I have always liked the look of the Pioneer equipment of that era. Partly because of seeing them new in the stores when I was young. But the "silver" faced units with black lettering are also much easier to read, just like white paper with black ink lettering is much easier to read than black paper with white lettering (there is a reason most web sites have dark letters on a light background rather than the other way around). I hate all of the ugly black boxes these days, from an esthetic point of view, and from the standpoint of reading the controls.
My favorite is the Pioneer SX-1250:
The picture does not do it justice. The heat sinks wrap around the back, which was something Pioneer did not bother doing with the later SX-1280 and SX-1980.
I also have owned one of these units since the early 1980's (I am the second owner, as I could not afford one in 1976; I bought it when it was probably at its lowest monetary value). The layout and grouping of the controls is also more logical than most units, making it very user-friendly. It is not a mindlessly arranged row of switches and knobs. I plan on keeping mine for the rest of my life.
It also has some very nice features that are not very common these days. Like the switch on the far right, next to the volume control, that drops the volume by 20dB. That is nice for when the phone rings or someone comes to the door, so that one can reduce the volume while dealing with something else, and then after dealing with that, with a flip of the switch, restoring the volume to what one was using previously. One can still hear the music, but it is greatly reduced, which I like better than a mute switch, for a music system (as opposed to a home theater).
Also, the light from the dial is enough light to see how all of the controls are set, so there is no need for other light in the room to adjust it. Also, each control does one thing, so one does not have to go through some menu to change a setting. It really is easy to use, though one might feel overwhelmed by the number of controls at first.