The older receivers from the 70’s had a big sound and were fun. The new ones are dead and boring. You’re absolutely correct.

Love your videos Kelvin. So pleased that you're back at it

Kelvin it's terrific that you're putting out more videos - please keep it up - youre the best.

Thank God you are back. This crazy world of hifi needs good souls like you

I MISSED THIS GUY. WHere the hell were you for so long? I am vintage gear guy and waited, waited... Welcome back.

born in 70's - nothing is better than '70's

It's always a joy to see a new video from you Kelvin, especially during tea time on this fine Sunday morning. Please keep them coming!

Receivers were the thing back in the70s; big bold power houses with more knobs and switches than Concorde's cockpit!Warm, rich and smooth sounding with tremendous low frequency depth. Partnered with huge Tannoy or Klipsch speakers, the ground shook and that warm, effortless sound filled the room. In the 80s, the separate amplifier came to rule. Reviewers of the day telling us that having an integrated tuner was a bad thing because of cross-talk/channel bleed issues and extra demand on the power supply. Receivers quickly fell out of favour. They could be found in second hand and thrift stores for beer money. There are a few great Japanese amplifiers out there by the likes of; Sansui, Sony and Yamaha that were worth their proverbial salt, however, the massive receivers of old were the real Rolls Royces of amplification; beautiful to look at and beautiful sounding. Well done again, Kelvin.

I am old enough to remember those days, but overlooked the big Japanese brands simply because of the company NAD. The NAD sound was so highly rated at that time, that I bought the 7020 receiver which had superb clarity in both FM tuner and amplifier departments.😊

Hi Kelvin! Seeing a new video from you is always a treat! Good luck with trying out the new digital stuff. I started hearing good things from the internet crowd about the new chinesium digital components that have become available in recent years and became interested in cobbling together a small system for everyday computer/desktop use. To try it all out I ordered up three different amps, two streamers, a phono pre-amp and a couple pairs of speakers. (It was Amazon Prime Day...) It was shocking to me how thin and uninteresting everything was when played through any of that junk. It was such a remarkably unenjoyable experience, I returned every last bit of it. It's probably unfair to compare the new age stuff to my 1977 Marantz receiver, but I can't help it. I keep telling everyone how I am becoming a Luddite, but I think I need to start telling them I've already become one. I still read paper books too.

I have always enjoyed your reviews. Looking forward for the next one. So glad you're back..

It's so nice to have a new presentation from you! I always enjoyed your style of descriptions.

Excellent, cheers from Canada....my Pioneer SX-535....AM/FM Stereo Receiver (1974-76) still running!

So great that you’re back!

Great review - absolutely spot on description of the older gear.

lovely to see you uploading again, one of my favourite channels!

Thanks Kelvin.IRight now; I'm playing an Ella F Cole Porter Songbook with my Sansui 7070 and I absolutely agree with you,vintage receivers will always bring you joy everytime you listen to them!!!

Allways a joy to hear your presentations, top❤

Great to see you back. Love your videos.

Hi Kelvin, I have that Cambridge amplifier. No, I’m not going to promote it particularly. I’m sure your analysis is correct, every confidence in your experience and expertise. In my defence, it was a £50 eBay purchase for my 2nd system (when I’m banished from the lounge for telly viewing). It does have a phono stage, my main reason along with price for purchase. It sounds, at least to my ears, perfectly acceptable. Other components - Rega 3 turntable, Revolver AVF speakers, all bought for buttons on eBay / Facebook. As said, not my main system but better than watching “casualty”. You have given me some pointers. Previously I thought the speakers were the bottleneck but it is most likely the amp. Honestly though, I’ll live with it for a while, any excess cash tends to get blown on the main system or frittered away on food and utilities. Love the channel.

I spent around 5 years in the late 90s messing with modern amps / speakers. So underwhelming. Thankfully I finally saw the light and found some ancient electronics to enjoy. Your findings correlate closely with mine.

Love your candor Kelvin. It is so refreshing.

