Sony STR-6120
The Sony STR-6120 was the top-end receiver in Sony's late-1960s lineup. It was essentially a TA-1120 amplifier and an ST-5000FW tuner combined on a single chassis. High Fidelity (December 1968, p.143) reported its IHF power at 120 watts into 8 ohms. The original price was $699.50, which was serious money at the time.
The tuner was the standout feature. In a March 1970 advertising roundup, High Fidelity (p.28) repeated an earlier test claim. The set logged 55 stations, and 43 of them were judged good enough for long-term listening or off-the-air taping. The rest were stations that many lower-quality sets didn't even hint at receiving. That tally came from the full High Fidelity equipment report in August 1969 (p.57). The same report gave harmonic distortion measurements, and the percentage scale on the chart had to be expanded because the readings were so low across most of the audible spectrum.
Front-panel controls were generous for a receiver of the era. The August 1969 report described separate toggle switches for power, low and high filters, loudness contour, tape monitor, FM mode (automatic stereo or stereo only), and a high-blend/muting feature.
Audio (November 1969, p.60) used the STR-6120's MPX decoder section as an example of how large-amplitude pulses triggered the mono-stereo mode switch.
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