Why? Because it will hopefully make people realise that what Graham produces is based on what's necessary in hi-fi and not on what isn't.

I had some money that had mounted up from birthdays etc. just before Christmas and wanted to spend it on something that I'd want to keep rather than something that would be out of date or obsolete in a few years. Having read a particular website relating to older gear and then having had a look on Ebay one evening I came across a 1968 receiver made by a well known manufacturer. It had a lovely look to it and the price wasn't silly, and I was led to believe it would sound good enough for a bedroom system.

Today I have finally managed to get it connected up to my main home-brew speakers that soon let you know if something is or isn't right (or good enough). I don't profess to have fantastic hearing but over time I've realised what music can sound like with a decent system. (Aided by a Reflex M).

The 1968 receiver sounds very, very good. For the cost, excellent. Very clear and defined. Pretty tight bass and a crisp treble that doesn't annoy when the volume is turned up. Despite the fact that it doesn't have gold-plated phono or speaker sockets. Nor 1000's of uF of capacitance in it's power supply. The internal wiring is a rat's nest. It doesn't have multiple output devices to feed the speakers it's modest 40W output. It's nearly 50 years old. I don't know if anything has been done in the past to maintain it but it looks pretty original. The only 'bling' it has is a nice aluminium fascia and silky smooth controls. One thing that doesn't work any more is the loudness control (it's physically broken) but that's no great loss.

So why does it sound so good? Probably because it just has decent, knowledge-based engineering, components that stand the test of time, wasn't built down to a price to maximise profits and was built in an era when music was music and not just a formulaic tune given some words and then wrapped up in an eye-catching video...

We are stuck with today's music (some of which is still good) but fortunately there are people still working with the right principles. If you're reading this you know who they are :-)

Ha 

I think I'd also be careful about the equipment I'd use to play my vinyl.

One downside to the receiver is that the inputs are too close together to allow the use of my GSP interconnnects 

It does sound better than my early 90's Technics amp that got good reviews at the time though (and has better specs). Maybe some things started going downhill in the 80's.

That's something I've figured out after spending too much money in the past I think. That and taking magazine reviews as gospel.

Half of me is tempted to leave the old receiver as-is, half of me is tempted to renew the PSU caps and anything else that could have deteriorated or shows signs of such which could make it sound even better.

Thanks for the advice Graham. Given that the lettering on the fascia isn't at all worn it has either had infrequent use or it has been permanently tuned to one radio station. 10 years use equates to 4 or 5 hours use every day which I doubt. So for fear of making it worse rather than better I will take the easy option and leave well alone. The tuner uses valves, I kind of like the fact that when you first turn it on you just get hiss for a few seconds .