Tonight's project: A "vintage" Technics SA-913. I rescued this little receiver from the "scrap" bin at work. I bet my co-worker that it was in there for no other reason than being "old."
Turns out I was (mostly) right. The backlight was out, but all the inputs, sliders, and switches work perfectly. The unit itself isn't really "audiophile" grade, and it doesn't output huge power, but It is a good, clean example of mid-80's Japanese design. It does seem to have a better tuner than I expected. Even in my basement, it is pulling in all of the major stations in the area.
For the backlight, I soldered in an bayonet-base automotive LED bulb I had on-hand. Not necessarily ideal, as I didn't bother rectifying the AC, so there is a perceptible flicker. The fact that it is routed through a light-guide seems to help somewhat. Brightness is good with the load-resistor I ran in series with the bulb. We'll see what the lifespan is like. I have more of these, but I left everything in place to go back to incandescent if the future demands it.
Now I just have to figure out what to do with it.
I already have a system in the garage, and another downstairs for the "home theater," While my Bang & Olufsen serves the rest of the house.
I'm considering putting together a workshop for my bicycles in the main room downstairs, so maybe there. Or a friend suggested speakers for the back yard. Not a bad idea at all.
Unless one of you is in the market for something like this, anyway..