I still have my SX-1980 that I purchased for $699 when it was on sale at a local hi-fi shop back in 1979. Still have the original sales receipt and the box and I still use it on a daily basis. Sounds amazing with any speaker I pair it up with.
i had the luck of a uncle of mine after me asking for him to sell him his sx-1980,that at the time i asked if it was a new model because he came from New York in 1980, but having problems with his neighboors in a 20 floors building ,living in the 20th floor he had problems with his neighboors ,in 1986 he went to my house and ask me if i wanted still his receiver and warn me that it was not a 220 volts but 100 v unit and i had already since 74 a complete system ,stereo receiver ,turntable and speakers the ES-2000 from pioneer at 100/110v (bought in japan ,while living in africa) so just a matter of plug it in , and i kept it .Once, i almost sold it for what is today 600€ and the guy said it was to much expensive,"it still have needles " he said , well thank him for find it to expensive in 97 ,still working perfect i now use it at my dinning room where there´s a tv and dvd and next month a blue-ray, this because my mother that i live with her now at my grand parents house because i´m waiting to my house works being finished at least this month of june already in the finishings and she listens to radio everyday so to do not being stored it´s preferable to being working everyday also as a cd /dvd player and cassette player for her to listen to her music, it´s working and nothing is out of order a perfect machine about the capaciteurs i still listen and find the sound perfect and very powerfull it´s conected to some tanoy speakers from mid or early 70´s that were from her stereo .
The very best receivers ever made were built in the 70's. We had a stone farmhouse out in the country that was an epic party house. The walls were 12" thick, the ceilings were high and it sat upon a hill. Closest neighbor was a mile away. We got a noise complaint.
That's one thing I miss in today's equipment - all the buttons, knobs, switches, and gauges of past gear. Just looks cooler than a plain (usually black) slab with everything buried in software menus.
With DSP, the sound just isn't the same either. It loses a lot of its warm sound.....and leaves us with harsh highs, muddled midrange, almost no bass response or too much bass response.
AGREED............ Boy I loved shopping for equipment way back when. I was like a kid in the candy store. Bose, Denon, Pioneer, Carver, Technics, Dual, Marantz etc. What's funny, Sony wasn't big in the 70'S at least with audiophiles
Nothing beats the old stereo components of the 70's and the 80's! Names like Pioneer, Marantz,Harmon Karden,Sansui,Yamaha,Sony and others were the best way of hearing music!
My grandpa had one of these and one flip of one of those switches on there and you realize, man, this thing is some serious equipment. I remember being afraid to mess with it because it looked like something might get launched somewhere.
Y'know, I sometimes wonder. I definitely won't deny that older gear has insanely higher build quality and materials, but I wonder how much is perceived quality or nostalgia? Do we like old amps more/say they sound better because they were developed by someone passionate with a good ear? That we actually like the specific sound coloring of certain gear that would "scientifically" be considered worse? While it's not a complete blanket statement, at least generally modern gear of equivalent perceived quality/target market will most often have much lower THD at much higher output levels in a much smaller package, much higher SN, much better stereo separation, higher dynamic range, vastly more configurable tone control (eg. Fully parametric EQ vs. predefined frequency bands and Q), more external noise rejection with more of the signal path being digital thus impervious to interference... Don't get me wrong, I love vintage gear and I get it when people say this stuff and definitely most new stuff isn't built the same (planned obsolescence) and a lot of it is indeed cheap/designed to squeeze every penny out of the BoM but that doesn't cover everything and even some of the new crappy stuff can honestly boast better specs than some of the old good stuff so you have to wonder? It's like when people say vinyl sounds better even though the record they're playing was digitally mastered and a digital file (likely also 44.1khz/16bit) was what was provided to the press where scientifically and even objectionable you can't say it's higher quality than a 1:1 digital copy of that same file.. Interesting for sure!
Really wish modern Pioneer would make a line of vintage styled hi-fi gear with new technology & sound quality, like other manufacturers have. Imagine these kind of good looks in a new streamer/DAC/AB integrated amp combo unit.
Pioneer sold the home stereo division to Onkyo in 2014, so there is zero chance you will ever see components like this again as the company no longer exists.
I LOVE my SX-1050! It was 1978 and my first ever stereo purchase. I obsoleted it around 1980 when I bought my Quad ES-63 Speakers and Quad electronics but I pulled it out of the closet about 5 years ago to power my TV system and it put my Arcam SR250 AVR to shame. It really does sound absolutely fabulous. I’ve had it refurbished which I’m sorry about because I think the original components sounded better, but I’m still very happy with it and wouldn’t dream of putting it back in the closet. I do wish it had remote control though. At my age (83) remote control is a nice thing to have.
I was born in the 70s and in the early 80s my father purchased one of these receivers. It was in the family for at least 25 years. It is the receiver of my youth and it was tremendous. Thanks for that nostalgic trip down memory lane.
Pretty nice. My brother had a SX-1250 back in 1981, but I think the Technics SA-1000 is the best vintage receiver made. It was definitely the most powerful, by far (330 WPC) and it weighed 87 pounds. I had a girlfriend who got one for Christmas back in 1980 and it is still the most impressive receiver I have ever heard. Makes me wish I had rich parents like she had.
I picked up its little brother a few years back at a garage sale, the SA-500. Hasn’t been recapped or aligned and still plays great. Outside is about a 7.5/10 and the only thing really wrong is the tuner knob needs to be replaced, where the stem seats is cracked so if you don’t squeeze in on the know you can’t adjust the tuner.
I will be seventy- one at end end of January. I love all types of music and became a singer musician in the mid sixties. Such an incredible amount of records coming out from 1963 to about 1980. I worked also as a salesman/ audio consultant tech at two store stores selling many great lines of audio components. I bought a lot of audio gear at staff discount. So many hours of wonderful listening. I have a power amp that weighs 115 pounds with 64 output transistors and 240,000 uf of power supply capacitors. Friends of mine became design engineers for JBL and Fostex.
it was a great time for audio. I wanted a stereo when I was 17 in 1975 and after getting my first job I ran out and bought a Lafayette 100 watt amp and a set of Klipschorn's. Wow, I found out right away I didn't need 100 watts with those speakers or a record player, my parents confirmed that. Once I was out on my own and always adhering to the motto "Bigger is Better" in 1977 I bought a Kenwood KR-9600 to push those K-Horns. Had every input in the world hooked up to that system over the years from 8 tracks to reel to reels to disk players and I still have that system in my man cave in the basement and the neighbors still throw rocks thru my windows so they can hear it better.
Another great line of speakers of the era was JBL. If you happened to be able to afford JBL L 65's with a first rate receiver or integrated amp to drive them along with some first rate music of the era (Eagles, Doobie Brothers, Neil Young, Gordon Lightfoot or Tom Waits) imaging what a sonic and visual treat that would be.
Had an SX780 rated at 45 Watts I bought in High School, bout 76 after working summer job. It lasted forever, and might still be playing. Gave it to a friend for his workshop after getting a THX system . That Pioneer rocked HARD. Bought a pair of really nice Altec Lansing speakers from a guy I worked with, that may have been questionable obtained, but that was found out months later. The good old days, living at home, kickn Stereo, good cheap weed, no bills. Damn, I would trade back in a heartbeat.
@@LennyFlorentine I am looking to get me a quality, semi vintage /budget friendly home stereo set up. wish I had kept alot of stuff from my back in my teens lol what would you suggest as a starting point that is easily added to? thanks
Yup, 1978, gas was 48 cents a gallon, Mexican dirt weed was $40 a "Lid", Disco was at it's zenith, Rock stars could bang 13 year old girls and not get arrested, think Ted Nugent, Drinking age was 18, Minimum Wage was like $1.75 an hour, inflation was 14 percent, America wasn't a Political/Religion/Gun obsessed mess, only 3 Networks on TV and only "Rich" people had Cable, We knew Who our friends were and who wasn't, uh Russia, we still had a Manufacturing Base and a Middle Class, the top Tax Rate was like 80 percent, the National Debt was under 1 Trillion dollars, AM radio was where you heard your music, there was no "Fake News" and "Alternative Facts". 8 track tapes were the most popular media, CB radios in cars, ONE phone in the house that usually hung on the wall in the kitchen, yup, we really screwed this country up in the last 44 years!
I grew up with this in the house. It was my fathers pride and joy. He gave it to me when u was a teenager. The thing was a BEAST. I still remember what the tuner wheel felt like, the sound of the switches and buttons etc.
I bought one a few years ago and had it restored and recapped with modern replacements. The most amazing thing about this "monster" is how freakishly good it sounds at low volumes. It's only when you hear it playing at a normal volume and look at the power output meters that you realize it is not all about quantity of power but the quality of that power.
You are absolutely correct sir. Some of the most beautiful sound I have ever heard was at a level that was nice & clear but could have raised roofs & shattered glass if turned up a bit. Used to get feedback on the turntable. Dark side would feedback on On The Run everytime.
I've heard it said that to a true audiophile type that it how CLEAN the FIRST watt is, everything after that is just fluff. And with super efficient speakers you only need a FEW watts. Which is why the small Marantz (15wpc) receivers sound SO good. I own a Marantz 2240, a Pioneer SX980 and a Sansui SA8100. I bought all of them when they were cheap...As in 40 bucks for the Marantz and 35 for the Sansui. I spent "big bucks" - $300 for the Pioneer. All have since been recapped and rebuilt to better than new. None of them are for sale. ;) My neighbors all hate me.
My father had one of these things. Much later, when I got into high end audio sales, I found out what kind of machine this thing really was. If I could only travel back in time so I could save it before my dad tossed it out.
Blast from the past! I used to work for Pioneer and the SX-1980 was a monster! I still have my SX-750 and HPM60 speakers. Mine is plenty loud but the SX-1980 would easily be used in auditoriums. For a home? Crazy overkill. Unless you hated your neighbors, you’d never get that a quarter volume if that. Easily blew out many speakers. Whew.
And here I am sitting with 4000rms of QSC power in my living room right now... My dad had the HPM-40's and SX-650, and we later found a used SX-780 at a garage sale...they were cool, but the modern stuff is just on another level.
About 35 years ago you could pick this and other vintage stereo's up on flea markets for peanuts, because people were done with big and bulky stereo's with large metal switches and wanted light weighted happy plastic with even cheaper happy plastic touch buttons, lcd displays and futuristic looks.
These late 70s and early 80s Japanese receivers were engineered to ROCK the walls back in their day. The top Sony models I heard back then had a definite “sound” that is missing, that the world is missing in modern stereo equipment. It was awesome.
Bought a 1976 Kenwood KR6030 reciever when I went into the Air Force. Added Lancer SC-8 speakers and a Technics turntable.....was over a grand buying them....you could blow the windows out in my room.
My advise to everyone is to buy every piece of vintage audio equipment you can find. So if it looks old, it probably is. Tell the Thrift store clerk or yard sale person, "hey this may not work, would you take?"...
I found one in a goodwill outlet store for $5 and though did not work I managed to sell it for about $600. Now I starting to regret not keeping it and had it professionally repaired and restored. All I can say this thing is massive!
Same here. sx1280. Goodwill 12.99. Took it home to test. Set it on the carpeted floor. Turned it on. (Didn't have a variac). Instant mushroom cloud from a leaky cap!! Thought I burned a hole in the carpet!! Thankfully not. Sold it on Ebay for 330.00 even though it needed repair about 15 years ago. So much fun searching out all the larger models for cheap and reselling them. Kinda wish I had kept them all. Such warmth and power.
A friend of mine literally found one of these (fully functional) on the side of the road one morning on his way to schoo in the late l990's. I was, and still am, so jealous. Mark, you are a lucky bastard.
I agree that good vintage gear sounds better than a vast majority of new gear. My vintage is still in my main system and my new amp is in my bedroom. Vintage is king
A true classic! I was stationed with the USMC in Okinawa, Japan back when the 'mega receivers' were out: Sansui, Kenwood, Pioneer. Nakamichi tape decks, TASCAM 30ips reel-to-reels, Denon & other Japanese moving coil cartridges. Some great gear! Was introduced to Tannoy speakers and the beastly JBL 4350's out in town at coffee shops. Handmade tube amps, aramid fiber belt turntables. Great sound. Truly great times.
