Best Looking Receiver of all Time

Asking what is the best looking receiver is like asking a polygamist who is his best looking wife. For me I really like my Sansui G 9000 it almost resembles Fine Jewelry. But I have lots of Runners up. honorable mentions are my Yamaha CR 3020 and my Pioneer SX 1980 and my hi Tachi Sr 2004 my optomica sa 5905 my Fisher RS 1080 my Marantz 2385 plus many more, okay I'm done
The SR-2004 is very nice.Here's mine along with my Kenny KR-9050
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Id love to see a thread for just pics of receivers, no comments..
Then we could breeze through them faster :) Could probably cut the 43 pages down to 10!
 
I just looked through this whole thread again, wow love it.So many beautiful designs.What the hell happened :dunno:

The big companies generally got cheap (though Yamaha's A-S3000 looks pretty nice) and most of the small hifi companies to me don't have a good eye for design a chunk of them go with an overly industrial style that does nothing for me. Honeslty I wish with mid century styling making a comeback lately that it would bleed over into electronics.
 
NIce - bought mine new in 1982 and still have it. Had to replace the volume pot a couple of years ago, but luckily I found an NOS on the bay. Mine was an upgrade from my SX 680. BTW that treble sure is hot!

I find mine to be exceptionally well balanced in tone.
Mine bumped an SX-950 out of the living room system just so I could get a sense of how it sounds.
7 months later and the Pioneer (a fine system itself) is now in the corner.
 
The big companies generally got cheap (though Yamaha's A-S3000 looks pretty nice) and most of the small hifi companies to me don't have a good eye for design a chunk of them go with an overly industrial style that does nothing for me. Honeslty I wish with mid century styling making a comeback lately that it would bleed over into electronics.
Yes those Yamaha inters are very nice but their HT receivers look just like Onkyo,Denon and Marantz gear. All black and blah.
 
Any Technics here?
I once owned an SA-5170 that I thought was uncommonly pretty, clean, and functional.
It had a very nice, balance sound as well.
I sold it to a self-professed 'Technics Guy' who drove 2 hours to get it, the very epitomy of a good home.

I like the entire SA-5x70 series. Technics made some really pretty gear in the 1970s and 80s.

Googled pic below:
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Yes those Yamaha inters are very nice but their HT receivers look just like Onkyo,Denon and Marantz gear. All black and blah.

Home theater receivers are definitely boring in general just a completely throw away design approach. I wish someone would do something interesting.
 
Yes those Yamaha inters are very nice but their HT receivers look just like Onkyo,Denon and Marantz gear. All black and blah.
I loved the way vintage receivers looked (I had about thirty).I used to call them works of art.They fell out of favor with me as I found out how good the really good totl AVRs sounded and the flexability they offer.Another aspect I lost favor with was the long tuning dial.Crappy FM choices helped that along.I now prefer the sleek black boxes in sound and looks.Its just they way I evolved in audio receivers.
 
I loved the way vintage receivers looked (I had about thirty).I used to call them works of art.They fell out of favor with me as I found out how good the really good totl AVRs sounded and the flexability they offer.Another aspect I lost favor with was the long tuning dial.Crappy FM choices helped that along.I now prefer the sleek black boxes in sound and looks.Its just they way I evolved in audio receivers.
I've got an Onkyo AVR that sounds great but I prefer the sound of my vintage gear.Is it psycho-acoustics.probably as with many other areas in this hobby.
 
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This was my first receiver as a kid. Bought it with lawn cutting money at 12 years old in 1982 or 83, I think. Cost me a cool $399. My uncle donated his gold velour covered floor speakers and I was in Heaven. Got rid of it in the 2000's against my better judgement because the tape deck wasn't working.

Just bought...

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This Fisher sounds just fantastic! It's probably better than the sound of my Kenwood. Nevertheless, I still have an affinity for Kenwoods and all of the blue light specials I've seen on this thread are just sensational.

Btw, this is an excellent time capsule thread. One of the truly great interweb forum threads out there. So much info and great, great history and pics. Thank you! From an old enthusiast and new buyer of old receivers.

My vote: Toss up! The Fisher 400 or the HH Scott. The Scott is so fantastically different and deco it gets my ultimate nod.
 
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The Fisher 400 has generally stood out to me as a looker. Though honestly their tube era and a lot of their first gen solid state gear looks good to me.

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Also from that era the HH Scott 399 (and a number of their other receivers with that overall design). They stand out as being pretty unique as far as receiver designs go. Also wish magic eye tubes had stuck around on receivers longer.

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I agree! I do prefer the Fisher 800B over the others, but all in that 400, 500 and 800 series are beautiful lit up in a cabinet. The Scott 399 is my #1 pick.

Of the solid state receivers the vintage blue dial Marantz sure look great lit up.
 
I agree! I do prefer the Fisher 800B over the others, but all in that 400, 500 and 800 series are beautiful lit up in a cabinet. The Scott 399 is my #1 pick.

Of the solid state receivers the vintage blue dial Marantz sure look great lit up.

Yeah forgot about the 800B when I posted but yeah that one is great and sort of a weird missing link between simulcast and dedicated multiplex receivers seeing as it had built in multiplexer but still supported the old simulcast format. Personally I like the look of the separate dials and magic eyes. Plus the centered logo looks better to me than the dual logos on the 800C. Fisher really had a knack for aesthetics.

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Yeah forgot about the 800B when I posted but yeah that one is great and sort of a weird missing link between simulcast and dedicated multiplex receivers seeing as it had built in multiplexer but still supported the old simulcast format. Personally I like the look of the separate dials and magic eyes. Plus the centered logo looks better to me than the dual logos on the 800C. Fisher really had a knack for aesthetics.

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Yes all of the Fisher receivers are nice but the 800B just looks perfectly balanced to me.
 
Yes all of the Fisher receivers are nice but the 800B just looks perfectly balanced to me.

Yeah it has excellent symmetry. I feel like when it comes to aesthetics they had a great sense of design in the 50s and 60s before Fisher got bought out. They were visually distinct on up into the first generation of solid state. After they got bought out they just kind of followed everyone else and disappeared into the pack. Honestly if there was a brand I wish someone would buy the rights to and properly resurrect with an eye towards its roots it's Fisher.
 
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