[Harry Tuttle]

My panasonic sc-pm10 micro stereo gave up on me after a good 4 years of use (power supply problem). I don't think it's worth it to repair a 200$ appliance, but I don't have the money to build a good home stereo right now

I know nothing about stereos and I was wondering, would it be possible to buy a receiver for my pcdp which has a line-out to use with the micro stereo speakers which were decent? If it's possible which reliable brand should I look for (maybe in the used market) and how much would I have to spend? any suggestions is appreciated!

 

[hciman77]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Harry Tuttle /img/forum/go_quote.gif My panasonic sc-pm10 micro stereo gave up on me after a good 4 years of use (power supply problem). I don't think it's worth it to repair a 200$ appliance, but I don't have the money to build a good home stereo right now I know nothing about stereos and I was wondering, would it be possible to buy a receiver for my pcdp which has a line-out to use with the micro stereo speakers which were decent? If it's possible which reliable brand should I look for (maybe in the used market) and how much would I have to spend? any suggestions is appreciated!

Yes, there are loads of older amps/receivers out there that can be found reasonably cheaply and sound pretty good. I currently use an old NAD 3020 amp and a Nikko TRM-210 and both are pretty good and quiet (see later), I have also owned Marantz, Rotel and Nikko receivers. The biggest problem with older kit (ime anyway) is noisy controls such as volume, balance and tone controls. Sometimes you can fix this with special cleaning fluids, sometimes you cannot or it is not worth the effort.

Craigslist is a decent place to look and if viewing stuff always test it out before parting with the readies. eBay can be good but is riskier, of the 5 amps/receivers I have bought from eBay 3 had noisy controls, okay the most I paid for any of them was $50, but it is still annoying.

Brands to consider include but not limited to Marantz, NAD, Rotel, Nikko, Sansui...

 

[Harry Tuttle]

hmm do I need both a receiver and amplifier? sorry I'm a real noob

 

[hciman77]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Harry Tuttle /img/forum/go_quote.gif hmm do I need both a receiver and amplifier? sorry I'm a real noob

Nope, sorry I gave you too much information. The term receiver traditionally means tuner/amplifier i.e an amplifier with a radio built-in. If you dont care about listening to the radio then just an amp will do. Unless you are looking for some real high end classic receiver there often isnt much cash difference anyway.

In modern parlance receiver has come to mean something different such as Home Theater receiver which may have exotic 5.1 or 7.1 speaker outputs and all sorts of wondrous gizmos. I was talkling about an old school tuner/amp.

 

[Harry Tuttle]

http://www.recycledgoods.com/item/21076.aspx
I found one of these (nikko nr-320) for 80$ at a pawn shop
too bad I can't find any info about it on the internet

 

[Harry Tuttle]

Quote:

Originally Posted by hciman77 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Nope, sorry I gave you too much information. The term receiver traditionally means tuner/amplifier i.e an amplifier with a radio built-in. If you dont care about listening to the radio then just an amp will do. Unless you are looking for some real high end classic receiver there often isnt much cash difference anyway. In modern parlance receiver has come to mean something different such as Home Theater receiver which may have exotic 5.1 or 7.1 speaker outputs and all sorts of wondrous gizmos. I was talkling about an old school tuner/amp.

ah okay I get it, receivers do have an integrated amp
if I'm looking for a used product I should check for a receiver in case I want to listen to the radio since they're pretty much the same price but if I'm looking for a new product I should check for an amp only since I don't need the multiple channels, correct?
by the way my cheapo speakers are 40 watts but if I do buy a decent receiver/amp I'd like to upgrade them eventually

 

[hciman77]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Harry Tuttle /img/forum/go_quote.gif http://www.recycledgoods.com/item/21076.aspx I found one of these (nikko nr-320) for 80$ at a pawn shop too bad I can't find any info about it on the internet

It is a late 70s/early 80s receiver - I had a similar one and it did have some noise issues - but if you can test it in person...also $80 is way over the odds for it - I wouldnt risk more than $40 for something like that.

 

[Harry Tuttle]

^thanks, I think I'll pass
I can't seem to find small amps for speakers that don't cost thousands of dollars

it seems odd that I can find nice micro systems from denon & yamaha but not just a nice small amp!

 

[soundboy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Harry Tuttle /img/forum/go_quote.gif ^thanks, I think I'll pass I can't seem to find small amps for speakers that don't cost thousands of dollars it seems odd that I can find nice micro systems from denon & yamaha but not just a nice small amp!

What's your budget and size limitations?

 

[Harry Tuttle]

I was thinking I could find a decent one for under 200$ new or used
if it could be no bigger than the denon d-m33s that would be swell! otherwise I might go for another micro system, but there's not many quality choices it seems
http://usa.denon.com/ProductDetails/1967.asp

 

[vyusseem]

Hi Harry,
A quick search in ebay (here)
returns tons of 2-channel vintage receivers - some are listed for less then 10 bucks! Try to find one in your area with local pickup - so you don't pay for shipment (will be expensive, these vintage receivers are HEAVY!).
Check craiglist in your area also.
Good luck!

 

[Harry Tuttle]

thanks, I did check out the amps in canada to pay less shipping

http://www.amazon.com/Sonic-Impact-1.../dp/B00009W44B
will this work with 6omhs 30 watts speakers or does it have to be exactly 4omhs or 8omhs and below 20 watts? when they say 20 watts do they mean 10 watts per channel? here's the stereo manual so you can lookup the speakers specs on the last page

please help!
http://panasonic.ca/PDP/OperatingIns...m10-oi-eng.pdf

 

[infinitesymphony]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Harry Tuttle /img/forum/go_quote.gif http://www.amazon.com/Sonic-Impact-1.../dp/B00009W44B will this work with 6omhs 30 watts speakers or does it have to be exactly 4omhs or 8omhs and below 20 watts?

Actually, the T-Amp is only around 5 watts RMS @ 8 ohms, so it definitely wouldn't be recommended for speakers with impedance under 8 ohms and sensitivity under around 90 dB. Since your speakers are 6 ohm, 82 dB, you'll need a more powerful amplifier.

 

[Harry Tuttle]

thank you sir
I thought at a lower impedance it produced a higher wattage so it would be louder? oh well I guess I'll have to trash the whole thing and get new speakers too...