October 1999. I don't really remember the events leading up to it, but I must've been bored at work and thought I'd start throwing out some search terms on eBay. Imagine my surprise therefore, when this beauty from 1979 came up in the results.
I remember when these first arrived on the scene. I was entranced by the design. Similar to Pioneer of the era, but the LED power meters were definitely something new. (These came out around the same time as the quirky C01 series components.) I don't remember at this point if I saw these or the C01 series first, but in any case I was blown away.
Then I priced this series of receivers. The higher-end models with all the bells and whistles (which, naturally, I wanted) were out way out of my budget even back in 1979.
But on eBay 20 years later? Bidding was modest. Initial bid was $79, and by the time I jumped into the fray it was around $135 as I recall. I put in a bid for $200 and waited.
Several days later, I got notice that I'd won the bidding. I got this monster for $159! After several months of use, however, I began to miss my old Yamaha gear and ultimately replaced that and ended up selling the Technics. I can't tell you how much I wish I'd held onto it (like an embarrassingly large number of so many other pieces of hifi that have passed through my hands over the years).
I couldn't find any current listings for this model on eBay, but this auction shows how much these units have appreciated over the last 20 years since those heady first days of eBay.
holy fuck. that was my first receiver.