Two new receivers today.

The Technics (by Panasonic!) SA-5160 left yesterday. I was very impressed. I was surprised today when an SA-5270 fell into my hands today! it 's a year newer (1977) and 10 watts more powerful, at 35/channel. The design and build quality are again excellent, the aluminum faceplate is about twice as thick as on a Marantz receiver. When I say design is excellent, I mean visually, but also in terms of serviceability. For example, changing the multitude of light bulbs on a Marantz is a big pain, some being highly inaccessible, requiring some disassembly. The Technics uses 3 bulbs for the entire tuning unit (plus a stereo LED), and they're right in front of you when you remove the case. It sounds great. The first two vintage Technics receivers I've experienced are fantastic little machines, and competitive with all the usual suspects (Sansui, Pioneer, Marantz, Kenwood etc.)

The other new receiver today is a Sherwood S-7300. I've had a and raved about the S-7100 and S-7200, so I'm pretty excited about this. It's noisy right now, but has great potential. looks beautiful and is very heavy and well built, with a stunning real wood case.

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