A long lasting NAD receiver alternative at reasonable cost today?

sorry for your loss ..I had an NAD 7250PE receiver that served me well for many many years until I sold it a few years back. Unfortunately, it's hard to come by gear that has the same solid feel and clean uncluttered look these days.

I had one of these for a year to drive our patio speakers. ..it worked flawlessly and well built, I thought.. Will it last as long as your NAD 7140? ..Probably not, but it will probably last 5+ years. ..Note that you will have to buy an outboard phono pre-amp. ..There's a ton out there that are cheap (<$75) or, if you want to have something from NAD as part of this setup, you can buy an NAD PP2 for $170.

It appears that Crutchfield has both these pieces.

http://www.crutchfield.com/S-xBbajuKuPJ8/p_580TX8255/Onkyo-TX-8255.html

I love things to last, but technology does march along.

I'd probably still be driving that 1995 Mystique today but in 2006 a deer jumped right in front of me on a pitch-black freeway. I dodged most of it but the right corner of the car got flattened a little and the insurance company totalled it.

The Milan that replaced it is simply the best car I've ever had. Traction control, antilock brakes, far better ride and handling make a big difference, particularly on longer trips.

I've seen enough 10 year old AVRs still working to know that getting 10 years out of an AVR is not mission impossible. It is very hard to obtain modern audio gear that is not either just made in China outright, or has signficiant amounts of Chinese content. The key to obtaining good product from China is staying on top of their QC.

Mission Impossible. 40 years is way too long to predict. We're not going to know what generally lasts for 40 years until 40 years from now!

You were lucky once, don't make being that lucky twice a critical success factor.

^^^ NadGuy; not to spam or anything...but come to think of it, I've got an old Sony STR-GA7ES Receiver just laying around, doing absolutely nothing. I can't bring myself to sell it, because it'll probably command next to nothing; can't bring myself to just throw it out...because it's built like a brick sh*t-house, and it's probably got many years left on it.

But my wife and I are getting ready for Spring cleaning, and this probably will be a casualty this time around. If I recall, I bought this right around the beginning of the Home Theater revolution; and it wasn't quite ready for prime-time. It had it's own pseudo surround-sound (but even better 2-channel DSPs...like Small Jazz Club, Large Church Hall, Acoustic, etc)...but you needed an external decoder to get true Dolby.

From what I remember, it sounded much better for music than HT anyway (funny how I find most AVRs of today to be just the opposite); and it does have a Phono input. Anyway; someone could have it for next to nothing, and the shipping. I'd rather do that, than throw it in a dumpster.

Here's a link to some pics http://market.freak-stuff.com/products/14981/120866955706 , and another to the manual http://pdf.crse.com/manuals/3856160111.pdf

Emotiva UPA-200

Nice pick! Too bad its an amp and not a receiver.

Emotiva UPA-200 is a receiver alternative.
It's 40 years past the days of am/fm Nad 7140 receiver.
Plug in your smart phone for (internet) radio.

Check out the NAD DDA 100 with an analog add-on.

Big joke! Compared to a modern AVR it is 40 years old technology.

It is a power amp! Comparing it to a receiver is like comparing a engine sitting on a stand to a complete automoble.






???????????

Plug in your smart phone for (internet) radio.


Is this what I use? No. Along with my power amps, I have a preamp, computer server stuffed with WAV files, and a Logitech Squeezebox for a wireless connection.
BUT for me, "$800, is way above my budget" does not apply.
Honestly for a tiny budget I would recommend just a power amp, a smartphone, a MOG subscription, and the adapter pictured above.
True enough many people prefer to buy a 9.1 AVR and there sure is plenty of cheap crap from China available....

It's still a bizarre suggestion considering it doesn't meet any of the requirements the OP specified: 1) You can't hook a CD player up to it unless the CD player has a volume control. 2) It has no AM/FM tuner. 3) It has no phono stage. The only advantage that amp has over the Marantz is that it's rated at about 3dB more output (150W vs. 80W). That hardly outweighs the very glaring problems with it: It doesn't do anything the OP needs.

I suggest that you look at the Harmon-Kardon 3490 receiver; it is an excellent unit. Amazon has it for $425.

It also has a built-in phono preamp, so you won't have to buy a separate one.

It also has subwoofer outputs, and a lot of other features that are unusual in a stereo receiver, such as XM radio.

I think that you will find that this receiver is better in many ways than your old one; it is very good.

Or buy a refurbed one and save a few bucks. HK sells them direct on ebay.

I agreed with all of that, dmsdms. Valid points made. BUT:
OP specifically wants a long lasting alternative. At some point people will need to be weaned from am/fm, cd's, and even vinyl. To minimize the number of hardware upgrades needed down the line, I believe the best method is to switch technologies now. Remember this is an unusual consumer that is switching after 40 years! Those cd's are not "perfect sound forever" you know, as they were advertised to be back in 1980.
It's not that the Marantz receiver is the right or wrong choice. OP has specified he wants to play cd's lp's, etc. and you can take him literally. I suggest what he really wants is to listen to music and have the purchase last. Maybe if he starts listening to WAV files now, he will no longer be so concerned with spinning his vinyl for decades to come. Don't forget people who witnessed the switch to the horseless carriage thought that was bizarre too!

Ah, this was probably a good suggestion.