Vintage Pioneer

[Mechnutt]

An acquaintance at the dog park I take my dog to gave me a Pioneer SX-780 is good condition. It sounds fabulous. Much better than the old Marantz SR-4023 receiver I was using in my bedroom system. The Marantz is a bit more clear but I suspect with some deoxit and replacing any marginal caps will improve that. I love the typical 70's vintage Pioneer warm sound.

What really impresses me is how musical and dynamic it is and there is no fatigue at all. The air and transparency really impressed me as I was not expecting it. The sound stage also has very good depth. My son was astounding at how good it sounds. The sound kind of reminds me of the Marantz PM-KI Ruby integrated that I had for a couple of months this past summer. I could listen to this amp for hours. Obviously it is not the most accurate but it is so much fun to listen to. It does have that typical bass bloom from that era and I actually like it. My Luxman DAC gives me that in my reference system.

There are only 2 issues. The gain is crazy high. I can only turn the volume up to the 3rd hashmark and there is no remote although, I just may buy a WiiM Ultra streamer and use its digital volume control.

It really is a beautiful piece of kit. All the meters work. The knobs and switches are all heavy metal and are precision smooth to operate.

I am probably going to do a full refurb on it. Cap kits and other parts are readily available for it and you can buy a full wood chassis for about $160 if I do not decide to build one myself. The front panel is in near mint condition but the particle board chassis has some chips.

I forgot how good this vintage gear can sound.

 

[Mike]

Love my Pioneer!

 

[Michaels HiFi]

An acquaintance at the dog park I take my dog to gave me a Pioneer SX-780 is good condition. It sounds fabulous. Much better than the old Marantz SR-4023 receiver I was using in my bedroom system. The Marantz is a bit more clear but I suspect with some deoxit and replacing any marginal caps will improve that. I love the typical 70's vintage Pioneer warm sound.

What really impresses me is how musical and dynamic it is and there is no fatigue at all. The air and transparency really impressed me as I was not expecting it. The sound stage also has very good depth. My son was astounding at how good it sounds. The sound kind of reminds me of the Marantz PM-KI Ruby integrated that I had for a couple of months this past summer. I could listen to this amp for hours. Obviously it is not the most accurate but it is so much fun to listen to. It does have that typical bass bloom from that era and I actually like it. My Luxman DAC gives me that in my reference system.

There are only 2 issues. The gain is crazy high. I can only turn the volume up to the 3rd hashmark and there is no remote although, I just may buy a WiiM Ultra streamer and use its digital volume control.

It really is a beautiful piece of kit. All the meters work. The knobs and switches are all heavy metal and are precision smooth to operate.

I am probably going to do a full refurb on it. Cap kits and other parts are readily available for it and you can buy a full wood chassis for about $160 if I do not decide to build one myself. The front panel is in near mint condition but the particle board chassis has some chips.

I forgot how good this vintage gear can sound.

I can help with any cosmetic restoration questions you may have.

 

[Mechnutt]

I can help with any cosmetic restoration questions you may have.

Thanks. The question is, do I do a full veneer replacement, build another cover or buy one made out of real wood. I built a beautiful new plinth out of cocobolo wood for my Thorens TD-145 TT that came out great. 6 coats of hand rubbed shellac.

 

[Mechnutt]

I can help with any cosmetic restoration questions you may have.

Thanks. The question is, do I do a full veneer replacement, build another cover or buy one made out of real wood. I built a beautiful new plinth out of cocobolo wood for my Thorens TD-145 TT that came out great. 6 coats of hand rubbed shellac. That wood is a bitch to work with, it is so dense. It ruins saw blades.

 

[Michaels HiFi]

Thanks. The question is, do I do a full veneer replacement, build another cover or buy one made out of real wood. I built a beautiful new plinth out of cocobolo wood for my Thorens TD-145 TT that came out great. 6 coats of hand rubbed shellac. That wood is a bitch to work with, it is so dense. It ruins saw blades.

If you can buy a pre-built one that is UNFINISHED - that would be the best of all worlds.