So nice to see more videos Kelvin you have helped me in my Hifi journey and now I’ve just ordered a pair of Tannoy Mercury Gold M20s Hifi is more addictive than my main gig car detailing 😉

Oh yes, this is the kind of review we really like to see from you Kelvin! I'm going to make myself a brew specially to watch this…

Nice to see u back

Ahhhh brings back the memories!! My late father had a similar amp, but from 1981, with Celestion DL6s. The joy of Herb Alpert or Buddy Rich playing Large in the Room!!! 😁😁

Great video kelvin ,after hard working day , you are my relax!! I enjoy very much from the little details and wait for your new vid , keep it up Tnx !!

Very nice review and matches my experiences, My first receiver was a sx-680 I got new as a teenager. Loved the power that thing had, As I aged I migrated to newer stuff. They all had a tremendous amount of clarity and detail and sounded wonderful. Then about 2 years ago I needed a stereo for my office and decided to go retro picking up a 1978 Yamahas cr-820, a very detailed natural sounding receiver compared to its competition in the 70's I was impressed by how much more life it brought to my music over the newer equipment. Over the past couple of years Ive replaced every stereo with vintage gear. It has more depth, and just adds joy to the sound, the new stuff seems cold and clinical by comparison. I now use a pioneer sx-737, sx-650 , SA-6800 sansui 7070, G5700, au-5500 and a Marantz 2235B on a weekly basis in various rooms around the house. Love them all. They lack the accuracy of the newer stuff, but add more body and fun to the music. Thanks

Great to see you again, and thanks for the review. All the American reviewers have been wetting themselves about the Fosi VA3 (German widgets and Japanese watsits) It's a cheapish Chinese class D amp and I'd love to get your take on it.

Excellent review 👍💯 You are absolutely right, tons of experience and explain very clearly 👍

Hi Kelvin. I have a SX550 owned it for a few years now. Its had new bulbs the pots cleaned and I made some new side panels from solid oak as the original veneered ones were peeling. I run it with a pair of Wharfedale Diamonds mainly just radio on FM, used as a daily performer. I love it. I enjoyed your review, keep em coming 👍😊

Oh, about the Cambridge audio: It´s a Class AB with a THD of 0,15 having 35 watts per Channel, whilst the Pioneer also is AB with THD 0.3 at 20 watts/Channel. I tend to think, the difference in Sound the "richer " or larger Sound of the Pioneer is related to the THD, that's 2 times higher than the Cambridge One. The reason for the Volume knob of the Cambridge is, that there is no potentiometer in the Signal Chain, that´s all. The Volume is changed with a Digital Circuit, which may change the gain of the Amp itself. Maybe... But the Amp itself is AB. And as you tell us, its sound was designed to be really flat - but that matches a little bit the holy grail of the Industry in the 2010s. A flat Sound with as much as possible low THD was sometimes done with more negative bypass, and as we know today, this is what makes an amplifier sound flat.... and lifeless...

You done it! 👍 Enjoyed it as always. Thanks

Great review as usual ! I suggest a video comparing the sound of you best cd player to your best turntable ; )

I had exactly the same experience with speakers recently. I compared the Mission Model 70 to the Dynaudio Focus 160. Everything you said soundwise about the amps I felt comparing those speakers. Glad, you're back and putting out some more videos!!

You're 100% correct! I do have the SX550 and it just sounds awesome, big full sound, not fatiguing and don't let those "20 WPC" fool you, plenty of power. Based on the hype and heavily discounted price I bought an Audiolab 6000A, it turned out to be a major disappointment, detailed, articulate sound, yes, but thin with no body and no fun. I sent it back and kept, of course, the SX which cost me $150.00 including shipping and has been incredibly reliable with no issues and even in looks trashes the 6000A. It's good to see you back.

I have seen (30 times :D) the videos on the Sansui AU317 and AU101. Then I bought a sansui AU4900 + AU101. :D Thanks for your precious videos!

thank you kelvin for the pioneer review it was very informative you give us a good idea of the sound i love pioneer 😁

Kelvin you aren't on YT enough. Good to see you back.

nice to see you back I have the cambridge with couple of mordaunt M20s speakers, i'm no expert buy i'm more than pleased with it

I Kelvin , super nice video. For my part i have a litle amp the Sony TA-AX310 from (1984) . i buy , Yamaha ,Onkyo and Sony receivers from 2000 to 2013 and for stereo i come back to my old Sony . The sound like you said is more punchy, less refined, more analogic, round. This litle amp have just 32 watts per channel but the sound are so surprising. I know you don't really talk of the amp in the 80's but i think some amp in the 80's sound like the 70's. I used for my speakers the Canadian brand Mirage m390is from the start of the 90's and that are a perfect match. Mirage don't exist anymore but makes really good speakers.

