Do you miss 70's and 80's hifi?? All those cool features, meters, dials, etc??

is it just me or do some of you also miss the hifi of the eighties? All those buttons, switches, and dials Ability to switch L+R channels, play just one channel, mono…. Remember loudness compensation and bass/ treble controls? Do you miss the look of the wood (faux or not) cases and signal strength meters etc… Alas, so much of the gear nowadays is so damn drab looking.

Do you think young people might show more interest in audio gear if there was a move back toward lots of features, and placing those features on the faceplate of the component? Most hifi Gear companies have convinced us that minimalism is best because all these features are bad for the sound, but I wonder if it's just a way to justify lazy engineering?

I never owned a receiver like this, but I would love to have one now!

Wow.... very cool looking stuff. ..Just what I was referring to. ..So much more interesting looking and so much more flexibility. ..Weird that progress supposedly means fewer of these customizing controls. Thanks for sharing.

A great many terrific replies and (even better) pictures. ..Bringin' a tear to my eye to see all this old stuff. ..Time to cue up the Boz Scaggs, Boston, and Fleetwood Mac Rumours.

I wonder if there might be an opportunity for a gear company to come out with a modern day receiver, replete with balance, bass/ treble, loudness comp, mode (L+R, R+L, Mono), etc... ALL mounted on the faceplate, all at the ready to be quickly and easily accessed. I understand that most AVR's allow you to do much of this, but using a single Push and Scroll knob to do all of this basically discourages adjusting any of this. The mfgs would have us believe this is progress, but I would argue that it's simply cost savings that's behind this.

The notion that bass/ treble/ balance/ loudness, etc.. somehow damage the signal EVEN when they're set to neutral or zero is total bunk. If having a few switches, etc.. in the signal path erodes the signal, then how is that mixing boards have sometimes HUNDREDS of sliders, switches, etc... ..If each one of these devices damages the signal, then the cumulative effect of having hundreds would certainly lead to the music becoming unrecognizable mush.

I think you're right that the average consumer wouldn't be interested, but then again, the average consumer isn't interested in separate amp/ pre-amp, an integrated amplifier, turntable or even floor-standing speakers. ..There's plenty already out there for the average consumer including iPods, Sound-docks, AVR receivers, and micro speakers, etc.. ..Which is not denigrate them in any way, to each his/her own..

..What I'm talking about is is there enough around the margins who would be interested? People like us who remember fondly those components and miss having the adjustability BUT want today's superior linearity, lack of hum/hiss issues, etc.. Or maybe the growing number of young people interested in turntables. ..Might they be interested?? ..You know what I find kinda funny? ..That turntables are growing in popularity among the kids at my son's high school, but these kids don't realize that floor-standing speakers, and a receiver are just as much a part of the old-school experience. ...It's almost sad when these kids show up at radio shack asking how they can hook up a turntable they bought to a home theater-in-a-box or to their Logitech iPod speaker-dock.
Edited by syd123 - 2/12/13 at 4:27pm

You're right Arnyk, and I'm not saying we ignore progress. ..But don't you think there might be some value in trying to do an updated version of the Marantz receiver pictured in my OP? ..One that includes something like Audyssey? ..I'm judging from your posts that you go back aways. ..You can't tell me that you don't have a soft spot in your heart for that old gear. ..And knowing you to be a subjectivist, I'll bet you agree that the claims high-end gear companies make about balance/treble/bass/mode, etc.. damaging the signal EVEN when neutral or zero'd to be bunk. ..And can't audyssey exist alongside tone controls?