DUAL CR 60

The CR 60 was a high-fidelity stereo receiver amplifier manufactured by the DUAL Corporation of Germany in approximately 1974. Originally known as Gebrüder Steidinger, they made their mark in manufacturing high-end record players and receiver amplifiers, and the company still marches on today. This is a stereo amplifier with quadraphonic input and output enabling connection to matrix decoders (SQ Decoders). It has audio output of 30-watts per channel into 4 Ω speaker loads. The power output stages are quasi-complementary, which were very popular back then.

This amplifier is slightly unusual as it also has the shortwave (SW) bands making it very reminiscent of German radiograms.

For the tuner section, they have included these station presets for the FM band. You tune each preset into your favourite station. The amplifier section includes bass and treble controls that are noticeable, providing you use a good pair of quality speakers.

This amplifier uses the same BD207 transistors in the power output design. These are extremely hardy transistors, and provide a good sound.

The back label indicates the origin of manufacturing to be Germany. However, the name of the company mentioned here is "DUAL Gebrüder Steidinger".

This is a large amplifier measuring 16-½-inch × 13¼-inch × 4¼-inch, and mass approximately 7.7 kg. The original case appears to be MDF and hardboard, with a wood grain type of finish. Over the years, the thin veneer can sustain a huge amount of damage and the case was looking a little tired. On this occasion, I decided to spray paint it white, and gave it a couple of coats of glossy white paint. It would look nice in a modern living room with that vintage and modern feel.

Over time, the appeal of this vintage amplifier will become synonymous to the Birkin bag, which of course every woman wants but cannot afford. Every year, there are fewer numbers of these amplifiers, until one day, I will be the only one with a good example in my collection. Then finally, I will be rich!

When I bought this amplifier, there was a thick layer of dust inside and I decided to give it a thorough clean. You can see the circuit boards in the following sections of this multi-page article.

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