JVC r-S7 any info/opinions on quality/comparables

[justvisiting]

I've just started shopping for my first proper vintage receiver, and after doing a lot of research (this site and the community is incredible), I've learned the most important rules: 1-Listen before you buy, 2-Trust your ears.

With that being said, I don't, unfortunately, have the time to listen to every single receiver within a 100Km radius of me, owing to my being a father of two young kids.

My budget is between $200-$400 (CAD), though any money I can save is bonus. My first audition was of a JVC r-s7, which I can't seem to find much info on, other than that it is comparable to the Pioneer sx-750. Can anyone confirm this? He said he'd take $200 for it (around $150 USD). It is just about mint, very clean, and sounds great. In fact, it sounded better than both the Yamaha CR600 and Marantz 2252B that I auditioned later that day (both were in very rough shape, and had been badly mistreated, with cracks and pops all over the place, and in that condition they were way over priced in my view at $150 and $450 respectively).

I'd prefer to buy something that doesn't require any work. Looks are somewhat important (to my wife, who will have to look at it everyday) though sound is much more important. The JVC fits the bill, but I wonder if I'm missing out by not waiting for an sx-750 to come along.

I'll be auditioning an sx-939 on Thursday, and an sx-737 tomorrow, but both are quite a bit pricier (asking $450 and $325 CAD respectively).

Hoping to get some guidance as I feel hopelessly lost in a sea of choices.

Oh, my speakers aren't great anything to write home about, but to my ear (I'm a musician, so I do have an ear at least) sound very good. They're tower Sony speakers that I bought in the late 90's. MF-400H. They have a sensitivity of 88db, so not fantastic, but not horrible. To me, they've always sounded great though. Have a Pioneer Pl-200 turntable, again not great, but good enough for me. I do hope to upgrade both of those pieces someday, so the receiver should either have some resale value, or be able to "grow into" the upgrades.

Longer than I'd hoped for my first post. Thanks for your help.

Bob

 

[Oldsansui441]

Hi and welcome. I agree sound quality is most important. The heavyweight in that group is the SX-939, built in 74-75 and 18.5 kg's. The 939 will comfortably outperform all of the others you mention and also leave more options open for speakers in the future.

I have a 939 and have had 737, 2252b, CR820 and heaps of other popular brand vintage receivers maybe 40-50?. If you are not worried about brands can l throw a couple of suggestions out there for nice vintage receivers that don't attract the same premiums but sound very good. These are all in the 40-50 wpc channel range so not as powerful as the Pioneer but will still drive your speakers no worries.

Realistic STA-225, Realistic STA-90, Sanyo DCX-8000K and TEAC AG-6500. These are just some l have owned that I thought were very decent.

Unfortunately none of the above will sound their best in their current state as restoration normally makes a noticeable difference in the sound reproduction. My SX-939 came alive after a total restoration, was a bit muddy sounding and lacking detail beforehand.

All the best with your search and please keep us updated on what you find out there.

 

[justvisiting]

Thanks for the response.

Interesting that you say that about restoration. I recently found a blog form an amp technician who claims that full restoration is usually totally unnecessary, an in fact can be a net negative in terms of quality of sound in some, if not most cases. Though that definitely goes against the trend of most of the folks around here.

Without knowing much about it myself, it's hard to know what to believe.

If a unit, say a 737 for instance, had a single owner who "meticulously" maintained it since new, would you think it would still require restoration? Is it simply a matter of the natural shelf life running out on these, as I've read from so many other vintage owners? Are certain brands more susceptible and in need of restoration than others?

Just curious, as it's hard for a non-techy to understand the measurable difference between "maintained/serviced regularly" and "restored". Obviously restoration is far more costly than simple servicing.

Thanks,

Bob

 

[justvisiting]

Thanks for the response.