Love vintage gear. I used to sell these working hifi retail. Guess I'm vintage too now. Don't fear the loudness control if used properly. It's used when listening at low volume levels to enhance bass and treble that the human ear misses at low levels.
Had one, my ex sold it. It had a number of problems and repairs over the years including switches that got noisy, and lights behind the indicators that burned out. In the 80s and 90s and 00s it was harder and harder to find people on the west coast who could or would repair this kind of gear. Those micro incandescent lights were hard to find. Was a beast and sounded GREAT. I miss it.
I've owned lots of different gear in my journey of diminishing returns and stumbled apoun vintage gear, because I couldn't find anything to properly power my Magneplanners. I no longer own those speakers, but still own a vintage Sansui 9090. It's not just the power it can put out, it's the tube like warmth it has.
I remember Magneplanars ... used to work with an audio shop that sold them along with MacIntosh and Dual amps and tuners. The largest Magneplanar model had superb, smooth sound and deep bass ... the smaller models, not so much. All of them were tops at filling a room with a non-directional sound field.
Pioneer really nailed the aesthetics, beautiful design, like you mentioned, during the day but especially at night. Illuminated for easy viewing. I would like to add ergonomics. The radio dial could be moved from one end to the other with a simple spin. Smooth as glass! The knobs had center detents, which meant no visual was required to adjust. The modern versions don't have the same classiness.
When my ship was in Japan in 1978, guys were buying monster receivers by the ton. I bought a Kenwood KA-7100 amp and a tuner and some speakers. The Kenwood only put out 60 watts per channel but it had the lowest distortion specs of any Kenwood amp, a frequency response of 0 to 100khz, and a signal to noise ratio of 115 db. Raw power isn't everything. That being said, I would kill for that Pioneer!
Ah the good old days of being able to shop at a BX/PX. As a young adult getting my hands on the AAFES and NAVEX catalogs was the equivalent of having the Sears Christmas catalog as a child.
Phenomenal. My brother has an SX-780 that he was actually able to get refurbished years ago by a local electronics repair shop where the guy previously worked for Pioneer.
OMG!!! Those were the days man. Stereo shops were everywhere, mags witch I couldn't wait 2 get in the mail, private listening rooms, the smell of new ELECTRONICS!!! Loved it. I had a Dual 721Q d drive turntable with pitch control, Ortophon cartridge. I got a Shure V15 type 4 loved the micro brush 2 dust lp's soooooo cool. Best speakers, 3 way with 12 inch woofs & bias knobs. JBL's or McIntosh. Nice seperation, solid bass!!!
Definitely a vintage guy here as well; better sound (to my ears), and infinitely better aesthetics than anything made today. Too many featureless black boxes intended to be hidden away, I like my gear to be furniture in itself; just as pleasant to look at as it is to listen to. Also for anyone spooked by the loudness switch, definitely do NOT use it at normal volumes. It is intended for quiet nighttime listening, and boosts the bass and treble in a way that compensates for our ears' diminished sensitivity at low volume.
I'm so glad I got to enjoy this era. My dad was all into this stuff and bought the top of the line stuff in Singapore where it was sold for cheaper than you could find it in Japan. Keep the system for many years and then basically gave it away when the house was downsized. It was all 4 Channel - turn table, reel to real, equalizer, etc... The amp was a Pioneer QX9900. We had lots of parties back then
I have a 1978 Toshiba reciever. Kicks ass! I think that at some point, they reached a peak, as far as sound quality. After that, they just kept adding bells and whistles to try and stay relevant. I haven’t heard a stereo that sounds much better than my 44 year old one.
Many moons ago, I was shopping for a new (vintage) receiver. Had my heart set on a Sansui 9090 db. Went to see a gent I met on one of the stereo forums, he was a skilled tech who rebuilt many of these monsters. He said "Before you make up your mind, take a look at this", and showed me a 9090 db and a Pioneer SX-1250 that he was also restoring. Pointed out the differences in build quality, like the Pioneer`s discrete point-to-point wiring, massive wrap-around heat sinks, HUGE toroidal transformer, and four filter caps the size of beer cans. Needless to say, I wound up buying the SX-1250. Feeding signal to 2 pair of HP-100s, stacked & wired in parallel, the soundstage is huge, and will play at near-concert levels with no noticeable distortion. Currently spinning on the turntable: King Crimson "Live in Frejus, France 1982". It`s not likely that we will ever see equipment of this caliber again, so if you have one, hang on to it. Rock On !
There were a number of radio shack branded receivers that were made by both pioneer and Kenwood. I can't remember the models but there were a couple of realistic receivers that were pretty darn good in their day
While this is an absolutely beautiful unit, I think it was overkill on power. Vintage Pioneer receivers are awesome though and I love them. I'm currently running a fully restored Pioneer SX-1050 and at 120WPC it is more power than I'll ever need. It powers a pair of Klipsch RF7III's and sounds amazing
I also have a SX-1050 and Klipsch RF7iii's as well. It's an awesome combo. I went from a multi speaker home theater system to just 2 simple speakers and man it sounds unbelievable. The Klipsch speakers are fantastic and the combo of the speaker and the old school Pioneer receiver turned out to be a great pick. Enjoy the vintage setup!
@@moreaufamily437 the pioneer from the 70´s make all speakers sound good ,not as today tone controls that one almost doesn´t notice the increase on the frequency , but i have a 74 system that i bought while working abroad that can power very powerfull speakers at least 200watts if good sensibility wise all can be powered with a minimum watts per chanell, this receiver i refer to it had 7+7watts r.m.s but todays measures even when r.m.s is the reference they seem to increase a lot the values per chanell, but klipsch is to me one of the best speaker brands along with older whafedale (now they joined kef+celestion in their group mass produced in china) ,regards
Having lots of extra power makes things sound more 'airy' & 'deep & vast' at any volume =) 350WPC or more is good, with very efficient speakers like 96db or more. It really helps the bass 2, even when not loud = much more slold & 'righd sledgehammer thunderous' vibe 2 it =D Don't use 'receivers' if U can get big power 'PA' amps instead. Avoid digital (Pulse Width Modulation / PWM style) amps if U can = tend 2 B more harsh & blurry sounding.
Overkill on power? No way. I have two Rotel RB-1090s and another two Rotels bridged together to power 6 large Canton Ergos. All together, it's ~1400 watts and if you want the bass to be clean. And yes, I have turned them up loud enough to enable channel protection. But an excess of clean, meaty warm bass that tells you, "this is what I needed to be hearing", that's what you get. Wish I had those meters though. Love those so much.
I had one of these that I bought on ebay about 20 years ago. It was in very good condition and sounded great. Only thing is, in all of the years I owned it I never turned it above 50 wpc, and only then a couple of times. It was rattling the windows at that level. I sold it for $2500 in 2011. Try getting one for that now! I now have a re-capped SX-1080 that I love and it is much more realistic as far as usable volume. Still never gets much above 10wpc. It's rated at 120 wpc. They are beautiful pieces.
1970's while in college I worked for Sterling Electronics, a home audio / video / radio company that had 30 stores around Houston and southeast Texas and south Louisiana. We carried all the major brands of the time. Pioneer, Marantz, Yamaha, Technics, Sony, Kenwood, Sansui, Teac, Carver, Klipsh, etc etc. The best combination of receiver/speaker I found in our sound rooms was the Sony STR 6800 SD paired with the JBL L65 "Jubal" speakers. I still have both. But the receiver is in serious need of a new volume pot and I have not been able to find one for it. Hopefully someday I will. Of all we carried, Pioneer was our top seller across all levels of amplifiers and JBL was the top seller in speakers. JBL of that era was quite different from the JBL of today.
I bought a SX-980 in 1978. Had it in my garage until I searched it on Google and found out how much they are worth. I took it out of the garage and had it cleaned because some of the switches were cutting out. I now have it up at my cabin. We rock out to it all the time. Its not a SX-1980 but at 80 watts it can still shake the house!
Looks like a beast. It's the same vintage and even shares the same knobs as my old SX3700 receiver. A "wimp" at only 45W as I recall, after a 20 year hiatus I once again use it every day and it's never really needed a thing save for replacement light bulbs, which next time will get LED's. Still have the box it came in when I bought it new in '78. You also mention the HPM100's, a friend of mine had a pair and I loved them. Years later, around mid 90's I was in a stereo shop that handled Macintosh and other hi-end stuff, and used stuff too! Among the collection of used equipment don't I spot a pair of what appeared to be brand new HPM100's! I mean, they were used but looked new. I asked the guy how much and he said $59 for the pair!! After putting my eyes back in my head he showed me the used value chart and that's what it said, Pioneer HPM-100, $59/pair!! WTF. And that's what I gave him, no more questions asked. I've had to re-do the foam surround on the woofers twice now and should probably re-cap them, but they are my keepers! Fifty. Nine. Dollars.
I bought the SX-1980 when I was in the army overseas for $1050. The relays shut it down when driving my relatively efficient Bose 901 series V speakers when there would be significant dynamic peaks from my music on cd. Otherwise, It sounded wonderful. When I got back to the states, the fm tuner would no longer quartz lock onto fm stations, creating a popping sound. Two repair shops were unsuccessful in solving the issue. I then reluctantly sold it.
most of my military colleagues spent major money on HIFI gear - I still have a Techics amp from 1992 (used daily). Still sounds stunning. (SUV90D - the ebay price isn't far from the 1990s price!)
I had a Sx-1980 back in the mid 90s that I bought used from a guy for $100, it was badass!!! However, I didn't know how valuable it was and pretty much gave it away before moving across the country. Here I sit tonight searching the web for a stereo for my garage and stumble upon this video. Thanks for bringing back memories of rocking the WHOLE house. Btw, I also have tinnitus in both ears. Lol.
I remember these huge receivers showing up in the Hi-Fi stores in the late 1970s. My thought was that this was super overkill. Anything with that much power should have been part of a separates system with a tuner and preamplifier. There was no furniture being made at the time to support these monsters. I am still happy with my Marantz Model 3300 and Model 250 power amp and the Model 120 tuner. These items are all fifty years old and working fine. I also love the Silver and Gold aluminum front panels of the era. The black components that are most often just cheap plastic are just unattractive.
@@LennyFlorentine Thank you. This system also includes AR-3a speakers and a Revox A-77 Tape Deck, Advent 100A Dolby noise reduction component, Biamp octave equalizer, and Sony CDP-302 CD playback deck.
My dad still currently has this receiver. He's had it as long as I can remember. I used to play with all the switches as a kid. He had these cool 8" carbon fiber speakers too till my brother got a hold of the volume nob one night. Still has the receiver though.
my brother got out of school with a engineering degree in 1976, one of the first things he bought after a car was this receiver, he live 6 miles outside of town and his closest neighbor was 3 miles away almost, he had a party and put the speakers against the windows and cranked it, holy hell was it loud and even at insane volume it still sounded so good, he ended up leaving it and the rest of his stereo system in a closet in that same house when he moved out of it in the mid 90s, he just forgot it was there and didn't think he'd end up caring about it later, he regrets the hell out of it but I hope the people who bought the house and found it enjoyed it, when he was in college he had his cheaper stuff in his old bedroom which became my bedroom, I rocked the hell out of his records all through high school
I only ever had the lowly SX-650 & SX-880, but oh my god what a joy they were. The 880 was used with HPM-100's. The 650 was used with HPM-700's, which l still have.
I've been working from home during the pandemic. I listen to my SX-780 all day, every day. Even at extremely low volume, it never fails to sound "musical." If that makes sense. It doesn't have to be loud to sound great.
The loundness button will employ a Fletcher-Munson curve and is intended to be used at low listening levels to equalize the way the human ear perceives frequencies at different levels. Better units will attenuate the mids vs. boosting lows and highs. I am writing this because what you said about the loudness button and the high power seemed uninformed.
