I needed a basic stereo receiver for the home we're setting up in Texas and brought out my Marantz 2270 in August. Somehow, when we got back last week, one channel stopped working and getting it repaired now will take some time and money. It's more the time without sound that worried me, and the fact I'm still researching local service centers that do vintage stuff.
That, and the fact that our new 32" Vizio TV has a very low volume level and we needed some way to boost that..
So, I copped a simple, BOTL Yamaha R-S201 to fill the void.
So far, it's just what the doctor ordered: Four line level inputs, a tuner of yet tested abilities* and simple operation. No HDMI, video switching, no digital inputs. ...and it's got retro push-to-insert speaker terminals. (hey, they don' affect performance) But, one definite plus is that it has remote control.
This is the modern version of the basic stereo receiver many of us grew up with, not unlike a Mazda Miata is a modern version of 60's British sports cars. It does everything my old 2270 did and, for some reason, seems to sound a bit cleaner. I'm not used to these new-fangled digital/numeric volume controls but it does play loud enough to meet our needs.
Here's more on this. Strangely, it went up $20 in the last week.
http://usa.yamaha.com/products/audio-visual/hifi-components/stereo-receivers/r-s201_black_u/
* Dunno know the lay of the land here. It ain't my usual NYC Metro area.
[Edit] OK, verdict is in on the FM. IT's pretty durn good. I'm here in the middle of nowhere (Brazos County) and using a little Terk indoor antenna. I let the receiver do an auto scan (to set the presets) to see what it came up with and it dragged in about twenty statoins fairly cleanly. Daddy happy.
Also, having a balance control on the remote is something I can't see how I ever lived without. Daddy VERY happy.