Interesting that you say that about restoration. I recently found a blog form an amp technician who claims that full restoration is usually totally unnecessary, an in fact can be a net negative in terms of quality of sound in some, if not most cases. Though that definitely goes against the trend of most of the folks around here.

Without knowing much about it myself, it's hard to know what to believe.

If a unit, say a 737 for instance, had a single owner who "meticulously" maintained it since new, would you think it would still require restoration? Is it simply a matter of the natural shelf life running out on these, as I've read from so many other vintage owners? Are certain brands more susceptible and in need of restoration than others?

Just curious, as it's hard for a non-techy to understand the measurable difference between "maintained/serviced regularly" and "restored". Obviously restoration is far more costly than simple servicing.

Thanks,

Bob

Going to add the Toshiba Sa 750 to the mix. One is available in my area at $225 in "near new" condition.

 

[Oldsansui441]

an in fact can be a net negative in terms of quality of sound in some, if not most cases

Sorry but l do not agree, l am also a musician and have heard the difference first hand, granted in some units more than others. The replacement parts have to be carefully selected though, especially the transistors.

If a unit, say a 737 for instance, had a single owner who "meticulously" maintained it since new, would you think it would still require restoration? Is it simply a matter of the natural shelf life running out on these, as I've read from so many other vintage owners? Are certain brands more susceptible and in need of restoration than others?

It might help slightly as the internal temperature etc has probably never been as high as a heavily used unit however l believe most failures (and out of spec parts) are just due to aging components on these 40-45 year old pieces. And no brands are more susceptible to failure than others as they often use the same or similar internal components.

Going to add the Toshiba Sa 750 to the mix.

Yes that Toshiba would also be nice. Hitachi and Toshiba both made some very nice gear.

Just curious, as it's hard for a non-techy to understand the measurable difference between "maintained/serviced regularly" and "restored". Obviously restoration is far more costly than simple servicing.

I sell a lot of these old girls and always service them and sometimes fully overhaul, (rebuild/restore). Servicing means many things to many people but if it has just had the pots cleaned this is not servicing IMO.
Servicing should also include checking all soldered joints and reflowing as required, replacing necessary lamps, checking and adjusting tuner if required, setting bias and dc offset, checking AC wiring integrity, replacing any corroded parts as damaged by glue etc and making any other necessary repairs including replacing noisy small signal transistors and replacing any visibly leaking or suspect caps. I also check main filter cap condition on all of my units and clean unit in and out.

Restoration takes the above much further, replacing all capacitors, any necessary transistors (sometimes all), trim pots, necessary diodes, resistors, power switch if needed, bridge rectifier, new mica insulators and paste, all new lamps etc.............

Some others that came to mind in the 32-50 wpc range that are nice quality are Sansui 771, Kenwood KR-6200, Sony STR-7055 and Akai AA-1040/AA-1050.

 

[justvisiting]

Thank you so much for your comprehensive responses.
So far I've tried to define service, from my own perspective, as having a professional keep the unit in good working order. (Not unlike a vehicle service, which would go beyond an oil change and would inspect brakes and other components to ensure all is working as it should).
I think others in my neck of the woods seem to be using that working definition as well, as I often see "recently serviced, with a cap or two replaced" (or something to that effect) meaning, I'm assuming, a professional is inspecting the unit and replacing what is no longer working to a certain specification. Often there is documentation to back these claims up, though other times not. (Oddly, there seems to be no price difference between regularly serviced units and units for which the seller has no info beyond the specs... "fully restored" is another story altogether, fetching nearly double the rest of the field, or at least trying to).
Now, admittedly, I desperately want to believe that these "serviced" units won't cost me a whack of $$$ down the road. Seems like optimism and realism may be at odds again on that front. Is the reality that I should be budgeting for service/repairs/restoration down the road now matter what I end up with? (Assuming I more than likely definitely do not have the time to learn a new hobby that seems extremely interesting.... cuz my wife truly will kill me...). Are there certain units that would cost less to have worked on than others? So many considerations...

