Akai AA-1010 Stereo Receiver

At 15WPC it's by no means a very powerful receiver. Infact this is the baby of the series being first produced in 1976. Looking at the internals it's not awfully complex either. Taking cues from the Yamaha receivers of the day, it's brushed aluminium faceplate is complemented by a faux vinyl woodgrain veneer built on a plywood casing. It's simply a nice little performer with good looks to boot.

Marantz 3200 Pre Amplifier

It's what you'd expect from a 1970's designed and built Marantz. The wonderful warm sound that their lineup of stereo console amplifiers and stereophonic receivers are known for, brought into a wonderful pre amplifier unit. Not for the purist at all but made for the masses, listening to this unit hooked up to my Marantz Model 32 power amplifier is like coming back home...

Akai GX-77 reel to reel

I can't help but start with "cool". That's the word that comes in mind when I think of the GX-77. Made in the early 80's at a time where everything was starting to be 'cheapened' in order to reduce costs, this still had cues from its former generation.  Although comments on the quality of the sound vary from who you speak to, I love it. Yes, there are much better made units, and much better sounding ones. But few if any that are better sounding and better looking at the same time. Did I mention it looks cool? But more importantly.. did I mention the loading mechanism? Click on "read more" to see the video.

Aiwa A22 Micro Component Stereo Amplifier

Proving that good (read: great) things come in small packages, here's the Aiwa A22 Amplifier. A little beauty at a very cool maximum output of 36wpc. I picked this one up at a local flea market with a matching tuner and cassette deck for $10. Sadly the particleboard rack that they came in was beyond saving. The tuner just needed some TLC however the cassette deck was long gone with signs of corrosion, deteriorated belts and the unsettling feeling that some minor has tried to press every control button down at once.