This somewhat scrufty, Korean made Pontus IC-200R receiver has all the earmarks of a house brand. Build quality seems very respectable. This could be akin to the more than respectable Concept line of receivers that were also made in Korea. There is next to nothing on the web regarding the Pontus line.
8 comments:
Sometime around the late 70's or early 80's, I purchased the same Pontus stereo at Lafayette. I wanted to get a Lafayette stereo system and the salesman sold me on this unheard of brand. It was a very good stereo, brought years of enjoyment. I recall ther backlit display had dust in it that showed through the tuner display. I have never heard of Pontus in all these years. Unfortunately, I think I tossed mine out years ago.
Pontus Receivers were a scam-brand sold out of the trunk of cars back in the late 1970's. They were mediocre no-names dressed up to look like high end equipment. The sales staff was instructed to wink and imply (but never actually say)they were stolen super-premium systems offered at a bargain price. Door to door sales were targeted at retail shop owners with ready cash. The target price was $800 and included a huge set of counterfeit JVC speakers.
"Pontus Receivers were a scam-brand sold out of the trunk of cars back in the late 1970's...stolen!?"
Wow, that's quite a statement to make...and it's wrong. As the manager of a high-end stereo store in the Syracuse, NY area in the late 70's, early 1980's I can assure you Pontus was a legit manufacturer, and their equipment wasn't half bad! We had a complete line; receivers of various wattages, tuner, integrated amplifier and maybe, if I remember right, a cassette deck. We laughed at the name at the time since the 'biggies' were the Pioneer's, Kenwoods, Marantz and such were thought to be the only equipment worth anything. But we also sold Philips and Mitsubishi as well as high end like Threshold, Bryston, Adcom, B&W and so on, so odd brand names were not unusual. In fact, we used Pontus integrated amps in our sound rooms to demonstrate speakers because we felt they were that clean. Clean and cheap high power. One day we opened up a Pontus receiver and were surprised to find fully discrete amplifier components, and good quality semi-conductors at that! Remember at that time, the large scale integrated circuit amplifier blocks were the norm and some of the cheaper stuff used stereo integrated blocks. We sold many "systems" built around Pontus equipment and had very few problems and virtually no returns. I would say that's a pretty good record. If I was a collector I would definitely have a piece of Pontus equipment!
I bought - and still have- a Pontus Receiver purchased in Syracuse NY from a place called The Audio Threshold. Never had a problem and she still works fine. Was paired with Acousti-phase speakers and a Technics turntable. No complaints here.
i have a Pontus Integrated Amp and just found the receiver on e-bay! I bought it in Plattsburgh, NY 37 years ago at a place I think called Alpha Stereo. My buddy had the Receiver and Cassette Deck and all the pieces were excellent. unfortunately, his was stolen years ago, but i still have mine.
I just found one of these receivers in a box packed years ago by a relative. Hooked it up to a pair of pro linear stage 4 speakers. "WOW" "OMG" Phenomenal sound and punch. I grew up in the 80s owned Marantz,Pioneer,Kenwood, Audio Technica and Yamahas. Some of the best sound I've ever herd,from a unit I've never herd of simply blows my mind
As a young adult in middle school I fancied myself quite the audiophile albeit on a very limited budget. I saved my hard earned paper route money to buy my first component system consisting of a technics turntable, sharp cassette deck, a pair of “something-linear” speakers and a Pontus 50 WPC integrated amplifier.
The thing I remember most about the Pontus amp was its weight. It probably weighed more than the other components combined! The sound was clean, loud, and punchy. By and large I was always pleased with the piece. My one criticism was that it would clip periodically and the green on/off light would turn red. Never a major issue, you simply had to turn the amp off and then on again, but somewhat annoying.
Over the years I slowly grew out of my audiophile habit and with the advent of iPods and streaming music, most of my listening went from systems costing thousands to an iPhone and earbuds. I am now in my 50s and I really miss those days of trying to build that perfect system and of course I miss that Pontus amp!
I have a Pontus IC-300R AM/FM Stereo Receiver. I bought for $100 about a year ago. It was filthy, had several missing knobs, the pots were quite dirty as well and affected functions and sound, and had several bulbs that had passed their usefulness. I’m a collector and bought it because I had never heard of it but had read some pretty solid praise. I have since corrected the faults and thoroughly cleaned it. Tested it out and found the internal components to be in good order. It is a great piece of audio equipment, with crisp highs, clear mids, and clean bass. From time to time I sell off a one or more of my collection to make room for new finds, the Pontus will be on my collection for some time to come. I have a demo video of my Pontus posted on YouTube: Pontus IC-300R demo.
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