W S; you are correct. I know the same rules apply to my Marantz 2245 & my Sansui. Not sure about my Marantz 1152DC as that has a loudness knob independent of the volume; probably the same as the others. Can't test it right now. But I have noticed that if I set the volume knob; at 9 o'clock and drive the signal hotter into the receiver the bass is boomier; than if I set the volume knob at say 12 o'clock. The reason is the loudness correction tappers off as you turn the volume knob up. Basically the loudness should tapper down logarithmically as the volume knob is turned from 0 to 11 (Spinal Tap reference) ;-)
@@EdLawless It's been since Spinal Pap came out that I had a loudness contour button (1984 Denon PMA 750). It had an MC phono stage and I am pretty sure I had a DM103 cart with it. Have the same cart today, but no loudness
@@WS-gs6sf You must be my brother from another mother. I have an Audio Technica cartridge ATN12SA that I have been using daily since 1983. On your cartridge are you running a shibata styli? I believe that was an option for yours. I have heard plenty of other carts but the one I listed above just sounds like home for me. ;-)
@@EdLawless Nah, the DL103 is stock and new this year. I'm using an iFi Phono 2 and getting great results. I have never run Audio Technica, but the P/N you indicate looks pretty sweet. Dig the tapered cantilever. Cheers.
These actually didn't meet FTC rules for power output over time. But this was the king in the golden days of the stereo receiver. I had an SX-1280, the next step down from the 1980. The build quality was miles ahead of any normal home theater receiver you can buy today, even the higher end models. You have to get into really HIGH END audio equipment to get the kind of build quality that Pioneer and Sansui were putting into their equipment up into the mid-late 80s.
Man I love the look and build of these old units. I had a beautiful Realistic receiver back in the early 80's that was super nice like this. BUT, I'm totally spoiled. I'm an audio guy and my mains in my studio are Barefoot MM27's with 1250 watts a speaker! I never have an issue running them loud.. Love it!
Those silly ones with the dual midrange drivers 4 lots of retarded comb filtering phase cancelation problems? LOL Certainly space 4 a larger driver = trying 2 make it fit the shape of a foot I guess.
"You're gonna have"? An iconic, utter beast of a receiver although personally I've never been a fan of receivers per se and much prefer either integrated amplifiers or pre/power combos.
Great video on an incredible legendary amp Regarding Loudness, it’s impossible to blow the speakers using it. The reason is that Loudness is only available up to a certain volume level, once that volume level is reached, Loudness cuts out automatically Loudness compensates for the ears inability to adequately hear bass and treble at lower volume levels as opposed to normal or higher volume levels Cheers
That's fuking retarded, like TVs with 'local dimming' makeing 'decisions' about how 2 fuk up what U told it 2 do. Just amp it & leave the sound how I want it, not 'defeated because U R being a bad boy playing 2 loud' = LOL!!
First time viewer folks. Man, you took me back to my youth! Those were the days my friend. I still have my Carver Magnetic Field Power Amplifier from the 80's. It probably has a burned out resistor or capacitor because I'm not getting any sound out of her. Hell even the meter on it doesn't register the output. I've been meaning to take her to Elliotts Electronics here in Tucson in the hopes they can pinpoint the problem on her. Don't know of any HiFi folks that are into repairing old vintage stuff like mine. I had a Pioneer like that one. Not the model but the ex-wife kept it along with all my vinyl. Don't even want to bring up the amount of albums that today I could retire on! Anywho, love your content man. Rock on!
I have the 1280, bought it for $40 at a yard sale a few years ago and sounds amazing! Hoping one day I'll find a 1980 at a reasonable price. No better phono preamp as in the SX models...
Yes. I have the SX 980 which I bought in 1979 and still use it to this day. I paired it up with Bose 901 speakers and the sound quality is unmatched compared to any other receiver I've heard. They don't make em like they used to.
well , you should have listened to 70's gear when new and you would think the reverse , i tried to modernise my system in the 90's and spent a lot of money , this to learn that it was impossible , like todays gear will never be seen when 50 years old , hi-fi had it maximum quality in the 70 's this not talking about digital but digital already had all made jusy a matter of reachin 60 years of evolution in 38 years , wich is done .I went digital in the 90's but early allthough practical but notbing that i owned in digital hi-fi works today or after almost 30 years but getting there and digital still uses analog devices or would 't be heard , simple its another format as all others i added to my colection of diferent sources of sound , but one thing , i really don't know what happened in 1980 when , all brands started to decrease its quality at all levels , ny cassettes recorded in 79 decks are perfect as recorded in the best decks released in the 90's , there was an improvement in late 80's and 90's to run from early 80's plastic thing and poorly built electronic components that several brands use them till today , i know young kids and one that plays in a fender precision bass told me that cassettes didn't had high frequencies the next time he went to my house i was listening to a cassette and he asked me what cd was i listening , when i let him in my home ofice i showed him a cassette playing , he couldn't believe that the sound he was hearing came from a cassette , he and his friends have a rock band and asked me to record a demo cd wich we called in the past a demo tape , this in my litle studio at home that is equiped mostly with early 70's equipment to produce a perfect modern sound in digital format , regards
My dad ran his Bose 901 Series 1 with that 1980 amp. I remember him blasting Queen's Another One Bites The Dust, I was then hooked on phonics! ..and that am/fm tuning knob would would sail from end to the other with a flick of the finger..it was just amazing. 10:44
The sound quality is excellent. For stereo systems Pioneer is up there and yes, to answer your question, I prefer Vintage over the newer stuff. However I personally like the Marantz and Sansui with Pioneer at #3. Because you gentlemen repair these systems I would imagine that you’ve come to realize that the Pioneer receivers are not the easiest to repair.
@@TexTom1981 If the consensus is the Pioneer SX-1980 is fun, I'd recommend, anyone that's interested and has the $$$ to invest in a piece of vintage history, check out what I personally consider to be the Holy Grail from the 1970's the Sansui G-9000. The sound is amazing and although it doesn't have the same power output as the SX-1980 it sounds incredible. Another great receiver, which is subjective is the Marantz 2600, it puts out 300 watts per channel but it not just about the power, all three of the manufacturers are unique sounding.
Great video! I’ve got one of these myself. My dad bought it circa 1979 from an Army/Navy store. Paired with some Bose 901’s, and later 601’s, he rocked the house (and the neighbor’s) with it throughout my childhood years. It eventually gave out and he replaced it with a newer system. About two years ago, he offered it to me and I couldn’t have been more happy. A vintage stereo shop in Williamsburg, VA (shoutout to Bob @ Action Electronics) got it up and running for me and I’ve been in audio heaven ever since. I currently have it paired with some Klipsch KG-5’s with plane to change it up when the right deal comes along. I did get a Klipsch powered sub for Christmas this year….would anyone know the best method to incorporate this sub into my system? The sub only has a pre-amp input.
In regards to your Klipsch sub. Just contact Klipsch via email or phone. They will most certainly have the correct info on how to wire the sub. My Klipsch SW-10 actually gets its signal from the rear surround speakers which was recommended by Klipsch. I originally had them running off a sub out on my amp.
I've always liked Pioneer stereos. Both home and automotive stereos. I would go to my local Circuit City and check out the new stereo equipment, but now Circuit City is out of business. Now I shop at Amazon! 😊
I remember seeing back in the 70's a ad for Marantz car stereo . " Under The Influence , Marantz Car Stereo . " A Cop pulling over a driver for speeding .
a 42 year old SX 1980 cost more in working serviced condition than a McIntosh c50 and MC452 power amp cost me, and I got them when they were under 10 years old and needed no service. in fact, those newer much better sounding separates cost 2K less than some of the recent SX 1980's sold for. No, it does not sound better than the pre amp and amp I have. before you drop nearly 10K one one of these things in working condition I'd advise you to listen to newer highend gear. I think because you pretty much have to go to audio shows to even see the stuff because the market is smaller for this stuff that it was in the 70's, but go out and see whats there, you might be shocked that what these sold for used in the early 90's can still buy you a much better sounding piece of gear. Sure, it won't be collectable and may fail in the eye candy department, but you could save yourself a lot of money. 5 of these things recently sold north of 3K thats way too much money for any 70s receiver no matter who made it. Hell, the Spec series is way better than this thing and you can get them for LESS. thats crazy.
Hey, love your passion and enthusiasm for this vintage gear! While the 1980 was certainly a heckuva pc., it really couldn't hold a candle to the Sansui G22000 or G33000. Back in 1978 I was actually able to directly compare the SX1980 to the Sansui G22000 with a pair of somewhat difficult to drive Magnaplaner MGIIa speakers. These were 'nominally' rated at 6 ohms, and the SX1980 just ran out of steam during heavy bass and loud passases, where the G22000 sailed right through - and just had a much better and more natural sound. And YES, if you were listening to a pair of these types of speakers (or similar low efficiency designs and were in a decent sized room) you DID need every watt available - ESPECIALLY if you wanted clean 'life like' sound reproduction. It wasn't so much about the total output rating, but rather the ability to deliver tons of peak or quick instantaneous transients. I'm not banging on the Pioneer here, as I owned several prior to the G22000. Keep up the good work! Cheers!
The G22000 is outstanding but to me, it was built as a 2 piece....however I had the G9000 and pioneer 1250 and that pioneer blew the hell out of that G9000 with a pair of JBLs L150s...I give sansui the nod on that sweet sansui sound but that pioneer had a more of a warm and bass punch that held really well while the G9000 was softer in terms of thunderous bass
They 33000 and 22000 are not nearly as nice looking tho, thats the downfall. Id like to know what kind of drugs the person who decided to put the inputs on the sides of the unit were. Stupid design.
@@rockrollhi-figuy6824 The 2 sansuis were over built to get the cleanest possible sound so they were more integrated and the ports therefore had to be mounted on the sides of the units...both 33000 and 22000 are on a different playing field as they were both are a 2 piece design because of weight.... the pioneer for its price point cannot be beat by any other manufacturer in terms of what you got for your money ...the sansui Gs 22000,33 models were very expensive and designed as separates....minus that fact, the SX 1980 would be the best receiver for the money on the planet....period... they are most popular and there are more of them then most of the Gs 8000 and up
I had 5 lined JA-R2S Racks, and later bought the Dealer Rack System called "The Rack" ... I enjoyed a good many JA-R101's 102 Adapters, and that Rack sported a PL-630 table / amid their Executive Director Chairs AND a "Body-Sonic" Chair. I still have many lit signs, and I also had a pair of HPM-100's in the limited Plexiglas Version, and a PL-570 Mirror Display turntable Demonstrator. Back in this era, "there WAS a difference in Audio" ... and HPM 150's were OK (talking Speakers), but Altec 19's would thunder the heavens amid a clean CLEAR Tone that today; STILL is unmatched. (Back in these days, I ran 6 Model 19's and used the 150's as "Satellites". I used a 1980 Receiver as an AMP (bridged off on the back) and their problem was they just got to darn hot ! ... *one other full-rack lined with SPEC-2's and 4's did the rest. What a fun era all this was, and this clip was VERY, VERY Enjoyable ! . Thanks for doing this / and Thx. more for the memories !.
I had one. It was a monster when all of the scratchy old pots and selector switches wanted to cooperate. I sold it to a hifi restoration guy. I used to fix these old amps for people when i was in high school then life happened and work became more important. Still to this day my favorite receiver was a Realistic STA95 out of the 70s. I think it was 45+45w.
It was an era of overbuilding amplifiers/receivers. I have a 2 channel Onkyo amp from the 80's, 50lbs and 150W into 8ohm or 300W into 4ohm (which is what my speakers are). They have glorious watt meters on the front panel and to be honest, at 30W it's LOUD. Any higher than that and my neighbors better enjoy my music as well.
. As far as the 504 goes, I tried at least 5 Pre amps with it and it had power but it just seemed to be lacking in low/high reproduction i.m.o. I couldn't get any deep bass or crispy highs from it, but it is a sexy looking amp with the giant meters. I paid $150 for mine and sold it for $800! The guy was soooo happy to get it, and I was happy with the $650 profit.
Had an sx1980 that I was able to restore completely, very cool, had hpm-100 to go with it, got an emotiva xpa2 and a good dac with diy speakers. The new stuff doesnt look as cool but it sure sounds a lot better.
