budget is though.

I don't know what my budget is, actually. I now slowly realize, like with my little obsessions with vinyl and headphones there will be no end. ;)

I was just hoping to get a good deal on something used in the near future and have fun with it.

You pointed out some interresting stuff there, joshuatx!

does someone also know if any of said amps is able to drive a 250ohm headphone properly?

if you want to drive ANY headphone properly, you need a headphone amp, not a stereo-receiver.

stuff like the "rega EAR" http://www.rega.co.uk/html/Ear%202012.htm

or the amps by HiFiMAN or Brocksieper.

http://hifiman.us/Products/

http://www.brocksieper.com/kopfhoerer.html

  On 2/4/2013 at 8:08 PM, jlobkob said:

if you want to drive ANY headphone properly, you need a headphone amp, not a stereo-receiver.

stuff like the "rega EAR" http://www.rega.co.uk/html/Ear%202012.htm

or the amps by HiFiMAN or Brocksieper.

http://hifiman.us/Products/

http://www.brocksieper.com/kopfhoerer.html

If you're looking for a headphone tube amp, I have a he-5le paired with a ef5 and it's seriously tits (audio gd dac 19 DAC and c-2 pre amp).

i believe i got the ef5 for around 500$, but checking their site it seems the ef6 is the new model and is probably more expensive, which i can't vouch for.

what i can vouch for is the unbelievably good customer service i've recieved from hifiman. i had problems with my ef5 turning on right out of the box; getting a new one was a painless process with prompt customer service and frequent updates. had a few problems with my he-5le - distortion in the left channel 69% sure this was my fault for playing music too loudly while inebriated, and later, the right cup (ear muff? lol) fell off, but the headphones were working fine. even past my warranty, they replaced the headphones (mutiple times!) for free, upgrading them to the new, much swankier second model of the 5le (!!). i always meant to make a post on http://www.head-fi.org/ praising their customer service, but sloth prevailed. in my experience, they're a great, great company.

the 5le require a lot of power to be driven properly, and the ef5 is a little powerhouse.

yep.

thanks for the advice guys,

but i know my abc's when it comes to headphones and when you are saying a amp/receiver cannot drive a headphone properly,

then it's just not true.

my current amp can drive them very well.

i was asking for your experiences with old/vintage 70s to 80s amps/receivers (how do they sound, what about the phono stage, can they drive headphones properly).

I've had a couple of the pioneer sx amps and can vouch for them be lush as fuck: deep, loud sound, no issues with driving phones or phono, everything sounded well lush and i don't think i ever even turned the volume to the half way mark. some day i'd love to get my hands in a 1250...my birthday is next week if any of you wanna pitch in!

Optonica sm 3636 says: headphone output 4-16Ohm..my AKG 271 MKII (~50Ohm) sounds fine ..250 ohm? might be a different game..

I use to have a Marantz 1515 & while not super high endy it sounded good. The worst part about it was adjusting the belt the drives the tuner & needle. Mine was off so 88.1fm would be more like 90.1 on the dial. Otherwise, I really miss the illuminating face & needles.

I looked them up on ebay & they go for under $100. Probably not the most high model. But my dad gave it to me when I was a kid & I kept all the up until a few years ago when I moved.

Now I use one of those phono preamps hooked into my soundcard which is not nearly as romantic.

  On 2/5/2013 at 10:31 AM, CJM said:

thanks for the advice guys,

but i know my abc's when it comes to headphones and when you are saying a amp/receiver cannot drive a headphone properly,

then it's just not true.

my current amp can drive them very well.

 

i was asking for your experiences with old/vintage 70s to 80s amps/receivers (how do they sound, what about the phono stage, can they drive headphones properly).

word!! was just giving my 2¢ because hifiman came up.

  On 2/5/2013 at 5:50 PM, Alcofribas said:

I've had a couple of the pioneer sx amps and can vouch for them be lush as fuck: deep, loud sound, no issues with driving phones or phono, everything sounded well lush and i don't think i ever even turned the volume to the half way mark. some day i'd love to get my hands in a 1250...my birthday is next week if any of you wanna pitch in!

did you have the sx-535?

  On 2/5/2013 at 9:07 PM, CJM said:

 

  On 2/5/2013 at 5:50 PM, Alcofribas said:

I've had a couple of the pioneer sx amps and can vouch for them be lush as fuck: deep, loud sound, no issues with driving phones or phono, everything sounded well lush and i don't think i ever even turned the volume to the half way mark. some day i'd love to get my hands in a 1250...my birthday is next week if any of you wanna pitch in!

 

did you have the sx-535?

Pioneers seem to be the best of the best of the 70s, along with McIntosh and Marantz. Some of them are monsters in size.

mine isn't a Marantz, it's a TEAC one. shall reply with the model number when I get out of bed

  On 2/5/2013 at 10:02 PM, joshuatx said:

 

  On 2/5/2013 at 9:07 PM, CJM said:

 

  On 2/5/2013 at 5:50 PM, Alcofribas said:

I've had a couple of the pioneer sx amps and can vouch for them be lush as fuck: deep, loud sound, no issues with driving phones or phono, everything sounded well lush and i don't think i ever even turned the volume to the half way mark. some day i'd love to get my hands in a 1250...my birthday is next week if any of you wanna pitch in!

 

did you have the sx-535?

 

Pioneers seem to be the best of the best of the 70s, along with McIntosh and Marantz. Some of them are monsters in size.

 

damn i want all those!

cjm, i had the 750 and the 980. at one point i also had a later digital one which was not as cool but perfectly usable for phones/phono as it was my main amp for a few years. i forget which model it was though.

the 980 was loud as fuck, i mean, i can't ever imagine turning that volume knob beyond the halfway mark. very powerful amp i'd love to have again. they also look cool as fuck in the dark!

p.s. edit: when i say loud i don't mean it had some kind of noise or distortion, i just mean the thing was quite powerful and music would sound very robust even at low volumes.

A 70s receiver, not even a super hi-end one either, is inherently louder, warmer, and more rich in sound. Even the smallest Pioneer SX receiver with say, 30WPC (60 total) will be noticeably louder and fuller to even the laziest ear than any new Pioneer receiver putting out a 150WPC. The reason new ones are higher but sounds pitiful in comparison has to do with A LOT of factors: new receivers have higher distortion not factored in, aren't giving stats for 8ohm versus 4ohm power, have a plethora of additional features that suck power, etc.

I'm really not the one to explain it, better google it for better info. These comments might help. This too. It's very noticeable though. My little Technics receiver is early to mid-80s era (has a quartz digital tuner for example) but the amp is solid state. At best probably only does 15-20 WPC in 8ohms (based on what little info I could find) but it is far louder and cleaner than my old 500W A/V receiver ever was - and it's subwoofer alone took up more wattage. Most audiophiles would consider it at best mediocre because of it's era and build but it's easily better than anything else I've owned. I barely crank it past 2-3 out of the 10 on the volume.