Your videos are great kelvin best on KZfaq for me , my type of equipment thanks

As the owner of a Pioneer SA 7500 amp (1976), that is in original condition and still sounding very good, I am pleased to hear you saying good things about some vintage Pioneer hifi gear, even though you generally prefer vintage Sansui gear. I am not a fan of receiver/amps and prefer integrated amps without radios built into them, as I am concerned that the built in radio electronics may interfere with the preamp signals going to the power amp. I did read about that somewhere, a long time ago and realize it would depend on the design and build quality of specific makes and models of receiver/amps. Thanks for your interesting video. PS. Maybe a recapping of my old Pioneer amp would make it sound even better.

Hello Kelvin, I bought a Pioneer SX-580 (20w/per) as a pkg. with BIC turntable (Pickering cart.), and Advent 1 speakers back in 1978. It was a great "starter" system, but my teenage hunger for power was not satisfied. I traded off the Pioneer, but I was really impressed with the Advents! Their sound was smooth and accurate. I do wish now I still had that receiver, but I traded it for a used Marantz 5220 cassette deck I still own. The Pioneers of that period really were beautiful, and solid performers.

Wow, we are spoiled. Another fantastic report. I completely agree with Kelvin. In 1973 I had the Pioneer SA1000, which I liked. but I liked Sansui better. unfortunately I have never had experience with the English brands. Your description of vintage Pioneer is 100 percent accurate as I remember it. Thanks Kelvin.

Here in Ireland DAB never kicked off, all we have is FM, beginning to wonder are we the only country like this

Hi Kelvin, Steve from Australia here. Good to see you back. I have a Sansui AU 417 with vintage speakers. I'm interested to know your thoughts on modern headphones with vintage stuff. I have an smsl sh6 headphone amp with he 400i's. The Sansui blows it away in every way. Soundstage, bass and texture. Reviewers never talk about vintage. They keep buying more modern headphones amps looking for that special sound. Best device for vintage is Schiit Sys to reduce the input volume into aux on the Sansui as I find modern dacs etc output is a bit high. It controls it without losing sound quality. Looking forward to future reviews.

Good to see you again Kelvin! About a small new amp to review... The Dayton Audio DTA-PRO could be a good candidate. If it drives the B&O cx100 well, that could be a terrific kitchen system. Cheers mate

I believe when this amp was made in the mid 1970s there was a standard test all electronic companies had to use to advertise their watt ratings. So back then we had what I refer to as Real World Watts (RWW, yes I made up the term). So 20 watts was 20 watts, now a days one sees watt ratings all over the place, especially home theater and car amplifiers. Some advertise 1200 watts (peak at 1KHZ for 1 second).....I say hogwash. So I totally agree old watts are strong and real, new watts are like snowflakes, they look pretty but melt under full power. And of course the efficiency of the speakers speaks for itself. Thanks for the video(s), I love em'!

Great video as usual. You should give the JVC A-K10 a try if you like bouncy and lively.

I have that Pioneer unit .bought it new and its true its definitely alive .I have tried one of those modern tin boxes and there's just no comparison

Quite enjoyable and informative review. Your personal, even though subjective opinion, kind of makes more sense than a very technical approach. Definitely more fun. I own a Luxman L580 and would love to have you compare it to a current model, let's say L-507uXII. Curious if the huge price difference translates into SQ difference.

Fosi Audio TB 10 D and the like would be worth checking out. They are better than the old Cambridge for sure. Great videos. Keep them coming please 😊

I run a Sony str 6055 and it’s great. Built like a tank Great condition 1971 I think. And I use the radio too. Hitachi Ht 550 deck Pair of 1970 Kef Concorde Arcam CD player Alpha 7 Sounds great in general

Hi Kelvin, i missed your modern vs vintage comparison reviews. Please keep em coming! Really curious to hear your opinions on current inexpensive hifi gear, like those small class D amps. Seen and liked your reviews of kef ls50, elac and q acoustics speakers - I wonder if there's anything good out there that doesn't cost a lot of money.

