Home stereo guys, need some help...Update, stereo found.

[Joe G]

My dad just gave me a nice pair of his old Marantz speakers identical to these for my new place:




I know they are good quality, but unfortunately he wouldn't part with any of his old receivers. So I need to find a receiver on a budget, i really don't want to spend more than $40 or so. Doesn't matter if its new or used as long as it works, but it would be nice to have one that is ipod, cd, and turntable friendly. What brands and features/specs should i be browsing the web/craigslist for?

Thanks.

[browntown]

Just go to goodwill and buy an integrated amp or standard receiver. Get a rca plug to miniplug cable for your ipod, and press play.

[BlackSpeed66]

Dunno how old you're looking to go but a nice vintage receiver would work well with those speakers. Marantz made some fantastic equipment back in the day. You also have Sansui, H/K, Pioneer, Kenwood, Technics, and more. A $40 budget isn't much but the thrift store suggestion is a good one if you're willing to do a bit of cleanup work on whatever you buy.

www.audiokarma.org is a great resource for this stuff.

[mrsleeve]

Way back Marantz made some bad ass Powered amps and receivers

Whats the power handling on those

Think you might be better off finding a Older stereo Receiver and then getting a pair of Single channel amps to push them. Like an older set of POA 4400 from denon. Or go all old school and get all vintage Marantz equipment off of ebay or similar


But I would wait for Luke to chime in as hes the audio guru around here

[Joe G]

Thanks for the suggestions fellas.


Now I am waiting for lukes 2 cents...

[Ral]

I have a 1981 yamaha R500 receiver driving two polk speakers. Nothing crazy, but it sounds amazing. Make sure the impedance is the same for both. (it's marked by an Omega sign.) if the impedance is off, it won't sound great and possibly damage your components.

Also, check Amazon/ebay/craigslist for stuff. I found some great stuff for next to nothing for what I got for my "big" stereo.

or, do whatever Luke suggests.

[iidesu]

powerful, masculine, enjoy!

[magoo_lc1]

wow those are oldies..i can tell by the cone materials and design. I havent ever really seen a amp for 40 bucks but then again i never really looked. Im a big fan of mcintosh home amps. ive ran them for years and i have one of there big amps now with a mark levinson preamp. Good luck on your shopping

[James Crivellone]

god damn those would go awesome with my Marantz 250M and 3800 Pre

[GDA]

Cool. Those are in great shape.

Not sure of your budget for getting all those for 40, but a quick and cheap 80s vintage build from separates could be made from NAD or maybe some Carver separates and a simple old M400 Carver Cube amp. A little better would maybe be Adcom, Rotel, Bryston and Hafler gear. You can put together a pretty decent set of separates with a budget of a couple hundred or so.

ebay can be your friend on some of this older stuff... it is where I picked up my Adcom monoblocks for running my Vandersteens

[E30 331is]

http://www.parts-express.com/wizards/searchResults.cfm?srchExt=CAT&srchCat=756

I have the Dayton Audio DTA-100a, best 50wpc under $100. Maybe over you budget but those speakers are too nice to be underpowered.

[phenobarb1]

Cool. Those are in great shape.

Not sure of your budget for getting all those for 40, but a quick and cheap 80s vintage build from separates could be made from NAD or maybe some Carver separates and a simple old M400 Carver Cube amp. A little better would maybe be Adcom, Rotel, Bryston and Hafler gear. You can put together a pretty decent set of separates with a budget of a couple hundred or so.

ebay can be your friend on some of this older stuff... it is where I picked up my Adcom monoblocks for running my Vandersteens

^This

You won't find most of the brands he mentions for $40, but you might find a decent NAD or Rotel for that price on ebay. Don't worry if it is only rated as 20-40 watts per channel, it will still be plenty. I also kind of doubt that you are going to find anything with a USB or ipod port for that price, but you can always run a line from the headphone jack to the RCAs on the receiver. Costs about 5 bucks and does the job fine.

For something cheaper and easier to find, I like some of the Yamaha receivers. Better bang for your buck than the newer Marantz, Denon, or whatever.

[Anvilx]

Anything made by adcom is top notch and the vintage stuff is pretty cheap. My recommendation is a 545 or 535 power amp and a GTP 500 preamp. I have these paired with rogers speakers (was the BBC's reference speaker for a long time) they sound absolutely superb. I think it sound a little better then my denon dra-350 preamp/amp.

[StereoInstaller1]

^This

You won't find most of the brands he mentions for $40, but you might find a decent NAD or Rotel for that price on ebay. Don't worry if it is only rated as 20-40 watts per channel, it will still be plenty. I also kind of doubt that you are going to find anything with a USB or ipod port for that price, but you can always run a line from the headphone jack to the RCAs on the receiver. Costs about 5 bucks and does the job fine.

For something cheaper and easier to find, I like some of the Yamaha receivers. Better bang for your buck than the newer Marantz, Denon, or whatever.

I picked up an old Harman/Kardon for my son, was $30 at the local pawn shop.

Dude, what the hell, you have $40 to spend. Do the best you can, and stay away from anything that has Dolby Digital, unless you plan on buying a subwoofer immediately. If you can find Rotel or NAD, jump on that...but don't hold your breath. Onkyo, Denon, Marantz, Yamaha and H/K are all fine too, but stay away from Fisher/Sanyo. MCS was a house brand for JC Penneys, they are made by H/K and are great. Pioneer is hit or miss, Hitachi is very solid...so many millions of things out there. Keep your eye on Craigslist, but good luck finding a decent deal there. Pawn shops, thrift stores and garage sales are your best bet.

GL!
Luke

[5Toes]

^ Luke was JUST going to say HK... I love their stuff

Will pick up one of these one day - http://www.ebay.com/itm/HARMAN-KARDO...#ht_500wt_1361

I got a mid 90's Technics for $30 at Goodwill. Such a nice sounding amp and the frequency read out and visual EQ was very nice.