Under the radar vintage mid wattage receivers??

HK330b as mentioned, and surprised that there is no recognition for Kenwood.. KR4070 is sweet, (short of the power switch issue which is pretty easily sorted out) shoot, there is a KR6600 right now available with no bids starting at less than 30.

I have the KR-4600 that's 30 watts wpc with great sound.
 
I'll add the Sony STR6055....

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Love the Pattern the fluted knobs cast on the face plate!:yes:
 
I can't wonder about defining mid-wattage as "30-50 w/ch," thinking 30 could be called low rather than mid and 50 might be the middle of mid-wattage not the top of it. Can you say more about this choice? Or is it during a particular range of years you could specify that 60 w/ch was high-wattage?
 
HK330b as mentioned, and surprised that there is no recognition for Kenwood.. KR4070 is sweet, (short of the power switch issue which is pretty easily sorted out) shoot, there is a KR6600 right now available with no bids starting at less than 30.

x2 on the Kenwood KR-4070. Picked mine up for $30 locally with a dirty power switch. Cleaned things up, threw some new lamps at it and it's currently driving some modern Polk's with Miles Davis as we speak:yes:

 
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I can't wonder about defining mid-wattage as "30-50 w/ch," thinking 30 could be called low rather than mid and 50 might be the middle of mid-wattage not the top of it. Can you say more about this choice? Or is it during a particular range of years you could specify that 60 w/ch was high-wattage?

Up till about 1973 or 74 before the watts wars began, as an example, the Pioneer SX-828 was TOTL at 55 w/ch and it was considered high powered! As the power wars started in about 74-75 and we started seeing 80-100w/ch come on the scene, 30-50 watt/ch units were considered mid powered in the ads. How quickly things changed. The SX-1010 was Pioneers TOTL offering in the next model change after the 828. The 1010 was a whopping 100w/ch and its slightly smaller sibling the 939 at 70 w/ch. There's something to be said for those old vintage watts. My 939 chews up and spits out a high end denon avr I just sold that was rated at 110 w/ch. I've never had any issues with mid powered vintage gear driving any of my KLH's to glass rattling volumes. Yamaha is the only modern gear that I have had that sorta keeps up with even my mid powered vintage units. I'm kinda getting off topic here. As far as vintage gear goes I'll stick with at least that the perception is that 30-50 or 60 watts/ch is mid level. Just look at the difference in $$ between the marantz 2235 and 2270 on the auction site.
 
Keep an eye out for a Fisher RS-1050 or RS-1052. They are Sanyo-era fisher units but very nice for what they are.
 
gbroot,

Thanks for the historical background. In 1973, my stereo amplifier put out about 4 w/ch, in '74 my wife and I got a Pioneer that put out something between 15-25 w/ch and which drove a pair of EPI 100's just fine. I knew they were both low wattage, but at the time I was pretty oblivious of where the borders between mid and high wattage were. And I guess it wasn't long after that when the age of wattage inflation began and the doubts about what even wattage means in audio correspondingly grew.

Now, my Kenwood KR-750 receiver seems high-wattage to me, at 60 w/ch, but this discussion thread surprised me to think that others wouldn't consider it mid-wattage, but rather high. On the other hand, by the early 1980s when it was made, perhaps it was only mid-wattage. Another question of context: is early 1980s to late to be considered "vintage" in this discussion? Link with pics and specs about the KR-750: http://vintageelectronics.betamaxcollectors.com/kenwoodstereoreceivermodelkr-750.html
 
I think it would be hard to specify a brand of under the radar mid power (25 - 60 wpc) vintage receivers today. People have wised up to the quality and value of those models.

Nikko might be one of last under the radar brand of high quality receivers. Their equipment is as good as any of the other brands, but being less popular, some people still don't know what they have and sell it for good prices. I once would have suggested Realistic, but even some of them are over priced. It's best to go with a case by case search. I've seen some Kenwood, Sony, Sansui and Realistic that seem be be reasonably priced. Not so many Pioneer or Marantz though, Two of my favorites. Don't be afraid of off brand models either. Even brands like MCS, and some Sears/LXI models were pretty good, just research the model in question.

I do see plenty of lower powered (12 - 25 wpc) models however from nearly every reputable brand that would do a fine job for many. But IMO, Your best bang for the buck is a reasonably priced, mid power unit. There out there, you just have to be patient.
 
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70's era Sony and JVC receivers are under the radar as most think of the BPC stuff from the 80's and 90's with these names on them.
Their stuff from the 70's was as good as anyones.
 
Yamaha CR-x40 series. Collectors like the CR-x00 and CR-x20 because of the discrete output sections but the CRx40's, even though they use power packs for outputs and drivers, sound really sweet. The TOL CR-2040 did use output transistors, I'm told. Had a 440 and still have a 840 and they sound really good. I keep swapping but somehow the 840 always makes it back into my main set up.
 
Lafayette LR-5555 receivers 55 wpc. It has nice walnut side panels. The picture doesn't do it justice. I have this unit in my office system driving a pair of JBL L50's. A very nice sounding unit. I found this one at a thrift in excellent condition for $18 and you can't have it. :D


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Its a beast, a shelfbender even but the jvc jr-s600 is superb and so far under the radar its untrue.

I picked mine up for £150, compare that to pioneer and marantz and its a snip, great piece of kit, great sound, loads of power, looks awesome but hard to find.
 

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I had a Quadraflex 650FET receiver one time. Very nice receiver, I was sorry to see it go and it is one I wish I could have kept. Excellent smooth FET sound, nice features, all around a great example of an under the radar unit.
 
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