 

[Oldsansui441]

Oddly, there seems to be no price difference between regularly serviced units and units for which the seller has no info beyond the specs

Tell me about it, the same thing happens here, sometimes l struggle to get any more for my units than people that advertise as "working last time l used it" haha.

Is the reality that I should be budgeting for service/repairs/restoration down the road now matter what I end up with

Yes l would definitely budget for any possible repairs down the road, as although a properly serviced unit will be in full working condition at time of sale a 45 year old part could fail in 2 weeks or last for another 10 years, how long is a piece of string? Serviced units should be less likely to have this happen in the short to medium term compared to most units that are just sold as "working" that haven't been inspected in any way. Restored units will obviously diminish this possibility by a huge factor.

Are there certain units that would cost less to have worked on than others? So many considerations

Transistor technology had improved greatly by the late 70's so most of the later units have less problems with transistors breaking down and creating noise, popping, static etc. Capacitors don't really seem any better in the later units, many units throughout the 70's and 80's also suffered from a certain glue that manufacturers used and this becomes corrosive and damages capacitors and component leads.

As a "general" rule l personally prefer the earlier receivers before about 76 as they are built very well, have terrific tuners and sound great but as stated above these and up to approx 78 are more prone to small signal transistor noise.

To use your car analogy from earlier on these old receivers are basically the same, being that the more simple the design and the less the component count the less likely there will be for something to fail, just the law of averages really. Same with the cost of repairs, the more complex inside the more time spent and the higher the repair/restoration bill.

Please don't get me wrong you could get lucky and be using a non restored or even a non serviced unit everyday for the next 5-10 years without a problem but just keep these things in mind.

BTW, l looked at an internal photo of the Toshiba you mention and it looks fairly simple and straightforward internally, all on a single level board so would be easy to work on, am guessing it would be late 70's era. Just to give you a comparison the Pioneer SX-939 has about nine separate boards from memory and is not the easiest or quickest by a long shot to work on.

 

[GD70]

I'm partial to JVC gear, in fact I love it and it sounds superb. The R-S7 is from around 1979-80. 50 wpc. I have the TOTL R-S77 since new in 1980, still going strong. I my opinion, this was one if JVCs best years. Almost all of my JVC stuff is from this year. I grew up listening to my Dads Nivico JVC 5003 receiver and GB-1E omnidirectional speakers circa 1968. A lot of people dismiss JVC, but when they hear it, they are often surprised at how good it sounds and often say it sounds better than their Pioneers, Yamahas, Kenwoods, Sansuis and so on. I'd say grab that receiver you heard if you liked the sound before it's gone.
Cheers, Glenn

 

[Leestereo]

The JVC R-S7 is an excellent sounding receiver; it is from ~1979 and benefits from the rapid advances in SS design during the 70s. Compared to most of the other receivers you have listed, the build quality of the JVC isn't as good, (e.g., it lacks a heavy gauge steel chassis), but the engineering is sound and the internal components are of good quality. As with most JVC gear, the R-S7 "flies under the radar" and doesn't command big $$$ (although $200 is on the high side for this model) compared to Marantz or Pioneer. The Pioneer is comparable in power output to the RS-7, but its build quality is more substantial and is a more complicated topology; here is a link to a Pioneer SX-750 Restoration and here are pictures of a restored RS-7:

 

[Guest140]

I have just read all of the above comments on the JVC R-S7 with great interest as I have just purchased one from eBay, I was unlucky enough to have someone who wanted it as much as me bid against me so the price went up a bit, Like with anything that is bought unseen it is a risk as to what we end up with but from what is written and photos it looks good, (it is still in the post) I would be interested in any other comments or information that anyone has.

 

[Markoneswift]

I'm on my second now. The first R-S7 was totally mint and pulled from a stereo cabinet which had kept it really clean since the owner bought it new back in the late Seventies.

