Vintage Pioneer SX-828 "Home Run"

[hoover537]

I went to one of my local thrift shops last weekend and picked up this beauty of a receiver for $5.99 I had to wait a week to hook up some speakers because they take a special connector that I had to purchase on-line. This baby ways 32 pounds, came out in 1972 and was the top of the line Pioneer receiver back then. The cost in 1972 was $479. I hooked it up today and it works perfectly:goodie:

Hopefully someone familiar with these can help me out. The "mode" knob has the following options. "Stereo REV" Stereo Normal" "Mono L" "Mono R" "Mono L + R" Does the first one "Stereo Rev" mean reverse polarity? The first LP I threw on was Queen "Greatest Hits" and I could have sworn that there was something missing when it was on "Stereo Normal" like a background vocal on "Boheiman Rhapsody" Can anyone tell me what this means?

[pdenny]

Hoohah! That's purty...way to go! :thumbsup:

[Scott J]

I went to one of my local thrift shops last weekend and picked up this beauty of a receiver for $5.99 I had to wait a week to hook up some speakers because they take a special connector that I had to purchase on-line. This baby ways 32 pounds, came out in 1972 and was the top of the line Pioneer receiver back then. The cost in 1972 was $479. I hooked it up today and it works perfectly:goodie:

Hopefully someone familiar with these can help me out. The "mode" knob has the following options. "Stereo REV" Stereo Normal" "Mono L" "Mono R" "Mono L + R" Does the first one "Stereo Rev" mean reverse polarity? The first LP I threw on was Queen "Greatest Hits" and I could have sworn that there was something missing when it was on "Stereo Normal" like a background vocal on "Boheiman Rhapsody" Can anyone tell me what this means?

That's a nice looking receiver. The best part is that it works!!!

I prefer the Pioneers' with the black tuner window (like this one), over the clear window ones.

[CardinalFang]

Stereo REV should just swap left and right channels.

Nice score! :righton:

[hoover537]

Stereo REV should just swap left and right channels.

Nice score! :righton:

Ahh Thank You that makes sense.

I am real happy with this thing so far. There is no doubt in my mind that the phono stage in this thing is better than the one in my home theater receiver which I have been using since day one. I really lucked out on this. Next I hope to find some vintage speakers.

[kenrothman]

Ahh Thank You that makes sense.

I am real happy with this thing so far. There is no doubt in my mind that the phono stage in this thing is better than the one in my home theater receiver which I have been using since day one. I really lucked out on this. Next I hope to find some vintage speakers.

I picked up a SX-1010 last winter. Love it, too. (after some refurbishing)

I'm also looking for an appropriate set of vintage speakers. I kinda want some AR-3a's but am not holding my breath. Anyone else have a suggestion for something along those lines? I want nice real wood cabinets and fairly neutral sound.

Have it running through my little Tannoy Mercury M1's right now, and it's still impressive.

[CardinalFang]

I found a guy here in Ohio that's been refurbing vintage speakers. I bought my pair of AR-2ax speakers from him for $150. They look great, and sound even better. :) The perfect mate for my Fisher tube amp and my small room. :)

I can find his contact info, if anybody is interested. It's probably at home somwhere...

[Scott J]

I picked up a SX-1010 last winter. Love it, too. (after some refurbishing)

I'm also looking for an appropriate set of vintage speakers. I kinda want some AR-3a's but am not holding my breath. Anyone else have a suggestion for something along those lines? I want nice real wood cabinets and fairly neutral sound.

Have it running through my little Tannoy Mercury M1's right now, and it's still impressive.

You might consider a pair of Pioneer CS 99A's.

[DrJ]

CardinalFang posted:

Stereo REV should just swap left and right channels.

Yep, that's right - my vintage preamp has that function, and it's quite useful for things like checking vintage speaker drivers for tonal and output balance L vs R and "correcting" the playback of stereo recordings in which the stereo field was for some reason reversed from the original in remastering (more common than you might think - and most disconcerting!).

VERY cool looking receiver and a fantastic buy.

[stereoptic]

Someone can correct me if I am wrong, but from what I remember, you would use either the "Mono L" or "Mono R" switch to feed either the Left signal only or the right signal only to both speakers. This is used if you are mono LP with a stereo cartridge and one channel is preferred over the other due to groove wear. Mono L+R will sum the left and right signals into each of the 2 channels.

[DrJ]

stereoptic posted: Someone can correct me if I am wrong, but from what I remember, you would use either the "Mono L" or "Mono R" switch to feed either the Left signal only or the right signal only to both speakers. This is used if you are mono LP with a stereo cartridge and one channel is preferred over the other due to groove wear. Mono L+R will sum the left and right signals into each of the 2 channels.

