Thrift Store Find: Technics SA-222 Receiver

I found yet another bargain-priced receiver at Goodwill the other day.  It's a silver-faced Technics SA-222 Receiver that provides 30 watts per channel.  I had been having trouble with my even older Miida receiver and this one has a nice compact form factor.  It fits well on my dresser and powers my 50 watt Sony speakers quite nicely.  The controls are simple, you can preset a few radio stations, and hook up a phonograph or another auxiliary input.  This unit is simple and easy to use.  Plus, it was only $15 at the thrift store.

Technics SA-222 Receiver

Initially, I was overjoyed with my find.  However, like many thrift store finds, there turns out to be something wrong with this receiver.  The "Quartz Lock" feature of the radio tuner is out.  Thus, it will not seek, lock into, and receive any radio stations in stereo.  When I opt for mono reception, I get nice strong signals and the stations sound great.  It's not the biggest problem in the world, but it is a niggle.  The receiver works great as far as the phonograph goes.  It produces nice sound and powers my thrift store speakers perfectly.

Alas Poor Technics SA-222 your Quartz Lock does not Lock!

However, since I am not an electronics technician, niggles can be really annoying.  Even though I can't hear a problem, I know that it is there.  When I talk to an audiophile friend of mine, he makes it worse with one simple statement:

"You know--when you add up all these $15 to $40 receivers--you could have just bought yourself one nice, modern, receiver."

According to our HR department, strangling a co-worker is against company policy.  However, he does have a point.  While I do enjoy discovering new "old" stereo equipment and I'm really happy with my main system, a Technics SU-V76 amplifier and ST-S76 tuner, the niggles that I've had with other vintage finds are annoying.


Once we move again, I am going to have to bust out with the money for a nice, new, receiver for our bedroom system.  It won't have to cost a million bucks.  As long as the quartz lock works, I'll be ahead of the game.