My Satisfying Experience with the KLH R3000 Stereo Receiver

About seven years ago I drove to my nearest Best Buy store in search of a basic (read "cheap!") two-channel stereo receiver for occasional nightly use in a bedroom. At that time, for more serious use in my home's primary music-listening area, I still owned a high-end Luxman R117 receiver for which I'd paid about $850 back in 1988 (a "steal" for that model at the time!). [The latter Luxman unit--in terms of overall specs--was a contender for the title of "best mass-market stereo receiver ever manufactured." Conventional stereo receivers (as opposed to "audiophile" amps sans built-in tuners and collectively termed "separates") virtually never rivaled the Luxman R117's high-caliber specs for low harmonic distortion, etc.]

Actually, all I'd wanted out of the "bedroom" receiver was something via which to connect a Sony dual-well cassette deck to play certain obscure audio books (not available in formats other than audio cassette) at bedtime. I had scarcely any interest in using any of the receiver's other capabilities, including its digital tuner (radio). Hence, I was on the prowl for a basically bottom-end model, but one that still included the convenience of remote control, not to mention an outwardly appealing, conventional configuration that would harmonize with my black Sony "ES" tape deck.

Arriving at Best Buy, I discovered that their own cheapest "house-brand" product was a $79 KLH R3000 stereo receiver packing 200 watts of power (100 watts per channel) and a remote control handset. Initially, I found the outward appearance of this unit's LED display a bit underwhelming contrasted with the multifaceted, multicolored counterparts on costlier receivers. Nevertheless, this Chinese-made product was affordable and did, at least, fit my aforementioned usage criteria, and so I hastily bought it, took it home, and set it up.