Super rare find today! Planar SR2100

Benz

Yeah Baby!
Found this receiver at my local Salvation Army store today - I grabbed it as they were bringing it in from the back. I almost passed on it because I have never heard of the name "Planar", but this receiver just had something about it that spoke of good quality: nice wood case, very heavy, solid rear plate, decent speaker connectors. I plugged it in and while none of the lights came on, the stereo signal meter would move as I tried to tune stations. So I decided to take a chance and paid the $20 they were asking for it.

The thing must weigh 35 pounds - its a b*tch to carry! After opening it up and replacing a 3A fuse, everything lit up. It is loud, and surprisingly detailed. Superb build quality, almost looks like it was built by hand... the stickers on the bottom have a lot of hand-written info. It has large caps that are laid on their side (I never saw that before). I don't know the wattage - but I would guess it's probably around 60-70 watts. It has a large power supply.

Based on the info I found in the threads below, it looks like the Planar units were more or less "experimental", and may not have ended in stores at all. They were manufactured by Electrohome in Ontario.

http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=218246
http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=210510

I am posting a few pics of the guts and labels, and will add more once I am done cleaning & lubing and the unit is back together...

CIMG7402.jpg


CIMG7400.jpg


CIMG7401.jpg


CIMG7404.jpg


CIMG7408.jpg


CIMG7406.jpg


Cheers
Ben
 
cool Benz! I'll be addin your pic to my ehome stack-a-pics once you're done :thmbsp:
 
Looks like very good build quality. Nice find. How long are those caps? They look huge!
 
Some more pics

It's all back together - currently playing some Floyd :music: ... I cannot believe the sound coming out of this receiver, seriously. I am not able to crank the volume past 1/4, it gets way too loud, and there is no need to use the loudness control at all. This receiver pushes out a well-balanced sound, and as I said earlier it is very detailed. The case is actual solid wood, not veneer, and is flawless. This is a total scroe!!! :banana:

(sorry for the noisy pictures, I should have used my DSLR)

CIMG7411.jpg


CIMG7413.jpg


CIMG7418.jpg


To answer an earlier question, those caps are about 8 inches... not bad!

Cheers
 
TAC says 1977 and there were 2 models, the other was a SR-2040.

I have a SAE with sideways main caps, so no problem with that.
 
Plain lovely

Incredibly nice. In the late '70s or early '80s, a surplus store on Queen St. in Toronto put together some parts inherited as 'end of production' from Electrohome, and sold them as kits. You got schematics, transformer and caps and all circuit boards for $69, a great deal at the time, and built your own chassis. Power was 60watts using 2n3055's. For about another $10 you could buy a 100watt version that used the same Electrohome front end bits, but a larger transformer and a pair of guitar amplifier modules with two paralleled MJ2955 in the positive rail and two paralleled 2n3055 in the negative rail. I built both versions and they sounded as good as anything made today. The pics is of what remains of the 60w version.
Regards, Lou
 

Attachments

  • DSCN1642[1]planar1.jpg
    DSCN1642[1]planar1.jpg
    86.5 KB · Views: 344
  • DSCN1641[1]planar2.jpg
    DSCN1641[1]planar2.jpg
    65.6 KB · Views: 344
Incredibly nice. In the late '70s or early '80s, a surplus store on Queen St. in Toronto put together some parts inherited as 'end of production' from Electrohome, and sold them as kits. You got schematics, transformer and caps and all circuit boards for $69, a great deal at the time, and built your own chassis. Power was 60watts using 2n3055's. For about another $10 you could buy a 100watt version that used the same Electrohome front end bits, but a larger transformer and a pair of guitar amplifier modules with two paralleled MJ2955 in the positive rail and two paralleled 2n3055 in the negative rail. I built both versions and they sounded as good as anything made today. The pics is of what remains of the 60w version.
Regards, Lou

Very cool! I recognize some of the parts... looks like this one hasn't been singing for a while ;-) I wouldn't mind getting my hands on those knobs as spares - unless this is still a project piece for you - let me know :thmbsp:

Thanks for the comments everyone!

One extra detail worthy of note about this receiver: there are connections for 6 speakers at the back, and they are labeled "Main", "Remote" and "Rear". I wonder what the difference is between "Remote" and "Rear"... since this is not a quad receiver. :scratch2:

Any guesses?
 
Hmm - just realized I get not stereo signal on FM. Wajobu and Merrylander had helped me fix that on my CR-820, it was a matter of adjusting a Variable Resistor.
Edit: this was the thread http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=204833

Would anyone know what to try based on this pic?

Front of tuner board
CIMG7403Aweb.jpg


Back of tuner board
CIMG7403Bweb.jpg
Hi, I have a Planar SR2100 as well. I got it from a friend who had picked it up new in 1976. I have the original user manual/spec sheet, if that is of use.

I've been using the receiver for a couple of years and am very pleased with the performance. I use it to drive some pretty heavy speakers which today's home theatre system can't touch....the sound is fantastic.

Recently, the FM demod IC threw in the towel and when I went to replace it, I could not read the lettering....it had evaporated over the years.

Thank-you very much for posting the pictures as I could read the IC number. If you are having any problems with the FM stereo circuitry, I would replace the IC and see if it corrects the problem. You can pick it up for under $4 and just drop it in since it is socket mounted.

Again, thanks a lot!!!!
 
Back
Top Bottom