So glad to have you back, I don't think the Topaz is class D though. 😁 Keep up the good work 👍

Has a mid fi addict you hit the nail on the head. I have 2 pioneer early seventies receivers, yep they get the play time with me. Keep swinging Kel, you da man.

Agreed…the newer stuff not made the same, I have a 1973 - 75 Sansui 771 receiver / 32 WPC…under rated super sensitive & loud volume control…sounds like 80WPC…with older JBL speakers….amazing!

Great comparison Kelvin, I would like to hear your opinion of the new Arcam Radia A5 amp

If you can, please review the Audiolab 6000A. I think a couple of friends' dads had that Pioneer amp back in the 80s; we used to play our Bowie LPs on their Hi-Fis. Enjoying seeing your effusive reviews back on the 'Tube, Kelvin. Cheers from saarf of the river.

Vintage all the way as far as Amps go. My Sansui 881, Marantz 2245, Technics 5570 are all hot and creamy sounding. My PM 8004 is spot on but polite. Good vid.

You're dead on with the story of the Pioneer. I've got my Kenwood KR-4070 from when I was around 14 years old (the original, it was stored for years on the attic) just recapped and it sounds amazing.Same story, lots of Oompf, lots of joy, a bit rough around the edges yes, but straight in your face, just a pleasure to listen to. I'm looking for the right speakers to match it with though. I use my Sansui 555A (that I bought after you advised me something like that some years ago) with my Kef 103.2's as my main set, they are warm, gorgeous and precise together, but the Kewnood is just a lovely beast. 40 old Watts per channel and gorgeous to look at. What speakers to match it with...hmmm...now I got a set of modern Totem Mite's connected with it...lots of mids and highs, but not in a nice balance or so, too shouty. Surprising amount of bass for such a small speaker though. Have a nice day.

Great as always

Kelvin, I owned that amp back in the 80’s, I bought it for £10 from a second hand audio shop in Worthing West Sussex, I am commenting after only watching ten seconds of this video, so my comments are simply from what I remember. So I remember it being very warm, powerful and musical, but it lacked detail and definition, it always left me feeling I was missing something, but I still enjoyed it for what it did well… I will now watch the rest of your video and see how my thoughts correlate to yours. 🙈

Welcome back Kelvin, hope you are OK...

Kelvin, are you back? I hope so. I looked forward to your reviews.

Another great video, I should get you to review some equipment I've upgraded, we can sort it out at some stage 👍

Good to see you again, keep it up! I suggest Tandberg TR-1010 (Motorola transistors) or Tandberg Huldra 11. You will forget that Sansui ever existed. Also try Mayo Nakano Piano Trio "Scabious" Monochrome 4K UHD Video / 96kHz Audio

Bought a Kenwood KA-8006 new in 1975 years later replaced it with a NAD 22 watt receiver which kicked the snot out of it. Hooking that Kenwood to a pair of Dahlquist DQ-12's showed what a dark muddy mess it was. I've owned and repaired lots of vintage amps/receivers/integrated pieces both tube and SS from Luxman, Sansui, Pioneer, Yamaha, Scott, Fisher, Dynaco and others. None are as good as the my new Parasound 2250 v2 & 200 Pre. Having a high current amp with the ability to carry louds as low as 2ohm's opens up so many speaker possibility's that are difficult to drive but can deliver stunning sound. My 4ohm Canton Karat 300's who's spec's said my Outlaw RR2160 was more than enough with it's 165 watts per channel into 4ohms, it wasn't. The Parasound with it's 400 per running at 4ohm's was the ticket. Sorry but the Parasound is better than any vintage or new amp I've ever had and I've had a bunch and Parasound has pieces that are even better. The 200 pre is also a great versatile piece. All my vintage stuff is gone except a Dynaco ST-70,

Nice to see you back. How about the smsl sa50 or sa98 amps

superb video thankyou

Hi Kelvin. Very good description of both amplifiers. One has discrete components and the other has microprocessors and grotty op-amps. The sound you describe reflects the technology exactly. Give me the Pioneer any day. I'd be bored with the Cambridge before I'd even plugged it in. The Cambridge does have a built in phono stage and has a discrete output stage. The volume control is a rotary stepper switch that controls the processor. Cambridge=boring, Pioneer= cool!

