Who actually won the 70's receiver war?
- Thread starter Axcel
- Start date
Nakdoc
nakamichi spoken here
At the end of the 70s? Who cares?
We used to sell stacks of Pioneer SX780s for $112, about $20 below cost, as long as the salesperson also sold a pair of AAL or WSP s**t box speakers at 200 points. Pioneer had the name, and certainly had larger sales volume, but that doesn't make them a winner. As of today, Pioneer, Sony, JVC, Onkyo and Sanyo are the same company. Kenwood is out of the audio business, and Sansui, Sherwood, luxman, etc are owned by different owners.
We used to sell stacks of Pioneer SX780s for $112, about $20 below cost, as long as the salesperson also sold a pair of AAL or WSP s**t box speakers at 200 points. Pioneer had the name, and certainly had larger sales volume, but that doesn't make them a winner. As of today, Pioneer, Sony, JVC, Onkyo and Sanyo are the same company. Kenwood is out of the audio business, and Sansui, Sherwood, luxman, etc are owned by different owners.
zenithfan1
Super Member
I second that. IMO, I think Sansui had all the others beat in quality and dependability.
Sansui Louie
Curmudgeon
In my neck of the woods, Sansui won. Crazy TV Lenny moved more damned Sansuis and shitbox Matrecs speakers in the late 70's and very early 80's than anyone. Shortly after, Lenny switched to AAL's which believe it or not were a step up from the lousy Matrecs.
zenith2134
Addicted Member
I vote Yamaha. Only because they had such a wide array of receivers and amplifiers at the time. The CR-3020 monster, then the CR-400/600 and CA-600/800 integrateds plus more. I was always a fan of Natural Sound.
Axcel
Accuphase all the way
just a simple question no need to get your shorts in a knot:nono: There was a lot money pumped into the big rec wars was just wondering if there was a clear winner, Yes I know we all won great 70's gear bla bla bla. from the members who replied I can gather Pionner is shear sales volume was number 1
Yeah, I think AudioKarma won. Do you see any other combatants still on the field?
colortrakker
Thinking in color...
Not yet they're not. JVC and Kenwood came together last year, and Sanyo is getting taken over by Panasonic. Pioneer has an interest in Sharp, but they're still separate. Sony and Onkyo are completely individual.
Where Pioneer also made huge gains in the market was they had a HUGE marketing campaign going through the military exchanges.
pioneer recognized a bunch of young guys with a pocketful of money were good targets.
It was good equipment, especially the late 70's. Rarely saw a marantz in the PX's in Stuttgart anyway. Tones of Pioneers, then kenwood. Phase Linear was also well represented.
And of course for speakers, they ALWAYS had Bose guys on site to demo their speakers.
My opinion, pioneer was no better then the rest, just one heck of a marketing machine.
But as one poster says - the winner was the listener.
Example - you could pick up a "low level" Kenwood KA-7100 or Pioneer receiver for under $200.00
Sit those pieces next to a $400 piece in todays mass consumer stuff and compare their 2 channel capabilities. Plus as we all know by now - back then Japan was trying to improve it's quality image so equipment, including audio and camera gear, had to pass pretty strict requirements before they were allowed to be sold - the government kept a strict eye on that, turning the "made in japan" from a joke to meaning HIGH quality equipment.
Take a 60 watt amp from back then. It had to play for one hour at 60 wpc and still pass all of the specifications.
try that with a receiver / amp made today for a reasonable price. Nowadays, they crank it full volume, it it happens to peak for a second in one channel at 60 watts, they call it a 60 wpc amp- which is why you have all these 1000 wpc car amps etc.....
Could you imagine what a 1000 wpc car amp would have been like if it were made back then - would have weighed more then the car
pioneer recognized a bunch of young guys with a pocketful of money were good targets.
It was good equipment, especially the late 70's. Rarely saw a marantz in the PX's in Stuttgart anyway. Tones of Pioneers, then kenwood. Phase Linear was also well represented.
And of course for speakers, they ALWAYS had Bose guys on site to demo their speakers.
My opinion, pioneer was no better then the rest, just one heck of a marketing machine.
But as one poster says - the winner was the listener.
Example - you could pick up a "low level" Kenwood KA-7100 or Pioneer receiver for under $200.00
Sit those pieces next to a $400 piece in todays mass consumer stuff and compare their 2 channel capabilities. Plus as we all know by now - back then Japan was trying to improve it's quality image so equipment, including audio and camera gear, had to pass pretty strict requirements before they were allowed to be sold - the government kept a strict eye on that, turning the "made in japan" from a joke to meaning HIGH quality equipment.
Take a 60 watt amp from back then. It had to play for one hour at 60 wpc and still pass all of the specifications.
try that with a receiver / amp made today for a reasonable price. Nowadays, they crank it full volume, it it happens to peak for a second in one channel at 60 watts, they call it a 60 wpc amp- which is why you have all these 1000 wpc car amps etc.....
Could you imagine what a 1000 wpc car amp would have been like if it were made back then - would have weighed more then the car
ManFromPorlock
Super Member
Lynn Swann. 
WilCruiser
Active Member
What's your criteria for measurement?
If it's sales unit volume I'd have to guess Pioneer won. Better marketing ultimately - at least in the Northeast.
If it's quality, you'll never get a definitive answer - very subjective. Lots of Sansui lovers around here.
In the end I have to agree that the consumer ultimately won. Maybe not at the time - especially the casual consumer. They were often victims of the big audio houses that pushed what was most profitable as has been described. I worked for a smaller shop where there was less of that, but is was still a factor sometimes unfortunately.
Those poor people ultimately lost. There was lots of higher quality electronics driving crappy paper on magnets. I see a new cycle of that happening with surround / home theater systems. HTIBs are 99% AWFUL! My 2 channel system will put them to shame.
If it's sales unit volume I'd have to guess Pioneer won. Better marketing ultimately - at least in the Northeast.
If it's quality, you'll never get a definitive answer - very subjective. Lots of Sansui lovers around here.
In the end I have to agree that the consumer ultimately won. Maybe not at the time - especially the casual consumer. They were often victims of the big audio houses that pushed what was most profitable as has been described. I worked for a smaller shop where there was less of that, but is was still a factor sometimes unfortunately.
Those poor people ultimately lost. There was lots of higher quality electronics driving crappy paper on magnets. I see a new cycle of that happening with surround / home theater systems. HTIBs are 99% AWFUL! My 2 channel system will put them to shame.
I'm not sure who won, but when I was in the Navy, I bought a 1975 Advent Model 300 reciever and loved it. Four years ago I sent it to a guy in TN. and he totally rebuilt it for 200 bucks, all new caps and a hand full of resistors, as well as new RCA in back. It is now doing duty in my daughter's college apartment driving a pair of folded voight pipe we built just before she left for school.
