another brand never heard of

leftwinger57 · May 2014

I was cruising C/L and saw an ad for a MCS 3253 receiver. This thing looks huge w/ all the bells and whistles w/ switches,meters and knobs o' plenty. I did do a minor search and found an e-bay history calling it MCS Technics w/the formal co. name of Modular Component Systems. Again when I looked at that Vector Reasearch receiver some people liked them others called it 70's junk. So is this one of those 2nd and 3rd tier receivers or an offshoot of the Technics brand. In either case how would you rate it as a used 50wpc 70's receiver. I certainly do not want it my Nikko is doing just fine.

http://vintagereceiver.net/mcs-technics-3253-stereo-receiver-50-wpc-loaded-nice

Dennis Gardner · May 2014

J. C. Penney house brand in the early '80s.

leftwinger57 · May 2014

Really. I don't even remember JC Penny selling any electronics. Sears yes and Radio Shack was happening already. What about the Technics ty-in if any? Where the heck was I, maybe going to too many Dead shows.

mhardy6647 · May 2014

1970s, too... MCS stood for "Modular Component Series". Many of the components were made by Matsu$hita (Panasonic/Technics); some were unique to MCS (J.C. Penny). Some were pretty darned good -- some were mediocre, and some were... just bizarre. There was a little rack mount amp or preamp with a small CRT TV monitor built in, e.g.

I believe (suspect) that NEC may have made some of the MCS components as well...

Polkie2009 · May 2014

Yep, J.C. Penney sold the MCS line and agree with mhardy, their components weren't bad for the money. I think they even had a turn table that resembled the Technics. NEC made some decent equipment back in the day, late 80's ,tvs,vcrs etc... Noticed they also made very fine crt computer monitors in the 90's. A lot of electronic equipment was made of NEC parts.

gudnoyez · May 2014

http://quadcities.craigslist.org/ele/4443283001.html

Here you go saw this one just the other day

Polkie2009 · May 2014

gudnoyez wrote: »

http://quadcities.craigslist.org/ele/4443283001.html

Here you go saw this one just the other day

Looks like it's from the late 70's Steve? Amazing it's still running after 30 someodd years. The Japanese sure knew how to make them.

gudnoyez · May 2014

Polkie2009 wrote: »

Looks like it's from the late 70's Steve? Amazing it's still running after 30 someodd years. The Japanese sure knew how to make them.

Yeah I agree late 70s notice the JC Penny label on the back. I agree Japanese stuff from the 70's and early 80's were built to last I should know I have to Technics SUV 909 integrated amps that I got while stationed overseas and they are still running I could never part with them.

mhardy6647 · May 2014

mmm - plenty of older stuff than that running here ;-)
Indeed, listening to a John Sebastian /jugband music"special" on the weekly program American Routes on a a mid-1960s Sherwood S-3000V MPX FM stereo tuner as I type this... and it sounds fine, fine, fine.

Sherwood S3000 V 2 by mhardy6647, on Flickr

It's partially visible in situ below. It sits atop a Sansui TU-717,,, and sounds much, much better.

DSC_8961 by mhardy6647, on Flickr

oldrocker · May 2014

I picked up a 3223 receiver and a few other MCS things. They were sold at JCP back in the day. It's kinda neat, it was horribly dirty but all good now. Cousin just left, he remembered JCP selling them as his Mother worked there for 35 years. The manual says 23 watts per channel, seems a bit more..Can't wait to get the blue lights for it.

pumpkinman · May 2014

mhardy6647 wrote: »

1970s, too... MCS stood for "Modular Component Series". Many of the components were made by Matsu$hita (Panasonic/Technics); some were unique to MCS (J.C. Penny). Some were pretty darned good -- some were mediocre, and some were... just bizarre. There was a little rack mount amp or preamp with a small CRT TV monitor built in, e.g.

I believe (suspect) that NEC may have made some of the MCS components as well...

I think that you're correct. Some of the higher price components were very nice.

pumpkinman · May 2014

I ''think'' that this was their top of the line receiver.

Mikey081057 · May 2014

My sister had an MCS back in the early 80's and i thought it was a joke until I hooked my monitor 5's to it and it definitely rocked the Casbah... Her JC Penney MCS speakers did suck tho..Listening to those same Monitor 5's right now hooked to a 70's Marantz 2385 that I wish I could have afforded back in the 70's... Now that woulda been da schizzle even before anyone new what da schizzle was. Man if I coulda I woulda but I couldnt so I didn't. Know what I'm sayin?