Great review & comparison. Could you do an early Cyrus two and psx review. 1985-90 Great Little shoe box amps to review against newer stuff.

I like your style of presentation, and can relate to what you're trying to say about the sound you are hearing. I've subbed. My pockets dictated I would start my HiFi 'journey' (don't you hate the use of that word?) with a forty quid Cambridge A1 and a sixty quid Marantz 41 cd, but I love the sound I'm getting. I have only just realised the limitations of vintage stuff regarding digital connectivity, but I've just added a Mojo Chord and that's a big improvement to my Wiim Pro, and it has given me a better headphone socket than the Marantz, which struggles to power my M50x cans. At this level of audio every hundred quid I spend gives easily heard improvements, I intend to pull up before I get sucked into the big money pit. My wife will help me there.

Looking forward to your review and thoughts on one of these class D small amps that seem to be all the rage at the moment with some channels raving over them, but I have my resovations about them

I really enjoy my receiver AKAI AA - 1150 1978 it visually looks a little like your Pioneer

Popular Class D amplifiers are the Fosi V3 and the Fosi ZA3. I use the ZA3 as a desktop amplifier. With the ZA3 you get XLR connections and a subwoofer out that works over the volume control. For the money it’s a great little amp. Doubt if it has “soul”. Haven’t compered it with my main Class AB amplifiers (yet).

Hi Kevin, I would love to get your take on the Fosy Audio V3. It even got an award from the British Audiophile and many reviewers rave about it. The problem is, almost no reviewer is pitching them against vintage audio. I hope that's where you come in :)

Good review. I have a number of vintage receivers of different makes, Sansui, Marantz, Sony and Pioneer. Also own a few modern amplifiers. Interestingly the one I like and use the most is my vintage Pioneer SX1250 monster receiver. While I understand the harsh reference to the smaller Pioneer, I don’t feel that this is as applicable to the bigger 1250. Perhaps because you generally listen to this at lower volume knob setting, as anything over 50% (-20dB) will result in the police being called for disturbance. Anyway, the attack and speed along with detail and musicality the 1250 has in spades wins prime spot in my living room and as such would recommend to anyone wanting a vintage receiver. I was lucky to find the 1250 many years ago in Edinburgh at a good price and I know these now command high prices but knowing what I do now I would pay the going rate if I didn’t have one. I suspect to get a modern amp setup that sounds as good I’m sure would require even higher cost and require separate pre and power amps.

Fosi Audio v3 and more recent ZA3 amplifiers have been getting very good reviews.

Your subjectivity is very understandable because I have had practically the same experiences with hi-fi over the decades. At first it was just a youngsters obsession with music and sound,than it became "homework" as a speakerbuilder in pre CAD/CMS times as a young adult. Anyway. Class D amps are now (!) just becoming comparable to good class ab amps in soundquality. Decades after they first got widely marketed. Well,probably what i wanna say is that regarding power amplification technical advancement is in practice waaaaaaaay slower than on paper. Especially in price regions common people can afford. Quality trickles down very slowly nowadays,because we`re living in a time where anything that just oozes quality has a "high end" price tag on it. This is probably due to the fact that manufacturers in the last decades prefer advertising campaigns rather than investing in device development. "Make believe" is cheaper - and more profitable - than delivering the goods....... That said,personaly i also would prefer a Sansui over a Pioneer around that timeframe...... And that it is a shame that the tuner part nowadays rarely get used anymore because back in the day it was the preferred source for discovering new music. Back in the day FM was a must have imho. Nowadays irs sadly mostly just stupid radio with the yesteryears cheeap pop hits.. And that is real shame because soundwise FM can be very good. I miss the moderated programs of the past who introduced me to lot of music beyond my horizon. Back then - living in germany - i loved "in Between" by Michael Rüsenberg and "Rock In" by Winfried Trenkler. They expanded my musical horizon and spoiled me for pop for live......