There is also a trick I learned made famous by arguable the grandfather of the super-craftman in the 1960's about using oil and shellac in a certain order.

I've used it twice now and the results are amazing.

 

[Mechnutt]

If you can buy a pre-built one that is UNFINISHED - that would be the best of all worlds.

There is also a trick I learned made famous by arguable the grandfather of the super-craftman in the 1960's about using oil and shellac in a certain order.

I've used it twice now and the results are amazing.

I think that I may buy this-

Unassembled OEM Pioneer SX-780/880 Custom Case Without Metal Vent

OEM Custom Case made form Wal-nut plywood. This case is a replica of the original case. All you have to do is take out your old metal vent and glue it in place!!! Enhance the look and feel of your Pioneer SX-780 or 880 with our custom walnut case, carefully crafted by hand. Not only does it add...

atoaudio.com

 

[Michaels HiFi]

I think that I may buy this-

Unassembled OEM Pioneer SX-780/880 Custom Case Without Metal Vent

OEM Custom Case made form Wal-nut plywood. This case is a replica of the original case. All you have to do is take out your old metal vent and glue it in place!!! Enhance the look and feel of your Pioneer SX-780 or 880 with our custom walnut case, carefully crafted by hand. Not only does it add...

atoaudio.com

See if you can get it without any finish/stain on it. I'm assuming when they say "wal-nut" that is the same as walnut?

I can recommend a million different finishes for you to try - how they will look - and you'll have a lot of fun with it.

 

[Mechnutt]

I would like to get one in Rosewood or Tiger Ebony with a high gloss finish

 

[Mr Peabody]

That is a nice gift, those go for good money these days.

If you need knobs or other parts let me know, I have a friend who has a vast collection of that kind of stuff. He used to post here occasionally. LOL, last time he past through his van was loaded down with tubes and stuff he acquired while at his winter home.

I would not recommend using the Wiim or any other device with a digital volume. They aren't linear and sound quality degrades when volume is lowered.

 

[Mechnutt]

That is a nice gift, those go for good money these days.

If you need knobs or other parts let me know, I have a friend who has a vast collection of that kind of stuff. He used to post here occasionally. LOL, last time he past through his van was loaded down with tubes and stuff he acquired while at his winter home.

I would not recommend using the Wiim or any other device with a digital volume. They aren't linear and sound quality degrades when volume is lowered.

I am using a Topping E50 DAC and its digital volume is done by the DAC chip and it does not affect Bit rate or resolution. It is not supposed to affect the sound quality. I tried it and it works well.

Here is what AI has to say-

No, you do not lose audible bit depth or signal resolution when using the Topping E50 volume control under any normal listening conditions. While every digital volume adjustment theoretically alters binary data, the E50 avoids the penalties of older digital systems due to its high-precision internal architecture.

32-Bit Internal Architecture
The Topping E50 uses the ESS Sabre ES9068AS DAC chip, which processes volume changes using a high-headroom 32-bit architecture. [1, 2]

• When you stream standard 16-bit (CD quality) or 24-bit audio, the DAC elevates the file into its 32-bit pipeline before applying any volume attenuation.
• This leaves a massive "math cushion" of extra bits at the bottom of the data stream. Volume reduction math occurs inside this 32-bit window, safeguarding the core 16 or 24 bits of your music from being truncated or lost.

The true limitation of any high-end DAC is its hardware noise floor, not mathematical bit depth. []

• The Topping E50 features a measured dynamic range of roughly 124dB to 126dB.
• In terms of real-world resolution, 126dB equates to roughly 21 bits of actual analog performance.
• Because 16-bit audio only requires 96dB of dynamic range, you have nearly 30dB of headroom available. You can attenuate the volume significantly on the E50 before the noise floor begins to encroach on a 16-bit file's original data

It is actually recommended to use the Toppings volume control because the input sensitivity of the Pioneers AUX is very sensitive at 0.15 volts and the Topping outputs 2V. So you can burn out the Darlington STK power modules and there are no originals left and the aftermarket ones are questionable. Some work and others do not. It is recommended to turn the volume on the DAC down to -15dB or so.