Replacement for stereo receiver??

[Puddin' Man]

'allo,

I built this 'ere pc from components (my 3rd build), but the world of "Consumer Electronics" has been grinding out stuff for which I have no use for years and years. So I got no celly-phone, no Xbox, no Blackberry, no GPS, etc.

And no quadraphonic sound (or whatever they call it nowadaze).

What I've got is a little 20-yr-old Technics stereo receiver in my little home that has powered 5 sets of speakers for about 20 years. Such receiver appears to be rolling over and dying (tons of static and can't balance the 2 stereo channels).

What might I be able to do in terms of replacing the stereo receiver (other than another 198x model from Ebay that might not last long)? Are there any good, reasonably priced -stereo- receivers presently on the market? Fancy-Dancy new receivers effectively supporting old-style stereo??

I admit ignorance of most all "current" developments in the home audio market: haven't had time to follow any of it.

Any/all help/info etc much appreciated.

Cheers, Puddin'

Pease pudding hot, Pease pudding cold, Pease pudding in the pot Nine days old ...

[yourname]

AS you surmise, new is not always better. don't discount ebay, find the seller 'capeannaudio', he specializes in good quality stereo gear from the 80's and 90's ][and older] and can usually find you a good deal on a real stereo. My ~2000 receiver had no more power than my 1978 20 watt and sounded worse. I bought a replacement from him and love it.

Pudd> 'allo,

[Charles Schuler]

You can still find stereo receiver amplifier combos that should serve your needs.

[Jeff]

Do you still use a turntable occasionally? If so you need one with a phono input. Most new ones have dropped this. Might check out Craigslist and find someone who would let you try theirs before buying it.

Good luck

[JoeSpareBedroom]

Call around to some actual stereo stores, not the big box idiots. Tell them what you want, and what you DON'T want. These things still exist. I believe NAD and Onkyo still make simple 2 channel receivers, for instance.

Example:

Does your old receiver have rotary controls? Does it seem like they might just need cleaning? If so, head to Radio Shack for a spray can of tuner cleaner, pop off the receiver's cover, and drench those controls with the spray. You have to shoot it into the tiny hole on each control. Tuck a clean rag under the controls so the stuff's not dripping onto your table.

[marks542004]

I believe places like "Best Buy " still have the sort of thing you are after.

[Bob F]

Old stereo receivers are often available at thrift shops and garage sales, or are available free or cheap via freecycle or craigslist for your area.

Bob

[dpb]

Puddin' Man wrote: ...

to be ...dying......

Besides the other suggestions, look for local audio shop. Most any larger locality will have one and likely will either do repair or can direct you to person(s) who can. Depending on the model, they may or may not want to mess with it, but it's worth looking into. Had my old Kenwood that is nearly 30 now (next year, if memory serves) totally refurbed two years ago -- new lights, new output power transistors (one of them died was final causation), replaced a bunch of caps that were weak or suspect, cleaned it all out, etc., etc., ... It should go on for another significant lifetime.

[bigjim]

[JoeSpareBedroom]

They might, but there's a 50% chance you'll run into someone who has no idea what you mean, and will drool on your shoes. Same with Circuit City. A friend of mine does sales training for companies like these. (A very frustrating job). Sometimes, before he sets up training sessions, he does brief phone surveys of the stores to see how they handle customers. At one CC store, he asked if they carried a certain Harmon Kardon receiver. The salesperson on the phone told him they didn't carry HK, and gave him the name of another store that did.

Very funny. At that time, CC had carried the HK line for quite a while. Luckily for the salesman, my friend got his name, and before the training sessions began, he took him aside to suggest that he either come a few minutes early to work and familiarize himself with what they sell, or keep looking over his shoulder in case his manager was walking by.

[tnom]

Don't replace it. The static and balance problem you are having is most likely dirty potentiometers. Go to Radio Shack and purchase an aerosol can of contact cleaner. Open the case of the stereo and with the unit unplugged spray into the cracks and holes of the various pots. Turn them back and forth while spraying.

[Puddin' Man]

...appears to be ...dying......

Yeah, but how much did it cost? I am "financially challenged". :-)

I've actually got a backup unit in the basement, but it won't hold a preset after power down for a few hours. Got it from Ebay mostly for the remote: looks like it's had some rough use.

Thx, P

"A truly good birddawg, even if you never, ever hunt her, is a Precious, Precious Thing! Mayhap ruin ya for h*mo sapiens ..."

[Puddin' Man]

Potentiometers are "sliders"? My Technics SA-R210 stereo receiver has buttons for all but the graphic eq. which has sliders.

Does it still sound like contact cleaner would help?

Thx, P

"A truly good birddawg, even if you never, ever hunt her, is a Precious, Precious Thing! Mayhap ruin ya for h*mo sapiens ..."

[Puddin' Man]

How'd you know? :-)

Which I entirely forgot about ...

Mighta figgered.

Makes it a bit trickier.

Thx, P

"A truly good birddawg, even if you never, ever hunt her, is a Precious, Precious Thing! Mayhap ruin ya for h*mo sapiens ..."

[dpb]

...appears to be ...dying......

About $100 altogether (this was an individual who does it for a sideline rather than through the audio shop he works at). The bare minimum to make it work again would probably have been half that.

BTW, "sliders" is linear potentiometer and it's quite possible a cleaner could help. Of course, there may also be dead spots, too, but it's certainly worth a shot if it is static-y kind of noise when controls are moved. Same as for volume which I would assume is a kuh-nob? And tuner is, too, not digital???

[JoeSpareBedroom]

Yes. Go buy it immediately and report back with your results. Keep in mind that these controls often need to be FLOODED with the stuff to get all the dust out. When you're done, you will walk away for 10 minutes to be sure the cleaner has evaporated. Then, you'll try the stereo.

[Bob F]

I don't know about "flooding" the controls, but it does help to move the limit-to-limit several times after application.

Bob

[tnom]

Yes. Many older receivers have better specs than the present day receivers. Try to repair it.

[JoeSpareBedroom]

Well, some controls, usually cheaper ones, will actually deteriorate inside, and if that's the case, the cleaner spray will do nothing. For dust, using not enough spray will sometimes just relocate the dust. Keep in mind that most people NEVER open up stereos (or computers) to vacuum out the dust.

[Puddin' Man]

...appears to be ...dying......

Thanks.

I've not even noticed a problem when controls are moved. The static is sometimes left, sometimes right channel, and sometimes absent altogether. But I've not noticed it at all when sound comes from tv monitor.

I can get the speakers to balance for tv sound, and when I tune to radio, balance becomes skewed to the right speaker, where sound is staticy-distorted.

They had to do a bunch of board-soldering to fix it about 10 years ago. I ferget the symptoms.

No kuh-nob. Mea Culpa, I shoulda mentioned up front the unit is digital.

Puddin'

"A truly good birddawg, even if you never, ever hunt her, is a Precious, Precious Thing! Mayhap ruin ya for h*mo sapiens ..."