found this beauty at a garage sale still new in the box without a scratch or mark on it. the minute i plugged it in the sound was truly amazing and clear without static . i quickly replaced my new stereo which could barely pull in any stations without catching static. your volume will hardly ever exceed 1/10 of its potential without rattling your walls. the music now just sounds so pure and effortless. stations i never received before are now a joy to listen to.have it hooked up to a decent pair of onfinity studio monitor 120s. i just need to find the correct speakers now that will take it to its full potential. the girl holding the garage sale had advertised lots of stereo equipment which i thought was all pretty junky so i started to leave.she stopped me and told of one that was to heavy for her to lift up in the rafters. belonged to an ex boyfriend she had kicked out, and to spite him i could have it for 50 bucks if i could lift it down. god knows what i would have spent today to match the quality of this beast.

I really don't know where to begin when it comes to describing the sound of Concept 16.5. All I can say it is the best sounding integrated monster receiver I have ever owned and still own. No offense to Marantz, Pioneer or Sansui fans out there, but to me this unit sounds superior to all these models. I am talking in the same power rating ofcourse. Personally I am a big fan of Sansui equipment, but 16.5 is my favorite. I have had Marantz 2325, and a Pioneer SX 1250 and they have moved on. Personally I dont think the build quality is better on 16.5 than the Pioneer SX 1250, but internal circuitry and sonic quality makes up for it in the 16.5. Hard to beat the dual mono design. The sound is just so free and easy because each channel is being pushed by a seperate transformer, this creates extremely clean and undistorted channel seperation. Another feature that this unit and other concepts have in common is the variable loudness conctrol. This feature make a huge difference for me, I can adjust the sound with greater precision. Unfortunately only a few other vintage models have this feature. Like I said in my opinion it is not the best built or looking receiver from the vintage era, but sure is the best sounding to me. In my opinion the Sansui G 9000db and the Pioneer Sx 1250 are better looking. I hope this review will not raise the prices on these units. : D

The best part is I have paid nothing from my own pocket. The profit from a few other vintage units that I have sold, covered the cost of this unit. I consider it the best audio gift I made to myself. I know it's not very oftern something like this happens.