[tl; dr:]
Hi, does anyone know who made stereo gear (especially stereo receivers) sold in 1970s in Europe (mostly Germany) under the brand Vivanco Electronic?
[storytime]
Recently I rescued a nice looking and sounding Vivanco Electronic Model 4700 stereo receiver. It's working, in a very decent condition, especially for a gear from 1974, but given its age a general checkup is long overdue. And here's the problem: no documentation whatsoever. No SM, no schematic, zero, zip, nada. So, an obvious rebrand. But who made it? I found several similar looking japanese units, but the innards are different.
Can anyone help? I'm rather uneasy having gear without "papers". If someone knows exact original maker / model that would be fantastic, but any hint will be greatly appreciated.
Hi, does anyone know who made stereo gear (especially stereo receivers) sold in 1970s in Europe (mostly Germany) under the brand Vivanco Electronic?
[storytime]
Recently I rescued a nice looking and sounding Vivanco Electronic Model 4700 stereo receiver. It's working, in a very decent condition, especially for a gear from 1974, but given its age a general checkup is long overdue. And here's the problem: no documentation whatsoever. No SM, no schematic, zero, zip, nada. So, an obvious rebrand. But who made it? I found several similar looking japanese units, but the innards are different.
Can anyone help? I'm rather uneasy having gear without "papers". If someone knows exact original maker / model that would be fantastic, but any hint will be greatly appreciated.
Maybe ask 'Restorer John'? https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?conversations/add&to=restorer-john
Radiomuseum said made in Japan so possibly Pioneer as the dial is blue and the chassis similar sx828 ?
Japan yes, Pioneer rather no, sx828 double no - not even close in terms of power and power amp config. And the dial is turquoise 🙂
I was thinking Sherwood, Hitachi, Sanyo, Fisher, Toshiba but couldn't find anything matching. Might be a mashup of two or more models, I've seen such things constructed from what mfgr had laying around.
Man, this is gonna be a nice deep rabbit hole, no?
Oh well, I like this receiver enough to play Alice for a bit more.
Already tried looking up PCB markings, with no results, much to my annoyance.
These receivers were sold under several names - for example, Steintron R-2500
There's also quite similar Rank Arena R-3500 receiver claimed to be made in Horsens, Denmark (not Japan).
https://hifi-wiki.com/index.php/Rank_Arena_R_3500
There's also quite similar Rank Arena R-3500 receiver claimed to be made in Horsens, Denmark (not Japan).
https://hifi-wiki.com/index.php/Rank_Arena_R_3500
Thanks! Aaaaaand... Of course, no documentation whatsoever for those, either.
There was a mention somewhere that despite claims, Rank Arena stereo gear was made by NEC...
Aaaaaaand there's only one SM for a NEC receiver available... Totally different model. Ugh.
Couldn't even find a photo of anything by NEC similar to what i have. Double ugh.
Thanks anyway! 🙂
Maybe it was the Standard Radio Company factory in Japan. These made stuff for a variety of brands.
Not much of useful info in this part of rabbit hole, either.
I'm slowly losing hope to ever find anything in this maze of brands and subcontractors...
Wanna develop varicose veins in your brain? Get yourself a piece of obscure kit XD
Maybe my Google works better than yours but I see a few of such sets just by searching for Standard Radio Company. Point is that this is all pre Internet stuff and 50 years ago. Much of this has long been recycled as the quality of such stuff was superseded by real HiFi equipment already then. You won't have trouble finding seventies separates and their documentation as these used to be a hype, became a hype again later on and are today in there third or fourth hype. In their prime time they also did cost serious money, not something people throw away easily. Table radios and receivers are a category below separates. Just think of the faces of audio aficionados in the eighties/nineties when you said you had bought a 3-in-1 set 🙂
Standard Radio Company then were a kind of hidden OEM factory behind many brands like Flextronics and Foxconn today are. Technology in Japan was advanced so stuff was produced there.
Standard Radio Company then were a kind of hidden OEM factory behind many brands like Flextronics and Foxconn today are. Technology in Japan was advanced so stuff was produced there.
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It's not that I didn't find any info, just nothing even remotely regarding my particular unit... The company isn't even listed on HFE or other manual sites I know of. I'm not even sure if my Vivanco Model 4700 was actually made by them, NEC or any other maker mentioned here. That's the problem with having brand-name gear made by a subcontractor: for one to have a shot at finding documentation, the brand company would have to care enough to put it together. Marantz did care, Vivanco and Rank Arena didn't. The OEM, whoever it was, most probably didn't care either unless it released exact same unit under their own brand. I'm yet to find it, if it exists at all.
Guess I'm an incurable romantic, then - I see pretty face(plate), I'm hooked 😀
But seriously, I'm kinda sucker for obscure gear, especially if it seems to be of good quality. My main speakers are Laser L-80 made by long defunct Mitom Industries, Oakville, Ontario, Canada and I also spent considerable amount of time tracking bits of info on them and the company. Detective work for fun, good times.
Oh well. That Vivanco was cheap, works fine (knock on wood), looks pretty, sounds pleasant enough to fill in as my daily driver when my beloved Pioneer SA/TX-500A set undergoes much needed checkup and cleaning.