The Pioneer sx-550 was introduced in 1976 on the tail of the classic sx-x3x (1974-75) series and discontinued 1978.

Really enjoy your videos, very informative. I am looking for an amp and a set of speakers for a large listening room. I have some vintage amps the Pioneer x 450. Leak 30 amp and a pair of KEF Concerto speakers. Sound nice at low to mid volume. But at higher volume, the system gets distorted. Any points or other products I should be looking at to get a clean sound at a higher volume. Thanks

the early 80s (1980 to 1983) sonys were the best.

Older just seems to sound more bodied and realistic. Friend had new Yamaha receiver ($400ish) and when he was playing the radio I had to adjust Bass +8 and treble +6. Look, I have many older receivers of which I play flat on all my speakers. In a nutshell, going to newer models, the sound is less "full bodied" and more analitical and thin. I can say this with confidence having listened to stereo gear for over 40 years.

I'd love your advice on creating a vintage system and adding a streaming device 😊

Fatman tube amp could make an interesting review subject, almost vintage now, and ahead of the wave? Best regards, Lucas.

Really enjoy the channel.............many thanks.Love you to do a comparison using classic Celestion SL6 speakers.........do they srill hold up these days ?

Hello, good to hear you again. Maybe you are able to find somewhere new version of Musical Fidelity A1, I've heard various opinions and it's a classic

I have a Realistic STA 2100 which is comparable to a vintage Pioneer SX-1050., a few steps up from the SX 550

hi Kelvin, i must recommend the. Fosi v3 as the cheap amp worth a listen to. I was so surprised by it whenI hooked it up to decent peramplifiers. I also changed opamps and eventually arrived on one that I really enjoyed maybe pairing it with a preamp and dac that is so much more expensive is a weird ratio, and folk unlikely to take that route, but it has the ability to sound excellent. I have also got the za3, in fact more than one to tinker with, and I use basicallyas a biamped power amp set. Again I use a very sweet tube preamp and I think the combination is fabulous. But, that super cheap v3 with the maximum voltage transformer is so surprising at the price. Take care and lively you are adding videos again.

Great video! I bet the Pioneer would sound awesome with some Klipsch Heresy speakers--more of an old school sound. As for a future (current) amp review, why not a Hegel??

We had a Pioneer SX-650 when we were kids. It’s pretty loud for 35 wpc. My brother and I played Bowie, Led Zeppelin, The Doors.

Kelvin, when you get vintage gear in to review for your channel; who does/did the maintenance on them?

I’d be interested in your thoughts on the pioneer a400, always scored well in the early 90’s.

Hi K, Great video, the Cambridge Audio AM10 uses the LM3886 class A/B type amplifier chips which were quite popular way back before class D amplifiers took off. There were many high end (questionable) HiFi companies that used these LM3886 tytpe chip based amplifiers like 47 Labs Gaincard amplifier, Jeff Rowland and many others. The qualities you've mentioned sum it up - good but not great, limited dynamics and minute details lost. You cant beat a good old vintage amp for muscle and dynamics.

2:56 Great point about radio - I have an Akai AT2450 Tuner that is really just for cosmetics, the Marantz 1090 Integrated Amp was a bit plain ...

There is a technical writing aspect I think - in the 70's there was a manufacturer agreement to specify power with a conservative rating system of both channels driven and full frequency of 20 -20,000 hz. some modern companies have chosen to print an easier rating of one chan at 1000 hz. my Cambridge 100 has both ratings, 100 w ch with the modern, 'easy ' rating and 80 W. ch at the older standard. but that's just semantics.

Pioneer's SX-650 is particularly good sounding and maybe the smoothest sounding receiver of Pioneer's 50 line. The SX-750 to my ears is not as good and sounds a bit edgy by comparison. Not sure about the SX-550 but the SX-650 hits a sweet spot even compared to the high powered units Pioneer made like the SX-1050 and SX-1250. Modern IC laced amps like the Cambridge tend to sound hard, shrink wrapped and harmonically dead by comparison.

Hello Kelvin 🙂 would love to hear your thoughts on b&w 606s2. I think they stand out from new ones of a similar budget with their lively sound.