The one I have now, currently on the bench, was not so lucky. I pulled it from the junk pile at the local hospice shop. All dial and meter lamps out, speaker terminals bent and very dusty / dirty inside.

I'm replacing the lamps and have cleaned inside as much as I can. I've straightened the terminals too. I do like these units as they are very reliable and sound very nice. Despite the abuse this one has suffered it fired right up. No pops or static from dirty pots either - it sounds really good.

 

[Guest140]

Mine is supposed to turn up in the morning, I just hope I'm as lucky as you were with your first one, Where are you getting the bulbs from? as I have looked online and the only ones for sale are from America and that usually results in costing twice as much in postage and customs charges.

 

[Markoneswift]

Mine is supposed to turn up in the morning, I just hope I'm as lucky as you were with your first one, Where are you getting the bulbs from? as I have looked online and the only ones for sale are from America and that usually results in costing twice as much in postage and customs charges.

I'm just putting in some 'mini lamps' from the local electronics place - Jaycar. The circuit calls for two 8v / 150mA and one 8v 300mA so the nearest I can find are rated at 9v so they should be OK.

 

[Markoneswift]

I can also get coloured mini lamps so I'm going with blue. The original lamps are held in place by coloured rubber caps which give them the blue colour. The ends of the rubber caps have all perished on mine, so if I don't use a coloured bulb all I will see is white light.

 

[Guest140]

Well mine turned up this morning, I unwrapped it carefully and it was in one piece so I checked it over, one plastic foot was broken so I replaced both of them with rubber ones, the inside had a fur coat so I sprayed it with a can of compressed air and a soft paintbrush, Oh that smell I remember it well from vintage record players I had as a kid, I have used contact switch cleaner on all the controls and the only light that didn't come on was for the meters but I flicked the bulb with my finger and it came on " I bet that it won't last " the front panel is not scratched and after a good clean the whole thing looks wonderful, later I will respray the outer case as I have that silver in a can of Rustoleum,
They are very well made nothing flimsy. I have it on my workbench at the moment playing through my Mordaunt Short test speakers, I'm using a piece of wire as a temp Ariel and I need to get a better one.
Let me know how you get one with yours and if you can give me a link to the bulbs/LEDs I will be grateful.

 

[Markoneswift]

That's a coincidence actually because my test speakers are also Mordaunt Shorts - what are the chances of that?

Probably a good idea to start your own resto / cleanup thread in the Solid State section and I will follow it there.

 

[Guest140]

I've just started shopping for my first proper vintage receiver, and after doing a lot of research (this site and the community is incredible), I've learned the most important rules: 1-Listen before you buy, 2-Trust your ears.

With that being said, I don't, unfortunately, have the time to listen to every single receiver within a 100Km radius of me, owing to my being a father of two young kids.

My budget is between $200-$400 (CAD), though any money I can save is bonus. My first audition was of a JVC r-s7, which I can't seem to find much info on, other than that it is comparable to the Pioneer sx-750. Can anyone confirm this? He said he'd take $200 for it (around $150 USD). It is just about mint, very clean, and sounds great. In fact, it sounded better than both the Yamaha CR600 and Marantz 2252B that I auditioned later that day (both were in very rough shape, and had been badly mistreated, with cracks and pops all over the place, and in that condition they were way over priced in my view at $150 and $450 respectively).

I'd prefer to buy something that doesn't require any work. Looks are somewhat important (to my wife, who will have to look at it everyday) though sound is much more important. The JVC fits the bill, but I wonder if I'm missing out by not waiting for an sx-750 to come along.

I'll be auditioning an sx-939 on Thursday, and an sx-737 tomorrow, but both are quite a bit pricier (asking $450 and $325 CAD respectively).

Hoping to get some guidance as I feel hopelessly lost in a sea of choices.