I started out with a Pioneer SX650, Had it for 42 years and finally died . Then I found a pioneer SX750. Right now that's in my barn hooked up to four speakers I also started out with 2 HPM40 Pioneer speakers Excellent setup. Yes, my teens were through the late 60s through the 70s ! Sex, Drugs, and Rock N Roll WHAT A RIDE And still Rockn at 69 years young
I have a Sansui from this era and it is just mind-blowing. It weighs a million pounds. It's so powerful it is dangerous. And it just sounds better than anything made today. It's a more FULL sound. You can feel the bass in low piano note even at low volume.
i worked on some of those, still got a couple output transistors even. the early models had an issue with the power supply board but other than that it was what pioneer had to go up against sansui G33000
A really nice overall review of the 1980, which is likely the most iconic monster receiver ever built. For those who are commenting on the Sansui G 22000 and 33000 not really being a receiver because of the separate chassis design, there is a way to bolt the amplifier directly behind the pre/tuner, hence giving it a true receiver look. I prefer to stack my 22000 with the amplifier underneath, and yes it runs very cool, so no worries about space for cooling. Now onto the subject to the best ever receiver, that is something so subjective there cannot be a true consensus on it. Power-wise? Sure lots of watts, but there are others which are more stable into a 2-ohm load. Kenwoods and Sansui G-series have nicer overall tuners. Harman Kardons better phono sections. Marantz seems to capture the aesthetic sentiments. I've been an audio enthusiast for 45+ years, owning 100+ units including a Spec 1, 2, and 4 stack in a Pioneer rack. It really is all about owning and enjoying what works for you personally. For vintage I prefer a Sansui, Harman Kardon, or even a Concept receiver to any Pioneer or Marantz, though they are very nice also. There's also McIntosh!
Well said and there is no way could you have written such a great post if you did not respect audio enthusiasts. Thank you! I grew up in a household of rock, disco, funk, and RnB in Inglewood, California during the 70's and often cranked the volume way past 10! At the center of our system was the Sansui G-9000 but like you said, it's about personal preferences.
@@brunoprimas1483 the xx50's had better build and a richer full sound for sure, that 1250 is a treat and you sir are very lucky for sure. You will never push either to full potential in a normal "not drunk" listening situation. So having the 1980 would be a, I have one bragging point. But it won't sound as good as 1250 on it's best day.
I had a Kenwood 8010 for years. Was a huge beast. Only...120 watts/channel, but I never wanted for power. With 2 turntables and Tape loops along with a mic input on the front, I actually used it for my small DJ business in college. Sadly, I sold it at a garage sale in the early 2000's. The power wars were fun and created some amazing equipment.
If you ALL want to cry 😢 l remember many units like this were either sold for £100-£150 quid or thrown away 😳 NOBODY wanted them or shiny chrome anymore they wanted black, just black! I just saw one of these,Dec ‘23, selling for £10,000.00! 😳
I would love to have one of these. I had a smaller Pioneer with a cassette tape deck, equalizer, and reel to reel. Back in the 1970s. What a beautiful analog piece of equipment. Doesn't get any better. Marantz and Sansui made some nice equipment but Pioneer back then was the best in my book.
Thank you for showing off the beautiful SX-1980. What Pioneer invested in this model and their entire receiver line will never be replicated so it is important to properly restore what is left out there. I remember visiting MusiCraft in the late 70s and early 80's seeing the SX-1980, reading Stereo Review and High Fidelity and experiencing the receiver wars at the time. What permanently changed my thoughts on electronics was the December 1980 issue of High Fidelity so in 1983 I purchased a used McIntosh MC-275 which I still have. I also enjoy beautiful sound from Binghamton (NY) with the McIntosh MAC4100 receiver. When coupled with my Klipsch RF7-II it sounds fantastic! A unique feature of the McIntosh MAC4100 receiver is their power guard circuit to prevent clipping distortion from destroying speakers at high volume. Like playing KRAFTWERK Tour de France at the maximum possible volume. Never forget that every time you restore one of the classics you are preserving them for the future.
The loudness switch is designed only for low volume listening. It boosts lows and highs according to a Fletcher-Munson curve. It only works in low volume applications.
What a beauty. So many people have a story of a great receiver find. Mine is an absolutely mint, and I mean perfect, Carver MXR-130 from as I understand it 1980. The one with the rack handles. I have other beauties from the 1970's that I love such as my Sony TA-F3A & Sony TA-2650. Another find was my Clairtone T7 as a component not part of a stereo console. I understand how one can be hooked on stereo beauties from the 1960's 70's & 80's. To everyone, enjoy your musical taste and recognize it as a precious gift.
I bought my sx-780 and pioneer direct drive turntable pl-518, along with a ADC sound shaper equalizer back in high school (1980) and I still use it daily. Great receiver! Originally I had EPI speakers in walnut cabinets. My wife blew the speakers out. I kept the cabinets. Some day I will replace the components.
Phil if you ever have the opportunity connect your 780 to a pair a professional PA speakers that have a 15 in and a horn preferably the PV Internationals and be prepared to be completely blown away. Myself have owned the Pioneer rack system and heard most of the receivers I have to say the 780 has a certain magic to it the others don't it sounds natural and let me tell you when you hook it up to a good set of PA speakers you will be amazed how amazing that amp is. I use the 780 as the heart of my system and I have Crest 900 watt amps driving renkus heinz line array speakers and several others but the 780 drives the PV Internationals I have heard systems costing $50 to $100,000 and I would put mine up against them any day
I bought a Pioneer RX back in '74 while in the AF overseas. Could not afford anything like the SX-1980, but the one I had did a respectable 100W RMS output per channel. What was unique about it was that it was the forerunner to surround sound receivers of today. It was called a quad output receiver with a "front" and "back" speaker outputs with selectable "delay" feature between the front and back. The RX shared many of the switches and dials that were incorporated in the SX-1980. I had the RX connected to a pair of Sansui speakers with 5 speakers per cabinet. Each cabinet contained a 12" woofer, a mid-range horn, a tweeter and 2 top-firing full range horns. There was a switch in each speaker that allowed the user to turn on one, two or none of the top-firing speakers. I used an Akai 10" reel to reel recorder and a Dual turntable with a Shure magnetic pickup with this receiver. My daughter still has the receiver.
Those Panasonic receivers would bring the house down my grandmother had one and when you put the volume on 10 it would shake and vibrate the windows. Thanks for the trip down memory lane.
I worked for a Texas chain called Custom Hi-Fi back in the late 70's and we had a 72 hour blowout...open three straight days. We put some Cerwin-Vega's with 15" woofers outside the front door hooked up to one of these receivers. The CVs could handle the power and good lord were they loud. We didn't have residential homes too close to our shop, but we did get a few complaints deep into the morning on the last night. When it was all over, the SX-1980 was fine...never really ran untouchable hot and the CVs went right back on the floor. No harm. The Pioneer delivered heavy yet clean power. And yeah...it was cranked.
After joining the Air Force in 1973 the roommate that I was blessed with had just got back from Germany a few months before I got there. I think he had a large Pioneer, compatible Pioneer speakers, turntable, and reel to reel. Until then the best stereo I heard about was a Philco Console Stereo. I had never owned anything with serious power, 50 watts RMS max was the best I could do. My first was a 17 watt RMS per channel Sansui and a pair of Sansui SP1700. On the weekends some of us would open up the windows, put the speakers on a desk, facing and right up to the window and blast them. The Sp1700 held their own with clarity and volume or sound.
My uncle (dad's little brother) was an audiophile. The center of his HiFi world was his Kenwood KR-9400 receiver. He sold his car to buy it. It sat next to his Yamaha amp and the Akai turntable with these giant Cerwin Vega speakers. It was on the mandatory 2x12 board on top of cinder blocks. He also had reel to reel and cassette decks. Can't remember all the brands, but I always will the receiver. But, it was thru that system that I heard the just released Boston album. Brother, when you hear that vinyl on that system with those speakers...it was a religious experience
I developed a fault on my SX1980 around 1984/'85 (a dry joint somewhere...) so I left it with a local hi-fi repair shop here in South East London. The usual months of waiting for parts, be ready next Thursday stories became a permanently closed shop with hi-fi in the shop gathering dust, letters and calls unanswered and I never saw him or it again... It was the muscle in a Thorens TD150 Mk. 2 and AR58 system pumping out 70s dub reggae to the 'hood! Happy days!
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I still have my SX-1980 that I purchased for $699 when it was on sale at a local hi-fi shop back in 1979. Still have the original sales receipt and the box and I still use it on a daily basis. Sounds amazing with any speaker I pair it up with.
I miss going to the hi-fi shop. Now they are almost obsolete. Most of these shops just do custom installs and don’t have a showroom anymore.
$12,000 now on ebay
@@pjo1964 wow. Another great receiver from the same period is the sansui g9700 if you can find it.
@@pjo1964 I told my father he shouldn’t have pitched it..
i had the luck of a uncle of mine after me asking for him to sell him his sx-1980,that at the time i asked if it was a new model because he came from New York in 1980, but having problems with his neighboors in a 20 floors building ,living in the 20th floor he had problems with his neighboors ,in 1986 he went to my house and ask me if i wanted still his receiver and warn me that it was not a 220 volts but 100 v unit and i had already since 74 a complete system ,stereo receiver ,turntable and speakers the ES-2000 from pioneer at 100/110v (bought in japan ,while living in africa) so just a matter of plug it in , and i kept it .Once, i almost sold it for what is today 600€ and the guy said it was to much expensive,"it still have needles " he said , well thank him for find it to expensive in 97 ,still working perfect i now use it at my dinning room where there´s a tv and dvd and next month a blue-ray, this because my mother that i live with her now at my grand parents house because i´m waiting to my house works being finished at least this month of june already in the finishings and she listens to radio everyday so to do not being stored it´s preferable to being working everyday also as a cd /dvd player and cassette player for her to listen to her music, it´s working and nothing is out of order a perfect machine about the capaciteurs i still listen and find the sound perfect and very powerfull it´s conected to some tanoy speakers from mid or early 70´s that were from her stereo .
The very best receivers ever made were built in the 70's. We had a stone farmhouse out in the country that was an epic party house. The walls were 12" thick, the ceilings were high and it sat upon a hill. Closest neighbor was a mile away. We got a noise complaint.
That is beautiful. Please tell me you were listening to/blasting Humble Pie. Or maybe Zappa. Tee hee.
Good times my friend.
Yes and cars were faster 😂😂😂😂 Absolutely a asinine statement
Ahhhhh.....Bach
@fefefefe3101 I wonder if it was raining at the time and the water falling down was purple coloured? Or perhaps this happened during the year of 1999?
That's one thing I miss in today's equipment - all the buttons, knobs, switches, and gauges of past gear. Just looks cooler than a plain (usually black) slab with everything buried in software menus.
With DSP, the sound just isn't the same either. It loses a lot of its warm sound.....and leaves us with harsh highs, muddled midrange, almost no bass response or too much bass response.
100%
I had a nakamichi dragon from ‘83. More buttons than Apollo 13
AGREED............ Boy I loved shopping for equipment way back when. I was like a kid in the candy store. Bose, Denon, Pioneer, Carver, Technics, Dual, Marantz etc. What's funny, Sony wasn't big in the 70'S at least with audiophiles
@@milfordcivic6755 not to mention the old units fully repairable.
Nothing beats the old stereo components of the 70's and the 80's! Names like Pioneer, Marantz,Harmon Karden,Sansui,Yamaha,Sony and others were the best way of hearing music!
My grandpa had one of these and one flip of one of those switches on there and you realize, man, this thing is some serious equipment. I remember being afraid to mess with it because it looked like something might get launched somewhere.
EVERYTHING back in those days was just built SOOOOOOOOOO much better... AND SOUNDS BETTER .. PERIOD. Those of us who are old Enough KNOW ...
Got that right
Y'know, I sometimes wonder. I definitely won't deny that older gear has insanely higher build quality and materials, but I wonder how much is perceived quality or nostalgia? Do we like old amps more/say they sound better because they were developed by someone passionate with a good ear? That we actually like the specific sound coloring of certain gear that would "scientifically" be considered worse? While it's not a complete blanket statement, at least generally modern gear of equivalent perceived quality/target market will most often have much lower THD at much higher output levels in a much smaller package, much higher SN, much better stereo separation, higher dynamic range, vastly more configurable tone control (eg. Fully parametric EQ vs. predefined frequency bands and Q), more external noise rejection with more of the signal path being digital thus impervious to interference... Don't get me wrong, I love vintage gear and I get it when people say this stuff and definitely most new stuff isn't built the same (planned obsolescence) and a lot of it is indeed cheap/designed to squeeze every penny out of the BoM but that doesn't cover everything and even some of the new crappy stuff can honestly boast better specs than some of the old good stuff so you have to wonder? It's like when people say vinyl sounds better even though the record they're playing was digitally mastered and a digital file (likely also 44.1khz/16bit) was what was provided to the press where scientifically and even objectionable you can't say it's higher quality than a 1:1 digital copy of that same file.. Interesting for sure!
