Vintage Stereo Receivers

There were other experiences that helped to develop my affinity for radio. At about 6 or 7 years old, I discovered music on the radio and began to love the popular music of the time. So, there were little portable radios in my room and of course there were the big beautiful stereo component systems of the 70's. My mom and dad had a Nikko sta-6060 receiver. I had this for a while, but I let it get away before I realized what I had. The system included a Garrard turntable and Quadraflex speakers.

One aunt and uncle had a Marantz. These receivers remain magical to me. The blue displays, and unique tuning control made them stand out. They were beautiful to look at, and the controls were solid and smooth. I do collect these classics, but they are very large; In fact these beauties with their beautiful wooden cabinets border on being furniture! Consequently I only have 2 of them, a 2265b and 2270.

The all silver face on my 2265b is unique for the time, and makes a beautiful contrast with the blue lights. Mine has the walnut cabinet.

The 2270 has classic 70's styling

My other aunt and uncle had Pioneer equipment that my uncle brought back from Vietnam. They would have parties at their home, and I would gleefully play DJ all night long while everyone danced. My uncle's component system was all Pioneer, and included a reverb unit that made everything sound even more cool. My love for music only enhanced the whole experience.



You just can't beat these receivers. They were extremely high quality, and in most cases, overbuilt. Loads of power will make your speakers beg for mercy. You can't buy anything today that will touch the performance of these units without spending thousands of dollars, and if you do, they will never look this good. I remember going into stereo stores like Pacific Stereo in southern California and looking at all of these beautiful works of art. It was a far cry from the disposable black plastic box electronics industry of today. This is what a home component system may have looked like:.

In fact the displays in the stereo stores were set up as showcased component systems like this. This guy has the whole 70's vibe going on with classic album covers displayed above, and of course the obligatory lava lamps.

So the magic of radio is again reinforced in my youth. The next phase of my journey in radio will move into AM-DXing.

Childhood Magic

Finally! A blog about one of the biggest passions in my life, radio. I thought I had better start with a multi-part story of how I came to love radios. It is interesting that childhood experiences many times end up shaping the lives of adults. I can say that this holds true for me with music, muscle cars, sports and of course radio. The blogs and stories of those other interests will wait for later. My fondness for radios started with my grandfather listening to Angels and Dodgers baseball games on a portable transistor radio when I was in elementary school. Unfortunately, I don't recall the exact make or model but it would have looked something like this GE model, but with a leatherette carry case:


To this day, I still love the smell of a nice leatherette case from this era! I wish I had that radio. My grandfather would take the radio when we went fishing together, when we threw the baseball around in the backyard, and when we went camping etc. The radio programming consisted mainly of listening to Vin Scully calling Dodger games. I still remember the adds for Farmer John hot dogs, and Olympia beer. We also listened to his favorite music from the big band era. I don't remember exactly, but it is likely that I tuned that radio to distant AM stations at night. I know he had a pocket transistor radio or two also, but again I'm not sure of the makes and models.


So when I look back at it, I think it all started with my grandfather. I wish he were around to discuss the radios he had. I think he would get a kick out of seeing my collection today, and knowing how it all started. The next post will continue with vintage stereo receivers.