Oh, my speakers aren't great anything to write home about, but to my ear (I'm a musician, so I do have an ear at least) sound very good. They're tower Sony speakers that I bought in the late 90's. MF-400H. They have a sensitivity of 88db, so not fantastic, but not horrible. To me, they've always sounded great though. Have a Pioneer Pl-200 turntable, again not great, but good enough for me. I do hope to upgrade both of those pieces someday, so the receiver should either have some resale value, or be able to "grow into" the upgrades.

Longer than I'd hoped for my first post. Thanks for your help.

Bob

I hope you have found the receiver you wanted but I just wanted to add that I have a JVC R-S7 and have found it to be a wonderful receiver, I am using it with a Thorens TD160 mk1 with a Grado red2 and Yamaha NSF-51 speakers, I have 7 amps and tuners Inc Marantz, Onkyo, Rotel and find I like the warm sound of the JVC best. It all comes down to your own personal taste.( im still waiting for my R-S77 to arrive).

 

[bwBranson]

Just bought a JVC R-S7 yesterday for 90 bucks. Call it 9.5 out of 10 with every thing working including all lights. Reviews on it are good. Bought it for my daughter's garage where I spend a lot of time building stuff for her. Hooked up a pair of Akai SW155's that I bought new back in the day and a cassette deck and CD. Sounds great. Very pleased.

 

[RebelKat]

I had a buddy of mine gift me his old R-S7 a few years ago. I had been using a Pioneer Sx-780 at the time, and swapped it out with the JVC to see what it could do... The Pioneer never made it back. The JVC sounded better, with more punch and a tighter bottom end than the Sx-780, and the difference was NOT subtle. Sadly, After a while, it started to trip the protection relay once in a while, then more often, finally to the point I brought the SX-780 back out to replace it. I still have the JVC, and hope to get it fixed sometime. Someone told me it was probably bad capacitors in the protection circuit.

 

[losthorizon]

I've just started shopping for my first proper vintage receiver, and after doing a lot of research (this site and the community is incredible), I've learned the most important rules: 1-Listen before you buy, 2-Trust your ears.

With that being said, I don't, unfortunately, have the time to listen to every single receiver within a 100Km radius of me, owing to my being a father of two young kids.

My budget is between $200-$400 (CAD), though any money I can save is bonus. My first audition was of a JVC r-s7, which I can't seem to find much info on, other than that it is comparable to the Pioneer sx-750. Can anyone confirm this? He said he'd take $200 for it (around $150 USD). It is just about mint, very clean, and sounds great. In fact, it sounded better than both the Yamaha CR600 and Marantz 2252B that I auditioned later that day (both were in very rough shape, and had been badly mistreated, with cracks and pops all over the place, and in that condition they were way over priced in my view at $150 and $450 respectively).

I'd prefer to buy something that doesn't require any work. Looks are somewhat important (to my wife, who will have to look at it everyday) though sound is much more important. The JVC fits the bill, but I wonder if I'm missing out by not waiting for an sx-750 to come along.

I'll be auditioning an sx-939 on Thursday, and an sx-737 tomorrow, but both are quite a bit pricier (asking $450 and $325 CAD respectively).

Hoping to get some guidance as I feel hopelessly lost in a sea of choices.

Oh, my speakers aren't great anything to write home about, but to my ear (I'm a musician, so I do have an ear at least) sound very good. They're tower Sony speakers that I bought in the late 90's. MF-400H. They have a sensitivity of 88db, so not fantastic, but not horrible. To me, they've always sounded great though. Have a Pioneer Pl-200 turntable, again not great, but good enough for me. I do hope to upgrade both of those pieces someday, so the receiver should either have some resale value, or be able to "grow into" the upgrades.

Longer than I'd hoped for my first post. Thanks for your help.

Bob

I know by now you would have made your choice, and I hope you picked the JVC R-s7, I have owned mine for about 10yrs now and I am still blown away every time I power it up, what an amazing receiver and so underated.