@@forbiddenera wut
@@randomrazr Reading comprehension got you down?
@@forbiddenera yes sir. in english please
Really wish modern Pioneer would make a line of vintage styled hi-fi gear with new technology & sound quality, like other manufacturers have. Imagine these kind of good looks in a new streamer/DAC/AB integrated amp combo unit.
That would be incredible!
if they tried to make this now it would be 20K lol
Pioneer sold the home stereo division to Onkyo in 2014, so there is zero chance you will ever see components like this again as the company no longer exists.
Yes! But Made in Japan!
And Reference series of the 80s too were top class
I LOVE my SX-1050! It was 1978 and my first ever stereo purchase. I obsoleted it around 1980 when I bought my Quad ES-63 Speakers and Quad electronics but I pulled it out of the closet about 5 years ago to power my TV system and it put my Arcam SR250 AVR to shame. It really does sound absolutely fabulous. I’ve had it refurbished which I’m sorry about because I think the original components sounded better, but I’m still very happy with it and wouldn’t dream of putting it back in the closet. I do wish it had remote control though. At my age (83) remote control is a nice thing to have.
I was born in the 70s and in the early 80s my father purchased one of these receivers. It was in the family for at least 25 years. It is the receiver of my youth and it was tremendous. Thanks for that nostalgic trip down memory lane.
Thanks for watching Brian, glad you enjoyed it!
Pretty nice. My brother had a SX-1250 back in 1981, but I think the Technics SA-1000 is the best vintage receiver made. It was definitely the most powerful, by far (330 WPC) and it weighed 87 pounds. I had a girlfriend who got one for Christmas back in 1980 and it is still the most impressive receiver I have ever heard. Makes me wish I had rich parents like she had.
Sansui G-33000 was in the same league as Technics and weighed even more (100 pounds).
I picked up its little brother a few years back at a garage sale, the SA-500. Hasn’t been recapped or aligned and still plays great. Outside is about a 7.5/10 and the only thing really wrong is the tuner knob needs to be replaced, where the stem seats is cracked so if you don’t squeeze in on the know you can’t adjust the tuner.
I will be seventy- one at end end of January. I love all types of music and became a singer musician in the mid sixties. Such an incredible amount of records coming out from 1963 to about 1980. I worked also as a salesman/ audio consultant tech at two store stores selling many great lines of audio components. I bought a lot of audio gear at staff discount. So many hours of wonderful listening. I have a power amp that weighs 115 pounds with 64 output transistors and 240,000 uf of power supply capacitors. Friends of mine became design engineers for JBL and Fostex.
it was a great time for audio. I wanted a stereo when I was 17 in 1975 and after getting my first job I ran out and bought a Lafayette 100 watt amp and a set of Klipschorn's. Wow, I found out right away I didn't need 100 watts with those speakers or a record player, my parents confirmed that. Once I was out on my own and always adhering to the motto "Bigger is Better" in 1977 I bought a Kenwood KR-9600 to push those K-Horns. Had every input in the world hooked up to that system over the years from 8 tracks to reel to reels to disk players and I still have that system in my man cave in the basement and the neighbors still throw rocks thru my windows so they can hear it better.
Another great line of speakers of the era was JBL. If you happened to be able to afford JBL L 65's with a first rate receiver or integrated amp to drive them along with some first rate music of the era (Eagles, Doobie Brothers, Neil Young, Gordon Lightfoot or Tom Waits) imaging what a sonic and visual treat that would be.
You lucky devil 😂
Had an SX780 rated at 45 Watts I bought in High School, bout 76 after working summer job. It lasted forever, and might still be playing. Gave it to a friend for his workshop after getting a THX system . That Pioneer rocked HARD. Bought a pair of really nice Altec Lansing speakers from a guy I worked with, that may have been questionable obtained, but that was found out months later. The good old days, living at home, kickn Stereo, good cheap weed, no bills. Damn, I would trade back in a heartbeat.
780 is definitely a champ!!
Yeah...and almost everyone was happier back then, as well. Great times! Waayyyy fewer idiots and morons.
@@marksanzone4948 No fewer idiots and morons, they just had less of a voice. Our institutions weren't fully co-opted yet. Rock on brother :)
@@LennyFlorentine I am looking to get me a quality, semi vintage /budget friendly home stereo set up. wish I had kept alot of stuff from my back in my teens lol what would you suggest as a starting point that is easily added to? thanks
Yup, 1978, gas was 48 cents a gallon, Mexican dirt weed was $40 a "Lid", Disco was at it's zenith, Rock stars could bang 13 year old girls and not get arrested, think Ted Nugent, Drinking age was 18, Minimum Wage was like $1.75 an hour, inflation was 14 percent, America wasn't a Political/Religion/Gun obsessed mess, only 3 Networks on TV and only "Rich" people had Cable, We knew Who our friends were and who wasn't, uh Russia, we still had a Manufacturing Base and a Middle Class, the top Tax Rate was like 80 percent, the National Debt was under 1 Trillion dollars, AM radio was where you heard your music, there was no "Fake News" and "Alternative Facts". 8 track tapes were the most popular media, CB radios in cars, ONE phone in the house that usually hung on the wall in the kitchen, yup, we really screwed this country up in the last 44 years!
I grew up with this in the house. It was my fathers pride and joy. He gave it to me when u was a teenager. The thing was a BEAST. I still remember what the tuner wheel felt like, the sound of the switches and buttons etc.
I bought one a few years ago and had it restored and recapped with modern replacements. The most amazing thing about this "monster" is how freakishly good it sounds at low volumes. It's only when you hear it playing at a normal volume and look at the power output meters that you realize it is not all about quantity of power but the quality of that power.
You are absolutely correct sir. Some of the most beautiful sound I have ever heard was at a level that was nice & clear but could have raised roofs & shattered glass if turned up a bit. Used to get feedback on the turntable. Dark side would feedback on On The Run everytime.
I've heard it said that to a true audiophile type that it how CLEAN the FIRST watt is, everything after that is just fluff. And with super efficient speakers you only need a FEW watts. Which is why the small Marantz (15wpc) receivers sound SO good.
I own a Marantz 2240, a Pioneer SX980 and a Sansui SA8100. I bought all of them when they were cheap...As in 40 bucks for the Marantz and 35 for the Sansui. I spent "big bucks" - $300 for the Pioneer. All have since been recapped and rebuilt to better than new. None of them are for sale. ;)
My neighbors all hate me.
My father had one of these things. Much later, when I got into high end audio sales, I found out what kind of machine this thing really was. If I could only travel back in time so I could save it before my dad tossed it out.
Blast from the past! I used to work for Pioneer and the SX-1980 was a monster! I still have my SX-750 and HPM60 speakers. Mine is plenty loud but the SX-1980 would easily be used in auditoriums. For a home? Crazy overkill. Unless you hated your neighbors, you’d never get that a quarter volume if that. Easily blew out many speakers. Whew.
And here I am sitting with 4000rms of QSC power in my living room right now...
My dad had the HPM-40's and SX-650, and we later found a used SX-780 at a garage sale...they were cool, but the modern stuff is just on another level.
@@SomeGuysGarage Unless you like rattling the rafters or blowing out your eardrums, I’m thinking you rarely get that volume knob up to 1/8…. Wow.
About 35 years ago you could pick this and other vintage stereo's up on flea markets for peanuts, because people were done with big and bulky stereo's with large metal switches
and wanted light weighted happy plastic with even cheaper happy plastic touch buttons, lcd displays and futuristic looks.
Yeah until they realized they aren't made like they used to be.
Right On and better days.
These late 70s and early 80s Japanese receivers were engineered to ROCK the walls back in their day. The top Sony models I heard back then had a definite “sound” that is missing, that the world is missing in modern stereo equipment. It was awesome.
Bought a 1976 Kenwood KR6030 reciever when I went into the Air Force.
Added Lancer SC-8 speakers and a Technics turntable.....was over a grand buying them....you could blow the windows out in my room.
My advise to everyone is to buy every piece of vintage audio equipment you can find. So if it looks old, it probably is. Tell the Thrift store clerk or yard sale person, "hey this may not work, would you take?"...
Every Sony item I've purchased in the past 10 years has turned to junk.
That sound is the throatyness. Like an older 5.0 Mustang Cobra exhaust vs a new Mustang. The transistor/tube distort effect.
@@paulhoskins7852 back in the 70's Sony wasn't considered true "HI FI" equipment. they were on the lower end.
I found one in a goodwill outlet store for $5 and though did not work I managed to sell it for about $600. Now I starting to regret not keeping it and had it professionally repaired and restored. All I can say this thing is massive!
Same here. sx1280. Goodwill 12.99. Took it home to test. Set it on the carpeted floor. Turned it on. (Didn't have a variac). Instant mushroom cloud from a leaky cap!! Thought I burned a hole in the carpet!! Thankfully not. Sold it on Ebay for 330.00 even though it needed repair about 15 years ago. So much fun searching out all the larger models for cheap and reselling them. Kinda wish I had kept them all. Such warmth and power.
A friend of mine literally found one of these (fully functional) on the side of the road one morning on his way to schoo in the late l990's. I was, and still am, so jealous. Mark, you are a lucky bastard.
Wow, I would have skipped school that day.
@@LennyFlorentine we were in electronics lab together. He brought it directly into to class to do a run-through.
@@DrewskisBrews Unbelievable
I agree that good vintage gear sounds better than a vast majority of new gear. My vintage is still in my main system and my new amp is in my bedroom. Vintage is king
A true classic! I was stationed with the USMC in Okinawa, Japan back when the 'mega receivers' were out: Sansui, Kenwood, Pioneer. Nakamichi tape decks, TASCAM 30ips reel-to-reels, Denon & other Japanese moving coil cartridges. Some great gear! Was introduced to Tannoy speakers and the beastly JBL 4350's out in town at coffee shops. Handmade tube amps, aramid fiber belt turntables. Great sound. Truly great times.
Amazing what we could get / order through the Navy Exchange not to mention the local economy.
Love vintage gear. I used to sell these working hifi retail. Guess I'm vintage too now. Don't fear the loudness control if used properly. It's used when listening at low volume levels to enhance bass and treble that the human ear misses at low levels.
Had one, my ex sold it. It had a number of problems and repairs over the years including switches that got noisy, and lights behind the indicators that burned out. In the 80s and 90s and 00s it was harder and harder to find people on the west coast who could or would repair this kind of gear. Those micro incandescent lights were hard to find. Was a beast and sounded GREAT. I miss it.
So use LEDs! They make them in lots of colors, including 'vintage piss yellow' so-called 'gold' LOL =)
I've owned lots of different gear in my journey of diminishing returns and stumbled apoun vintage gear, because I couldn't find anything to properly power my Magneplanners. I no longer own those speakers, but still own a vintage Sansui 9090. It's not just the power it can put out, it's the tube like warmth it has.
9090 is a fantastic receiver!
I remember Magneplanars ... used to work with an audio shop that sold them along with MacIntosh and Dual amps and tuners. The largest Magneplanar model had superb, smooth sound and deep bass ... the smaller models, not so much. All of them were tops at filling a room with a non-directional sound field.
Get a PA amp =) There's a big difference between 'home' & 'pro' LOL Lot of pro stuff sounds better than home stuff 2!
Pioneer really nailed the aesthetics, beautiful design, like you mentioned, during the day but especially at night. Illuminated for easy viewing.
I would like to add ergonomics. The radio dial could be moved from one end to the other with a simple spin. Smooth as glass! The knobs had center detents, which meant no visual was required to adjust.
The modern versions don't have the same classiness.
Very true Robert! Thanks!
Yamaha had some nice looking rigs back then too.
When my ship was in Japan in 1978, guys were buying monster receivers by the ton. I bought a Kenwood KA-7100 amp and a tuner and some speakers. The Kenwood only put out 60 watts per channel but it had the lowest distortion specs of any Kenwood amp, a frequency response of 0 to 100khz, and a signal to noise ratio of 115 db. Raw power isn't everything. That being said, I would kill for that Pioneer!