That is correct, another very useful feature my vintage preamp has, I use it once in a while. In addition to overcoming asymmetric groove wear on a mono record, you can also use Mono L or Mono R when you are playing back a reissue "mono" record that was (sadly) cut with a stereo head, to get better mono imaging while avoiding the phasing problems you'd create if you used the mono L+R approach. I have for example the Mosaic LP boxed set of Herbie Nichols' Blue Note recordings, and RVG for some strange reason cut these mono records with a stereo head. I figured this out when I used the standard Mono L+R switch and heard obvious "phasing" on the cymbals and lost most of the high end and bass. If you buy enough mono reissues you'll probably eventually come across this problem.

[drh]

[Of mono-L and mono-R] That is correct, another very useful feature my vintage preamp has, I use it once in a while. In addition to overcoming asymmetric groove wear on a mono record, you can also use Mono L or Mono R when you are playing back a reissue "mono" record that was (sadly) cut with a stereo head, to get better mono imaging ....

Or if your turntable abruptly drops a channel just after you get its system back up and running for the first time in months, the way my record room system table did a few days ago...sniff....:confused: :eek: :( :shake: :cry:

[chip-hp]

Nice pick-up :righton: ... I have had a SX-727 since the early '70s ... still works great .... picked up a spare SX-727 last week ... but I had to pay $35 ... $5.99 is amazing ...

[stereoptic]

I figured this out when I used the standard Mono L+R switch and heard obvious "phasing" on the cymbals and lost most of the high end and bass. If you buy enough mono reissues you'll probably eventually come across this problem.

If I can just sidetrack here for a moment - I remember some of the 1970's Kenwood receivers had these functions as well as "L-R" - which, again, AFAIK, plays the "center" channel, or whatever is common between both the left and ight signal

[imagnrywar]

nice score. i've got an SX-838 (i imagine it is very similar to yours) and it's great. :edthumbs:

[runofthemill]

I realize this is an old thread, but anyway...

I found at SX-828 today at Goodwill for $5.50. I had to try it for that price. It won't power up though. I am not too educated on these types of things, so is there anything terribly obvious I should check? I looked at the fuse on the back and it appears to be fine... I know there are probably tons of possibilities (or not what do I know) but maybe one of you out there in internet land knows a thing or two about these things.

[vinylkid58]

I realize this is an old thread, but anyway...

I found at SX-828 today at Goodwill for $5.50. I had to try it for that price. It won't power up though. I am not too educated on these types of things, so is there anything terribly obvious I should check? I looked at the fuse on the back and it appears to be fine... I know there are probably tons of possibilities (or not what do I know) but maybe one of you out there in internet land knows a thing or two about these things.

Get a cheap multimeter with ohmmeter capability and start looking for open circuits where there shouldn't be any, like the power cord, fuses etc. Also check for voltage at the main switch. The power supply could still be in good shape if the unit wasn't used too much.

Jeff

[runofthemill]

Thanks, I'll give that a try!

[Russ]

I am not too educated on these types of things, so is there anything terribly obvious I should check?
Get a cheap multimeter with ohmmeter capability and start looking for open circuits where there shouldn't be any, like the power cord, fuses etc.

I'd suggest going to AudioKarma first, do a search and then a whole bunch of reading. There are other fuseable resistors inside the piece you can check unplugged.

Go to any of the threads in any of the forums that read "no power". After you're familiar the problem, ask questions. It's one of the most helpful places online.

[runofthemill]

Thanks - I appreciate that. I didn't want to be the classic "newby" and start asking too many questions...

[gener8tr]

I picked up a SX-1010 last winter. Love it, too. (after some refurbishing)

I'm also looking for an appropriate set of vintage speakers. I kinda want some AR-3a's but am not holding my breath. Anyone else have a suggestion for something along those lines? I want nice real wood cabinets and fairly neutral sound.

Have it running through my little Tannoy Mercury M1's right now, and it's still impressive.

A nice set of Orignal Advent Loudspeakes (full walnut cabinets) are a match made in Heaven.

Here is a photo of one of my two pairs. Vintage styling and the warm vintage sound!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v710/gener8tr/102_0209.jpg

I also just found a minty set of CS-99A's (Scott mentioned them previously). I looked daily for nearly TWO YEARS before I found a pair good enough for my OCD tastes. :)

[bru87tr]

I also have a pair of those Advents. mine look just like those, walnut and all. oh so warm sounding. :righton: Frank!!!

I just got a pair of these Mach Ones. its tough to decide which I like better but an edge might go to the Machs for the more extended HF. these are the more sought after, early versions. 40-4024A Made in Japan.

both the Advents and Mach One speakers blow away my newer Paradigm 7's (V.3) for stereo music.

http://mysite.verizon.net/bru87tr/machone.jpg

http://mysite.verizon.net/bru87tr/mach.jpg