Many years ago I did have separates(if that's what you want to call them) I can't remember the name of the thing's, I know the amp had tubes but the preamp did not.They were both cheap in cost and build. I want to say they were the ugliest things I've ever seen but I only paid I think about 40 or 50 dollars for both.There was only 1 light on each unit just so you know it was getting power.I bought these only because my amp went dead and had nothing else to listen to and I couldn't have that. I bought them from an old thrift store here in Chicago(Which is still open by the way).What struck me was the very clear sound that these ugly things produced.They didn't have much power but what it did have I thought was sufficient.I remember that these units had a liitle hum and that is why I ended up tossing them. Can't say nothing bad about these things as they provided to me very clean sound at the time I had nothing else to listen to.I don't know why when I tossed these that I never bought separate's again. In my day when all the receivers were being built I fell in love with all of them. The Marantz especially because cosmetically it was by far in my opinion the best looking.Back then these receivers had all the bell's and whistles but also had the craftsmanship. I remember the preference I showed to Pioneer over Marantz was only because of the tuner.I never thought that the Pioneer sounding better only that I was able to pull in stations better without using 10 feet of tin foil. I will say this and I thought I was making my point that the market right now is favoring the Pioneer's.I'm a simple person and don't have the knowledge for all the bi-amping and such so I keep it simple.Look at all those vintage receivers on ebay. Marantz,Hitachi,Technics,Pioneer,Rotel,Sherwood,Sa nsui and etc;all of them are still going strong,there is no substitute for 60's and 70's quality.

Note...Not to change the subject but I forgot to mention this to you guys.There is a place out here got Swap-A-Rama it is an indoor and outdoor Flea Market. There is this Chinese man that has been going here for years and all he does is arrive at this place at about 6 AM and goes to the outside vendors and buys all the electronics,but only stereo equipment he has been doing this for years. I had forgot about this guy because he sells his wares inside which I never go. Last week I had to go inside for something and came upon his stand and WOW this guy has about 100 stacks of all old shit. I see Adcom, Rotel,Marantz,Sansui,Nakamichi,just to name a few. I didn't have time to go through the stuff when I was there. Saturday I am going there to see what old goodies I can find.If anyone has any requests pm me with a model number and I'll see if he has it.He is very cheap as well. For a sample right on top is an Adcom I don't know if it was an Amp,tuner,preamp or what but he only had a $69.00 price tag on it. This guy always plugs the stuff in to see if it powers on before he buy's it.This Adcom I would guess was maybe 20 something inches long,black in color with orange lettering for Adcom,had quite a few buttons and switches,but no display.Let me know if you guys are looking for anything. Saturday morning I'm going to go see what he has.