Man between two eras

Musicrover,

I own a Bryston B60 and highly recommend it. Prices on them vary widely due to age and options. Bryston stuff lasts forever, and they can fix anything they've ever built for a very good price. They can also upgrade/update a lot of their stuff. My B60 is a late '99 model, and Bryston Canada updated it to the current SST model for $120. Bryston USA couldn't do this for some reason or another. I have an internal phono stage in mine and it sounds fantastic. They can retro fit one for either $350 or $500 (not sure as mine had it when I bought it).

Another great integrated that sells for a great price here is the Naim Nait 5i. Naim USA is also a great group to deal with, and they can fix just about anything. I'd have bought a Nait 5i if I didn't come across my B60 for the right price from the right person. Nait 5is don't have internal phono stages, so you'd need an external one. There are a ton of external phono stages out there for great prices. Off the top of my head, the Simaudio LP3 sells for $350 new at Music Direct, and the Dynavector P-75 usually sells for under $500 if my memory serves me right. Both are excellent for the money.

I've heard pretty much all the current integrateds you mention, and it's obvious which one I like.

My father has a Marantz 2220B that I've been trying to swipe from him for years. It sounds quite a bit different from my B60. Its a lot warmer, smoother and lush sounding than the B60. I could easily live with it in a second system, but it would never replace my B60.

Just some food for thought.

I don't think you can go wrong with a vintage Luxman. The R-117 reciever is almost legendary. It is definitely on the warm "liquid' side and plays at high volumes with ease (160 wpc with huge dynamic power). It has a CD diect switch and a very good tuner section. You should be able to get one in good condition for less than $500. The R-115 is also very good, just less power.

Steve

Last year I purchased a mint condition Marantx 2270 receiver on eBay. It looks and sounds fantastic. I don't think you can wrong with a 70's Marantz. I also used to own a Harman Kardon HK-730 receiver from that era that sounded great as well. Good luck.

A few years ago there was a guy who refurbished vintage Marantz receivers and sold them on eBay. I think is seller name was SSTK or something like that. I'm pretty sure he offers some sort of warranty. If I'm not mistaking, he had a few of his receivers used as show pieces by Marantz.

His prices were a little higher than others, but not too much. Hopefully you get what you pay for with his work. I haven't bought one from him, but a friend on another forum did and he was very happy with it. He said that people who didn't know about them thought it was a brand new receiver.

I have no connection to the seller. Just throwing an idea out there if you're serious about buying a vintage Marantz.