KA-7100 is a beast even at 60 watts!
Thats a BEAUTIFUL reciever !!!!
Awesome story.
Ah the good old days of being able to shop at a BX/PX. As a young adult getting my hands on the AAFES and NAVEX catalogs was the equivalent of having the Sears Christmas catalog as a child.
@@LennyFlorentine Yes it is. I have the whole rack (tuner, cassette also) Yup 60 watts RMS @ 0.02 THD. Shakes the whole house.
Phenomenal. My brother has an SX-780 that he was actually able to get refurbished years ago by a local electronics repair shop where the guy previously worked for Pioneer.
That's what I have bought in 1977 2024 getting it service can't wait to get it playing
OMG!!! Those were the days man. Stereo shops were everywhere, mags witch I couldn't wait 2 get in the mail, private listening rooms, the smell of new ELECTRONICS!!! Loved it. I had a Dual 721Q d drive turntable with pitch control, Ortophon cartridge. I got a Shure V15 type 4 loved the micro brush 2 dust lp's soooooo cool. Best speakers, 3 way with 12 inch woofs & bias knobs. JBL's or McIntosh. Nice seperation, solid bass!!!
Definitely a vintage guy here as well; better sound (to my ears), and infinitely better aesthetics than anything made today. Too many featureless black boxes intended to be hidden away, I like my gear to be furniture in itself; just as pleasant to look at as it is to listen to.
Also for anyone spooked by the loudness switch, definitely do NOT use it at normal volumes. It is intended for quiet nighttime listening, and boosts the bass and treble in a way that compensates for our ears' diminished sensitivity at low volume.
Exactly right on the loudness!
I'm so glad I got to enjoy this era. My dad was all into this stuff and bought the top of the line stuff in Singapore where it was sold for cheaper than you could find it in Japan. Keep the system for many years and then basically gave it away when the house was downsized. It was all 4 Channel - turn table, reel to real, equalizer, etc... The amp was a Pioneer QX9900. We had lots of parties back then
I have a 1978 Toshiba reciever. Kicks ass! I think that at some point, they reached a peak, as far as sound quality. After that, they just kept adding bells and whistles to try and stay relevant. I haven’t heard a stereo that sounds much better than my 44 year old one.
Many moons ago, I was shopping for a new (vintage) receiver. Had my heart set on a Sansui 9090 db. Went to see a gent I met on one of the stereo forums, he was a skilled tech who rebuilt many of these monsters. He said "Before you make up your mind, take a look at this", and showed me a 9090 db and a Pioneer SX-1250 that he was also restoring. Pointed out the differences in build quality, like the Pioneer`s discrete point-to-point wiring, massive wrap-around heat sinks, HUGE toroidal transformer, and four filter caps the size of beer cans. Needless to say, I wound up buying the SX-1250. Feeding signal to 2 pair of HP-100s, stacked & wired in parallel, the soundstage is huge, and will play at near-concert levels with no noticeable distortion. Currently spinning on the turntable: King Crimson "Live in Frejus, France 1982".
It`s not likely that we will ever see equipment of this caliber again, so if you have one, hang on to it. Rock On !
Very good story! Thanks so much for sharing and contributing!
There were a number of radio shack branded receivers that were made by both pioneer and Kenwood. I can't remember the models but there were a couple of realistic receivers that were pretty darn good in their day
Many were also custom made by Foster Electronics (and still pretty good stuff).
While this is an absolutely beautiful unit, I think it was overkill on power. Vintage Pioneer receivers are awesome though and I love them. I'm currently running a fully restored Pioneer SX-1050 and at 120WPC it is more power than I'll ever need. It powers a pair of Klipsch RF7III's and sounds amazing
I also have a SX-1050 and Klipsch RF7iii's as well. It's an awesome combo. I went from a multi speaker home theater system to just 2 simple speakers and man it sounds unbelievable. The Klipsch speakers are fantastic and the combo of the speaker and the old school Pioneer receiver turned out to be a great pick. Enjoy the vintage setup!
It depends on the size of your woofers and how much bass you want. This system will definitely not clip.
@@moreaufamily437 the pioneer from the 70´s make all speakers sound good ,not as today tone controls that one almost doesn´t notice the increase on the frequency , but i have a 74 system that i bought while working abroad that can power very powerfull speakers at least 200watts if good sensibility wise all can be powered with a minimum watts per chanell, this receiver i refer to it had 7+7watts r.m.s but todays measures even when r.m.s is the reference they seem to increase a lot the values per chanell, but klipsch is to me one of the best speaker brands along with older whafedale (now they joined kef+celestion in their group mass produced in china) ,regards
Having lots of extra power makes things sound more 'airy' & 'deep & vast' at any volume =) 350WPC or more is good, with very efficient speakers like 96db or more. It really helps the bass 2, even when not loud = much more slold & 'righd sledgehammer thunderous' vibe 2 it =D Don't use 'receivers' if U can get big power 'PA' amps instead. Avoid digital (Pulse Width Modulation / PWM style) amps if U can = tend 2 B more harsh & blurry sounding.
Overkill on power? No way. I have two Rotel RB-1090s and another two Rotels bridged together to power 6 large Canton Ergos. All together, it's ~1400 watts and if you want the bass to be clean. And yes, I have turned them up loud enough to enable channel protection. But an excess of clean, meaty warm bass that tells you, "this is what I needed to be hearing", that's what you get.
Wish I had those meters though. Love those so much.
I had one of these that I bought on ebay about 20 years ago. It was in very good condition and sounded great. Only thing is, in all of the years I owned it I never turned it above 50 wpc, and only then a couple of times. It was rattling the windows at that level. I sold it for $2500 in 2011. Try getting one for that now! I now have a re-capped SX-1080 that I love and it is much more realistic as far as usable volume. Still never gets much above 10wpc. It's rated at 120 wpc. They are beautiful pieces.
A lot of people love the 1080! Great receiver!
It's rated 270 wpc rms.
1970's while in college I worked for Sterling Electronics, a home audio / video / radio company that had 30 stores around Houston and southeast Texas and south Louisiana. We carried all the major brands of the time. Pioneer, Marantz, Yamaha, Technics, Sony, Kenwood, Sansui, Teac, Carver, Klipsh, etc etc. The best combination of receiver/speaker I found in our sound rooms was the Sony STR 6800 SD paired with the JBL L65 "Jubal" speakers. I still have both. But the receiver is in serious need of a new volume pot and I have not been able to find one for it. Hopefully someday I will. Of all we carried, Pioneer was our top seller across all levels of amplifiers and JBL was the top seller in speakers. JBL of that era was quite different from the JBL of today.
The clarity of JBL speakers was unmatched.
I bought a SX-980 in 1978. Had it in my garage until I searched it on Google and found out how much they are worth. I took it out of the garage and had it cleaned because some of the switches were cutting out. I now have it up at my cabin. We rock out to it all the time. Its not a SX-1980 but at 80 watts it can still shake the house!
Looks like a beast. It's the same vintage and even shares the same knobs as my old SX3700 receiver. A "wimp" at only 45W as I recall, after a 20 year hiatus I once again use it every day and it's never really needed a thing save for replacement light bulbs, which next time will get LED's. Still have the box it came in when I bought it new in '78. You also mention the HPM100's, a friend of mine had a pair and I loved them. Years later, around mid 90's I was in a stereo shop that handled Macintosh and other hi-end stuff, and used stuff too! Among the collection of used equipment don't I spot a pair of what appeared to be brand new HPM100's! I mean, they were used but looked new. I asked the guy how much and he said $59 for the pair!! After putting my eyes back in my head he showed me the used value chart and that's what it said, Pioneer HPM-100, $59/pair!! WTF. And that's what I gave him, no more questions asked. I've had to re-do the foam surround on the woofers twice now and should probably re-cap them, but they are my keepers! Fifty. Nine. Dollars.
I bought the SX-1980 when I was in the army overseas for $1050. The relays shut it down when driving my relatively efficient Bose 901 series V speakers when there would be significant dynamic peaks from my music on cd. Otherwise, It sounded wonderful. When I got back to the states, the fm tuner would no longer quartz lock onto fm stations, creating a popping sound. Two repair shops were unsuccessful in solving the issue. I then reluctantly sold it.
Glad to hear your story, thanks for sharing! Sorry you had to sell!
most of my military colleagues spent major money on HIFI gear - I still have a Techics amp from 1992 (used daily). Still sounds stunning. (SUV90D - the ebay price isn't far from the 1990s price!)
Yes, still have my Bose Series IV, no max power input!
I had a Sx-1980 back in the mid 90s that I bought used from a guy for $100, it was badass!!! However, I didn't know how valuable it was and pretty much gave it away before moving across the country. Here I sit tonight searching the web for a stereo for my garage and stumble upon this video. Thanks for bringing back memories of rocking the WHOLE house. Btw, I also have tinnitus in both ears. Lol.
Thanks for sharing thay fun story! I'm sure it ROCKED THE HOUSE!
I remember these huge receivers showing up in the Hi-Fi stores in the late 1970s. My thought was that this was super overkill. Anything with that much power should have been part of a separates system with a tuner and preamplifier. There was no furniture being made at the time to support these monsters.
I am still happy with my Marantz Model 3300 and Model 250 power amp and the Model 120 tuner. These items are all fifty years old and working fine.
I also love the Silver and Gold aluminum front panels of the era. The black components that are most often just cheap plastic are just unattractive.
Those were the days!
Yeah you are very right, those stereo music system has enlighten this world.
Great setup you have! I agree, this receiver is so heavy it's hard to even move.
@@LennyFlorentine
Thank you. This system also includes AR-3a speakers and a Revox A-77 Tape Deck, Advent 100A Dolby noise reduction component, Biamp octave equalizer, and Sony CDP-302 CD playback deck.
Some people dont want separates tho, takes up more room. I know im a receiver guy myself.
My dad still currently has this receiver. He's had it as long as I can remember. I used to play with all the switches as a kid. He had these cool 8" carbon fiber speakers too till my brother got a hold of the volume nob one night. Still has the receiver though.
my brother got out of school with a engineering degree in 1976, one of the first things he bought after a car was this receiver, he live 6 miles outside of town and his closest neighbor was 3 miles away almost, he had a party and put the speakers against the windows and cranked it, holy hell was it loud and even at insane volume it still sounded so good, he ended up leaving it and the rest of his stereo system in a closet in that same house when he moved out of it in the mid 90s, he just forgot it was there and didn't think he'd end up caring about it later, he regrets the hell out of it but I hope the people who bought the house and found it enjoyed it, when he was in college he had his cheaper stuff in his old bedroom which became my bedroom, I rocked the hell out of his records all through high school
I only ever had the lowly SX-650 & SX-880, but oh my god what a joy they were. The 880 was used with HPM-100's. The 650 was used with HPM-700's, which l still have.
What a monster! I grew up with the SX-780, an amazing receiver but this one would have been great to have.
Love the 780! The most popular of all time!
The SX-780 is great. A colleague gifted me one (plus a CT-F700) a couple of years ago. I put it up in our new home some weeks ago and I love it.
I've been working from home during the pandemic. I listen to my SX-780 all day, every day. Even at extremely low volume, it never fails to sound "musical." If that makes sense. It doesn't have to be loud to sound great.
@@whitneystrus7171 Nice! I think I need to see if I can find one again somewhere. I miss that system.
The loundness button will employ a Fletcher-Munson curve and is intended to be used at low listening levels to equalize the way the human ear perceives frequencies at different levels.
Better units will attenuate the mids vs. boosting lows and highs.
I am writing this because what you said about the loudness button and the high power seemed uninformed.
