Monster Receiver V3

The Monster Receiver Museum has a simple goal: spark your interest in the huge "boat anchor" Stereophonic Receivers made during the late 1970's and serve as a definitive resource for anyone interested in collecting them.

Of course, I am always looking for parts units, parts, and I'm always looking for new Monsters to add to the collection. Feel free to e-mail me if you'd like to discuss this further.

A little background: The Monster Receiver era is affectionately referred to by audiophiles as the "Power Wars" and was a time when each manufacturer would play a leap frog like game of "one-upmanship" to produce a bigger, more powerful, more feature-laden, and, generally, more expensive, Stereo Receiver than had ever gone before. Strangely, this phenomenon didn't happen with separates, just Receivers.

Eventually, the "stereos" got so large that they became physically unmanageable and the game ended, such that by 1982 most of the major manufacturers had backed off and begun introducing smaller, less powerful digital tuner equipped units, although prices did not drop much. However, some concerns continued producing their Monster Receivers as late as 1984. But, by then, all the Monster Receivers had come and gone. Gone too were their quality, their durability and their sheer physical presence.

What makes the Monster Receiver era so interesting for present day collectors is that in these "top of the line" (TOTL) units no expense was spared, no cost was cut, in the pursuit of boasting rights so magazine ads in long defunct publications like "Stereo Review", "Audio" and "High Fidelity" could blare "We're the finest!" and create a "halo effect" for the rest of the lineup. It was a race to produce the very best that contemporary technology would allow. They stand is stark contrast to what is generally available now. And, even better, they sound better!

Arguably, the Monster Receiver era began with the introduction of Pioneer's seminal SX-1010 Stereo Receiver in 1974, billed as "The Finest Receiver the World Has Ever Seen", and the world's first "100 watt" Receiver. Prior to this, the Japanese manufacturers had been generally regarded as "second rate" compared to the Americans and Europeans. The SX-1010 certainly changed that perception. The era reached its zenith in 1979 when Panasonic (Matsushita) dropped their Technics SA-1000 Receiver on the audio world, arguably the most powerful receiver ever marketed by a major manufacturer at a circuit-breaker breaking 330 wRMS/ch. However, even that title was in dispute as Hitachi, an OEM manufacturer, tossed their hat in the ring with a porcine powerhouse of their own, the Hitachi SR-2004, featuring a "Class G Amplifier" capable of short-term peaks of up to 400 wRMS/ch! Well, you get the idea.

To put it all in some sort of perspective, below is an interesting cover photo from the May 1978 issue of Stereo Review Magazine showing some of the Monster Receivers together (from top to bottom they are the Nikko NR-1415, Hitachi SR-2004, Kenwood KR-9600, Marantz 2600, Rotel RX-1603 and Pioneer SX-1980). Notable absences are the Concept 16.5, Sansui G-9000, Akai AA-1120 and the Technics SA-1000. (And, no, that's NOT me in the photo!)

As you can see, certainly one of the biggest Monsters size-wise was the 1976 Rotel RX-1603, pictured above (second from the bottom) a veritable "Japanese Battleship". At a spine crackling 75 or so pounds it was simply gargantuan. With its weight, and girth, it was barely manageable by one person. And, where would you put it? Of course, Sansui made the G33000 and G22000, each of which came in two parts for convenience sake, and put together these weighed even more than the RX-1603, at almost 100 lbs. each. And, those burly handles are not some fanciful cosmetic touch, they were a NECESSITY!

While E-Bay makes it easier to acquire the Monsters nowadays, I suspect that it is also hastening their demise as they are easily damaged during shipping and, if the damage is cosmetic, it is generally not repairable. So, unfortunately, the loss of these Monsters is increasing at the same time they are more easily available to a wide audience.

If you'd like to learn more about "the hobby" and interact with other Monster Receiver collectors, you're invited to join our audio forum Monster Audio .

Ken is a Monster enthusiast from Belgium in the European Union. Here is his "Stack":

From top to bottom Sanyo JCX2900KR, Kenwood KR-9050, Sansui G-7000, Pioneer SX-1980, Rotel RX-1603.

He rates them as follows:

sound:
rotel, kenwood, sanyo, sansui, pioneer
vision:
pioneer, sanyo, sansui, kenwood, rotel
vision by night:
sanyo, rotel, pioneer, sansui, kenwood

The smile on his face says it all:)

At some point, I plan divide this site into two (2) parts: one featuring my personal collection and the other featuring visitor's submissions. All in all, I hope to have every Monster Receiver brought to market represented here at some point. Please send me your photos.

I also encourage your comments and submissions so that this site can be a reference for Monster Receiver collectors worldwide. Also, if you enjoy this site, please consider making a donation to offset the costs so I can keep it running. Anything will be much appreciated.

Many Thanks to Chris for creating the original site and to Alex for allowing the site to be rebuilt and put back online for everyone to enjoy.

marek, webmaster.
hifi_museum@yahoo dot ca

Cast of Characters:
Kajguy03 ("Mr Opfell") - 1st Webmaster
Alexkerhead ("Mr Rushing") - 2nd Webmaster
marek ("mr yellow/orange m&m") - 3rd and current webmaster
hifi museum - Web Dev/Admin & Hosting
Socal Sam - Contributor
Njord Noatun - Friend of MR
240volts - Friend of MR
Tom Ishimoto - "The Tech"

1. Units wanted if you'd like to donate them, please contact marek at hifi_museum@yahoo dot ca