Awesome input! Thank you
W S; you are correct. I know the same rules apply to my Marantz 2245 & my Sansui. Not sure about my Marantz 1152DC as that has a loudness knob independent of the volume; probably the same as the others. Can't test it right now. But I have noticed that if I set the volume knob; at 9 o'clock and drive the signal hotter into the receiver the bass is boomier; than if I set the volume knob at say 12 o'clock. The reason is the loudness correction tappers off as you turn the volume knob up. Basically the loudness should tapper down logarithmically as the volume knob is turned from 0 to 11 (Spinal Tap reference) ;-)
@@EdLawless It's been since Spinal Pap came out that I had a loudness contour button (1984 Denon PMA 750). It had an MC phono stage and I am pretty sure I had a DM103 cart with it. Have the same cart today, but no loudness
@@WS-gs6sf You must be my brother from another mother. I have an Audio Technica cartridge ATN12SA that I have been using daily since 1983. On your cartridge are you running a shibata styli? I believe that was an option for yours. I have heard plenty of other carts but the one I listed above just sounds like home for me. ;-)
@@EdLawless Nah, the DL103 is stock and new this year. I'm using an iFi Phono 2 and getting great results.
I have never run Audio Technica, but the P/N you indicate looks pretty sweet. Dig the tapered cantilever. Cheers.
Thanks for the 0.3 microsecond look at the inside of the SX-1980!
Dang I left that clip in there?
@@LennyFlorentine Allegedly 😁
These actually didn't meet FTC rules for power output over time. But this was the king in the golden days of the stereo receiver. I had an SX-1280, the next step down from the 1980. The build quality was miles ahead of any normal home theater receiver you can buy today, even the higher end models. You have to get into really HIGH END audio equipment to get the kind of build quality that Pioneer and Sansui were putting into their equipment up into the mid-late 80s.
Man I love the look and build of these old units. I had a beautiful Realistic receiver back in the early 80's that was super nice like this. BUT, I'm totally spoiled. I'm an audio guy and my mains in my studio are Barefoot MM27's with 1250 watts a speaker! I never have an issue running them loud.. Love it!
Awesome! Thanks for sharing!
Those silly ones with the dual midrange drivers 4 lots of retarded comb filtering phase cancelation problems? LOL Certainly space 4 a larger driver = trying 2 make it fit the shape of a foot I guess.
"You're gonna have"? An iconic, utter beast of a receiver although personally I've never been a fan of receivers per se and much prefer either integrated amplifiers or pre/power combos.
That is a integrated amp.
@@brentbeiler7051 No it isn't. It's a receiver.
@@brentbeiler7051 if it has a am fm tuner, then it's considered a receiver
I’m over it
Great video on an incredible legendary amp
Regarding Loudness, it’s impossible to blow the speakers using it.
The reason is that Loudness is only available up to a certain volume level, once that volume level is reached, Loudness cuts out automatically
Loudness compensates for the ears inability to adequately hear bass and treble at lower volume levels as opposed to normal or higher volume levels
Cheers
Great info Disco! Thanks for watching and thanks for helping give clarity to the loudness!
Clipping and exceeding xmax blows speakers. Or overdrivung with poor ventilation on the coil (moreso sub woofers) no?
Depends on the speakers. It will cause very high mechanical movement with easily driven speakers. That 'cut out' might be too high for some stuff.
That's fuking retarded, like TVs with 'local dimming' makeing 'decisions' about how 2 fuk up what U told it 2 do. Just amp it & leave the sound how I want it, not 'defeated because U R being a bad boy playing 2 loud' = LOL!!
First time viewer folks. Man, you took me back to my youth! Those were the days my friend. I still have my Carver Magnetic Field Power Amplifier from the 80's. It probably has a burned out resistor or capacitor because I'm not getting any sound out of her. Hell even the meter on it doesn't register the output. I've been meaning to take her to Elliotts Electronics here in Tucson in the hopes they can pinpoint the problem on her. Don't know of any HiFi folks that are into repairing old vintage stuff like mine. I had a Pioneer like that one. Not the model but the ex-wife kept it along with all my vinyl. Don't even want to bring up the amount of albums that today I could retire on! Anywho, love your content man. Rock on!
I don't usually say this about electronic receivers. But that is absolutely beautiful. I think I used to have one.
Sure is! Thanks for sharing
I have the 1280, bought it for $40 at a yard sale a few years ago and sounds amazing! Hoping one day I'll find a 1980 at a reasonable price. No better phono preamp as in the SX models...
Wow what a steal!!
Nice for you. 670€ on ebay private
I have an SX-980…and I absolutely love it. I’d love to have a 1980, but it’s a bit cost prohibitive. Great receivers!!
Yes. I have the SX 980 which I bought in 1979 and still use it to this day. I paired it up with Bose 901 speakers and the sound quality is unmatched compared to any other receiver I've heard. They don't make em like they used to.
I have both...rebuilt.. 1980 over the top esp fm...ive had volume buried too...seriouslu clean all way up!
I love the look and build quality of vintage hi-fi gear. It always feels solid and just oozes quality. But i do think modern gear sounds better.
Great! Thanks for sharing!
well , you should have listened to 70's gear when new and you would think the reverse , i tried to modernise my system in the 90's and spent a lot of money , this to learn that it was impossible , like todays gear will never be seen when 50 years old , hi-fi had it maximum quality in the 70 's this not talking about digital but digital already had all made jusy a matter of reachin 60 years of evolution in 38 years , wich is done .I went digital in the 90's but early allthough practical but notbing that i owned in digital hi-fi works today or after almost 30 years but getting there and digital still uses analog devices or would 't be heard , simple its another format as all others i added to my colection of diferent sources of sound , but one thing , i really don't know what happened in 1980 when , all brands started to decrease its quality at all levels , ny cassettes recorded in 79 decks are perfect as recorded in the best decks released in the 90's , there was an improvement in late 80's and 90's to run from early 80's plastic thing and poorly built electronic components that several brands use them till today , i know young kids and one that plays in a fender precision bass told me that cassettes didn't had high frequencies the next time he went to my house i was listening to a cassette and he asked me what cd was i listening , when i let him in my home ofice i showed him a cassette playing , he couldn't believe that the sound he was hearing came from a cassette , he and his friends have a rock band and asked me to record a demo cd wich we called in the past a demo tape , this in my litle studio at home that is equiped mostly with early 70's equipment to produce a perfect modern sound in digital format , regards
i almost forget sorry for my bad english , not that good some words are badly written but thats because of my new slim keyboard feather touch
@@RUfromthe40s
My dad ran his Bose 901 Series 1 with that 1980 amp. I remember him blasting Queen's Another One Bites The Dust, I was then hooked on phonics! ..and that am/fm tuning knob would would sail from end to the other with a flick of the finger..it was just amazing.
10:44
In 1976, I purchased a sansui 9090DB receiver. It was a beast!!! It still works flawlessly! It is still a beast! I love it!
The sound quality is excellent. For stereo systems Pioneer is up there and yes, to answer your question, I prefer Vintage over the newer stuff. However I personally like the Marantz and Sansui with Pioneer at #3. Because you gentlemen repair these systems I would imagine that you’ve come to realize that the Pioneer receivers are not the easiest to repair.
People born after the 70s will never appreciate how great the Sansui receivers were.
@@TexTom1981 If the consensus is the Pioneer SX-1980 is fun, I'd recommend, anyone that's interested and has the $$$ to invest in a piece of vintage history, check out what I personally consider to be the Holy Grail from the 1970's the Sansui G-9000. The sound is amazing and although it doesn't have the same power output as the SX-1980 it sounds incredible. Another great receiver, which is subjective is the Marantz 2600, it puts out 300 watts per channel but it not just about the power, all three of the manufacturers are unique sounding.
Great video! I’ve got one of these myself. My dad bought it circa 1979 from an Army/Navy store. Paired with some Bose 901’s, and later 601’s, he rocked the house (and the neighbor’s) with it throughout my childhood years.
It eventually gave out and he replaced it with a newer system. About two years ago, he offered it to me and I couldn’t have been more happy. A vintage stereo shop in Williamsburg, VA (shoutout to Bob @ Action Electronics) got it up and running for me and I’ve been in audio heaven ever since. I currently have it paired with some Klipsch KG-5’s with plane to change it up when the right deal comes along.
I did get a Klipsch powered sub for Christmas this year….would anyone know the best method to incorporate this sub into my system? The sub only has a pre-amp input.
In regards to your Klipsch sub. Just contact Klipsch via email or phone. They will most certainly have the correct info on how to wire the sub. My Klipsch SW-10 actually gets its signal from the rear surround speakers which was recommended by Klipsch. I originally had them running off a sub out on my amp.
I've always liked Pioneer stereos. Both home and automotive stereos. I would go to my local Circuit City and check out the new stereo equipment, but now Circuit City is out of business. Now I shop at Amazon! 😊
Right on and Budweiser bottle caps would fit with absolute perfection over the left (pwr.) and right tuning knobs (pioneer car stereo, circa 1982).
OMG, my uncle had one of these.
No words can describe this work of art.
I remember seeing back in the 70's a ad for Marantz car stereo . " Under The Influence , Marantz Car Stereo . " A Cop pulling over a driver for speeding .
Vintage audio, while continuing to climb in price, still gives you more performance for the price than today’s gear does.
It sure does!
a 42 year old SX 1980 cost more in working serviced condition than a McIntosh c50 and MC452 power amp cost me, and I got them when they were under 10 years old and needed no service. in fact, those newer much better sounding separates cost 2K less than some of the recent SX 1980's sold for. No, it does not sound better than the pre amp and amp I have. before you drop nearly 10K one one of these things in working condition I'd advise you to listen to newer highend gear. I think because you pretty much have to go to audio shows to even see the stuff because the market is smaller for this stuff that it was in the 70's, but go out and see whats there, you might be shocked that what these sold for used in the early 90's can still buy you a much better sounding piece of gear. Sure, it won't be collectable and may fail in the eye candy department, but you could save yourself a lot of money. 5 of these things recently sold north of 3K thats way too much money for any 70s receiver no matter who made it. Hell, the Spec series is way better than this thing and you can get them for LESS. thats crazy.
@@kwd-kwd you can always find specific examples that go the other way.
Pioneer jest śliczny , miałem QX-9900 i SX-780 , wszystkie grały bardzo ładnie.
Pioneer!
Hey, love your passion and enthusiasm for this vintage gear! While the 1980 was certainly a heckuva pc., it really couldn't hold a candle to the Sansui G22000 or G33000. Back in 1978 I was actually able to directly compare the SX1980 to the Sansui G22000 with a pair of somewhat difficult to drive Magnaplaner MGIIa speakers. These were 'nominally' rated at 6 ohms, and the SX1980 just ran out of steam during heavy bass and loud passases, where the G22000 sailed right through - and just had a much better and more natural sound. And YES, if you were listening to a pair of these types of speakers (or similar low efficiency designs and were in a decent sized room) you DID need every watt available - ESPECIALLY if you wanted clean 'life like' sound reproduction. It wasn't so much about the total output rating, but rather the ability to deliver tons of peak or quick instantaneous transients. I'm not banging on the Pioneer here, as I owned several prior to the G22000. Keep up the good work! Cheers!
Thank you! Thanks for sharing your story and opinions as well!
THOSE SANSUI ARE ABSOLUTE BEASTS !!! ...😳😳😳🥰🥰🥰
The G22000 is outstanding but to me, it was built as a 2 piece....however I had the G9000 and pioneer 1250 and that pioneer blew the hell out of that G9000 with a pair of JBLs L150s...I give sansui the nod on that sweet sansui sound but that pioneer had a more of a warm and bass punch that held really well while the G9000 was softer in terms of thunderous bass
They 33000 and 22000 are not nearly as nice looking tho, thats the downfall. Id like to know what kind of drugs the person who decided to put the inputs on the sides of the unit were. Stupid design.
@@rockrollhi-figuy6824 The 2 sansuis were over built to get the cleanest possible sound so they were more integrated and the ports therefore had to be mounted on the sides of the units...both 33000 and 22000 are on a different playing field as they were both are a 2 piece design because of weight.... the pioneer for its price point cannot be beat by any other manufacturer in terms of what you got for your money ...the sansui Gs 22000,33 models were very expensive and designed as separates....minus that fact, the SX 1980 would be the best receiver for the money on the planet....period... they are most popular and there are more of them then most of the Gs 8000 and up
I had 5 lined JA-R2S Racks, and later bought the Dealer Rack System called "The Rack" ... I enjoyed a good many JA-R101's 102 Adapters, and that Rack sported a PL-630 table / amid their Executive Director Chairs AND a "Body-Sonic" Chair. I still have many lit signs, and I also had a pair of HPM-100's in the limited Plexiglas Version, and a PL-570 Mirror Display turntable Demonstrator. Back in this era, "there WAS a difference in Audio" ... and HPM 150's were OK (talking Speakers), but Altec 19's would thunder the heavens amid a clean CLEAR Tone that today; STILL is unmatched. (Back in these days, I ran 6 Model 19's and used the 150's as "Satellites". I used a 1980 Receiver as an AMP (bridged off on the back) and their problem was they just got to darn hot ! ... *one other full-rack lined with SPEC-2's and 4's did the rest. What a fun era all this was, and this clip was VERY, VERY Enjoyable ! . Thanks for doing this / and Thx. more for the memories !.
I had one. It was a monster when all of the scratchy old pots and selector switches wanted to cooperate. I sold it to a hifi restoration guy. I used to fix these old amps for people when i was in high school then life happened and work became more important. Still to this day my favorite receiver was a Realistic STA95 out of the 70s. I think it was 45+45w.
It was an era of overbuilding amplifiers/receivers. I have a 2 channel Onkyo amp from the 80's, 50lbs and 150W into 8ohm or 300W into 4ohm (which is what my speakers are). They have glorious watt meters on the front panel and to be honest, at 30W it's LOUD. Any higher than that and my neighbors better enjoy my music as well.
Which models you have? 8500's?
@@LennyFlorentine M 504. 😊
Had the 504, but was not impressed personally. It did bring a pretty penny when I flipped it though. Loved the meters however....
@@hegonefishing9122 What aspect didn't impress you?
.
As far as the 504 goes, I tried at least 5
Pre amps with it and it had power but it just seemed to be lacking in low/high reproduction i.m.o. I couldn't get any deep bass or crispy highs from it, but it is a sexy looking amp with the giant meters. I paid $150 for mine and sold it for $800! The guy was soooo happy to get it, and I was happy with the $650 profit.
Had an sx1980 that I was able to restore completely, very cool, had hpm-100 to go with it, got an emotiva xpa2 and a good dac with diy speakers. The new stuff doesnt look as cool but it sure sounds a lot better.
The SX-1980 was very powerful but not the most powerful. The Marantz 2600 and Technics SA-1000, of the same era, were both rated 330 w/c at 8 ohms.
He stated that the Technics was the most powerful
But ignored the Marantz 2600. I had the Marantz 2500. Along with JBL L300s that system would rock and roll.
Actually the Marantz 2600 was rated at 300 w/channel. The Technics SA-1000 was the king @ 330 w/channel.
sansui g33000 at 300 watts per ch
@@toneswinger Waiting on someone to come along and say 2A3 power amp. 3.5 watts / channel on a good day. Oh wait, I just did.
I started out with a Pioneer SX650, Had it for 42 years and finally died . Then I found a pioneer SX750. Right now that's in my barn hooked up to four speakers I also started out with 2 HPM40 Pioneer speakers Excellent setup.
Yes, my teens were through the late 60s through the 70s !
Sex, Drugs, and Rock N Roll
WHAT A RIDE
And still Rockn at 69 years young
I have a Sansui from this era and it is just mind-blowing. It weighs a million pounds. It's so powerful it is dangerous. And it just sounds better than anything made today. It's a more FULL sound. You can feel the bass in low piano note even at low volume.
i worked on some of those, still got a couple output transistors even. the early models had an issue with the power supply board but other than that it was what pioneer had to go up against sansui G33000
Sansui G22/33000 The grails for me.
A really nice overall review of the 1980, which is likely the most iconic monster receiver ever built. For those who are commenting on the Sansui G 22000 and 33000 not really being a receiver because of the separate chassis design, there is a way to bolt the amplifier directly behind the pre/tuner, hence giving it a true receiver look. I prefer to stack my 22000 with the amplifier underneath, and yes it runs very cool, so no worries about space for cooling.
Now onto the subject to the best ever receiver, that is something so subjective there cannot be a true consensus on it. Power-wise? Sure lots of watts, but there are others which are more stable into a 2-ohm load. Kenwoods and Sansui G-series have nicer overall tuners. Harman Kardons better phono sections. Marantz seems to capture the aesthetic sentiments.
I've been an audio enthusiast for 45+ years, owning 100+ units including a Spec 1, 2, and 4 stack in a Pioneer rack. It really is all about owning and enjoying what works for you personally. For vintage I prefer a Sansui, Harman Kardon, or even a Concept receiver to any Pioneer or Marantz, though they are very nice also. There's also McIntosh!
Well said and there is no way could you have written such a great post if you did not respect audio enthusiasts. Thank you! I grew up in a household of rock, disco, funk, and RnB in Inglewood, California during the 70's and often cranked the volume way past 10! At the center of our system was the Sansui G-9000 but like you said, it's about personal preferences.
Owning a McIntosh is like owning a Mercedes-Benz
How so Dale, have you owned either in your past? Please elaborate so we know what you are getting at.
Ron p, price wise the McIntosh compares to Mercedes
Nice, although I prefer the build quality of the 1250.
I also think the xx50's series sounded better, something just lost in the xx80's
I.m.o.
@@hegonefishing9122 Thin-sounding, IMO. Loud, but thin.
@@brunoprimas1483 the xx50's had better build and a richer full sound for sure, that 1250 is a treat and you sir are very lucky for sure. You will never push either to full potential in a normal "not drunk"
listening situation. So having the 1980
would be a, I have one bragging point.
But it won't sound as good as 1250 on it's best day.
Thanks bruno! Appreciate the feedback!
I had a Kenwood 8010 for years. Was a huge beast. Only...120 watts/channel, but I never wanted for power. With 2 turntables and Tape loops along with a mic input on the front, I actually used it for my small DJ business in college. Sadly, I sold it at a garage sale in the early 2000's. The power wars were fun and created some amazing equipment.
I like them both. Two different animals each deserving their own respect.
If you ALL want to cry 😢 l remember many units like this were either sold for £100-£150 quid or thrown away 😳
NOBODY wanted them or shiny chrome anymore they wanted black, just black! I just saw one of these,Dec ‘23, selling for £10,000.00! 😳
I would love to have one of these.
I had a smaller Pioneer with a cassette tape deck, equalizer, and reel to reel.
Back in the 1970s.
What a beautiful analog piece of equipment. Doesn't get any better.
Marantz and Sansui made some nice equipment but Pioneer back then was the best in my book.
Had one in high school. Wore it out. Definitely the holy grail...
Thank you for showing off the beautiful SX-1980. What Pioneer invested in this model and their entire receiver line will never be replicated so it is important to properly restore what is left out there. I remember visiting MusiCraft in the late 70s and early 80's seeing the SX-1980, reading Stereo Review and High Fidelity and experiencing the receiver wars at the time. What permanently changed my thoughts on electronics was the December 1980 issue of High Fidelity so in 1983 I purchased a used McIntosh MC-275 which I still have. I also enjoy beautiful sound from Binghamton (NY) with the McIntosh MAC4100 receiver. When coupled with my Klipsch RF7-II it sounds fantastic! A unique feature of the McIntosh MAC4100 receiver is their power guard circuit to prevent clipping distortion from destroying speakers at high volume. Like playing KRAFTWERK Tour de France at the maximum possible volume. Never forget that every time you restore one of the classics you are preserving them for the future.
I have a Kenwood KR-6400 Receiver. i love the old gear. The knobs, the meters, the switches. Thanks. Great Toys.
The loudness switch is designed only for low volume listening. It boosts lows and highs according to a Fletcher-Munson curve. It only works in low volume applications.
I had a Pioneer Stack System. Purchased in Japan in 1979. I loved it. Awesome system
What a beauty. So many people have a story of a great receiver find. Mine is an absolutely mint, and I mean perfect, Carver MXR-130 from as I understand it 1980. The one with the rack handles. I have other beauties from the 1970's that I love such as my Sony TA-F3A & Sony TA-2650. Another find was my Clairtone T7 as a component not part of a stereo console. I understand how one can be hooked on stereo beauties from the 1960's 70's & 80's. To everyone, enjoy your musical taste and recognize it as a precious gift.
Thank you for sharing Mary!
I bought my sx-780 and pioneer direct drive turntable pl-518, along with a ADC sound shaper equalizer back in high school (1980) and I still use it daily. Great receiver! Originally I had EPI speakers in walnut cabinets. My wife blew the speakers out. I kept the cabinets. Some day I will replace the components.
Phil if you ever have the opportunity connect your 780 to a pair a professional PA speakers that have a 15 in and a horn preferably the PV Internationals and be prepared to be completely blown away.
Myself have owned the Pioneer rack system and heard most of the receivers I have to say the 780 has a certain magic to it the others don't it sounds natural and let me tell you when you hook it up to a good set of PA speakers you will be amazed how amazing that amp is.
I use the 780 as the heart of my system and I have Crest 900 watt amps driving renkus heinz line array speakers and several others but the 780 drives the PV Internationals I have heard systems costing $50 to $100,000 and I would put mine up against them any day
I bought a Pioneer RX back in '74 while in the AF overseas. Could not afford anything like the SX-1980, but the one I had did a respectable 100W RMS output per channel. What was unique about it was that it was the forerunner to surround sound receivers of today. It was called a quad output receiver with a "front" and "back" speaker outputs with selectable "delay" feature between the front and back. The RX shared many of the switches and dials that were incorporated in the SX-1980. I had the RX connected to a pair of Sansui speakers with 5 speakers per cabinet. Each cabinet contained a 12" woofer, a mid-range horn, a tweeter and 2 top-firing full range horns. There was a switch in each speaker that allowed the user to turn on one, two or none of the top-firing speakers. I used an Akai 10" reel to reel recorder and a Dual turntable with a Shure magnetic pickup with this receiver. My daughter still has the receiver.
I remember these in my dorm at UW Madison in 1981…..I still have some of my BOSE 200…those little speakers are still fantastic
Those Panasonic receivers would bring the house down my grandmother had one and when you put the volume on 10 it would shake and vibrate the windows. Thanks for the trip down memory lane.
Hooooly crap this was a childhood throwback, my dad had this exact receiver when I was little! I loved the toggles and metal knobs so much hahaha
Old school receivers were so much more beautiful than they are today.
I worked for a Texas chain called Custom Hi-Fi back in the late 70's and we had a 72 hour blowout...open three straight days. We put some Cerwin-Vega's with 15" woofers outside the front door hooked up to one of these receivers. The CVs could handle the power and good lord were they loud. We didn't have residential homes too close to our shop, but we did get a few complaints deep into the morning on the last night. When it was all over, the SX-1980 was fine...never really ran untouchable hot and the CVs went right back on the floor. No harm. The Pioneer delivered heavy yet clean power. And yeah...it was cranked.
After joining the Air Force in 1973 the roommate that I was blessed with had just got back from Germany a few months before I got there. I think he had a large Pioneer, compatible Pioneer speakers, turntable, and reel to reel. Until then the best stereo I heard about was a Philco Console Stereo. I had never owned anything with serious power, 50 watts RMS max was the best I could do. My first was a 17 watt RMS per channel Sansui and a pair of Sansui SP1700. On the weekends some of us would open up the windows, put the speakers on a desk, facing and right up to the window and blast them. The Sp1700 held their own with clarity and volume or sound.
My uncle (dad's little brother) was an audiophile. The center of his HiFi world was his Kenwood KR-9400 receiver. He sold his car to buy it. It sat next to his Yamaha amp and the Akai turntable with these giant Cerwin Vega speakers. It was on the mandatory 2x12 board on top of cinder blocks. He also had reel to reel and cassette decks. Can't remember all the brands, but I always will the receiver. But, it was thru that system that I heard the just released Boston album. Brother, when you hear that vinyl on that system with those speakers...it was a religious experience
I developed a fault on my SX1980 around 1984/'85 (a dry joint somewhere...) so I left it with a local hi-fi repair shop here in South East London. The usual months of waiting for parts, be ready next Thursday stories became a permanently closed shop with hi-fi in the shop gathering dust, letters and calls unanswered and I never saw him or it again...
It was the muscle in a Thorens TD150 Mk. 2 and AR58 system pumping out 70s dub reggae to the 'hood!
Happy days!
"What does this button do..?"
"NO! Don't touch that one..."
Boom.