Pioneer SA-500/TX-500 Project

What do you do with some old gear you forgot you had? Restore and upgrade it, of course.

Neither the SA-500 or TX-500 had been used in a very long time and after powering up I could hear they were in need of work. Checking a few caps I found them way out of tolerance, so I replaced all the caps in both using a selection of Elna Silmic and Cerafine. One of the emitter resistors in the SA-500 was cracking, so all 4 were replaced. Some of the semi-conductors needed replacing in both as well. Of course, most of the pots were dirty, so they all got a good cleaning. Things were sounding better now. Intrigued, I decided to make a few upgrades, which I'll just list.

* Replaced the very odd stock binding posts with new 5 ways using black FR4 as a mounting plate.
* Replaced the stock power cords with shielded 16 gauge as there was no room to mount an IEC on either piece.
* Applied Dynamat Extreme to the top and bottom covers.
* Removed the SA-500 speaker On/Off switch from the circuit, making a direct connection from the amp board to the outputs with upgraded wire.
* Upgraded the wire between the pre amp board and the amp board.
* Removed the connections to the switched/unswitched outlets.
* Replaced all the RCA jacks with gold plated copper versions and spaced them further apart to allow the use of modern day interconnects. Again, I used black FR4 as the mounting plates.
* Replaced the SA-500 power light with a diffused blue LED.
* Replaced the TX-500 dial lights with diffused white LED's and the FM Stereo light with a diffused blue LED. Since the tuning meter is an off white plastic, clear blue LED's were used to back light it resulting in a diffused appearance, which matches well with the other blue diffused LED's.

I'm still toying with the idea of replacing the volume control with a motorized version allowing remote control, but since these have ended up in a guest bedroom, we'll see about that.

I have to say for a little 10wpc integrated amp it sounds a lot better than I ever thought it could, has a kind of tube amp sound....nice! The tuner isn't bad either

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Pic 1 - the original RCA's and power cord, I already upgraded the binding posts.

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Pic 2 - view of the upgraded RCA's and power cords.

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Pic 3 - close up of the new RCA's and mounting board.

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Pic 4 - the original lights.

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Pic 5 - with the new lights....ah, much better.
Political Correctness'.........defined

"A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."


President of Club Polk

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Comments

  • headrott
    headrott Posts: 5,484
    Wow Jesse those look wayyyyyyy better than I even imagined them after you described them on the phone. Excellent job sir. Enjoy.

    Love the Sony 707ES player as well........ B)
    Relayer-Big-O-Poster.jpg
    Taken from a recent Audioholics reply regarding "Club Polk" and Polk speakers:
    "I'm yet to hear a Polk speaker that merits more than a sentence and 60 seconds discussion." :\
    My response is: If you need 60 seconds to respond in one sentence, you probably should't be evaluating Polk speakers.....


    "Green leaves reveal the heart spoken Khatru"- Jon Anderson

    "Have A Little Faith! And Everything You'll Face, Will Jump From Out Right On Into Place! Yeah! Take A Little Time! And Everything You'll Find, Will Move From Gloom Right On Into Shine!"- Arthur Lee
  • westmassguy
    westmassguy Posts: 6,850
    Very nice Jesse. Gotta love Elna Silmic IIs, very smooth and musical. Nice work on the LEDs too.
    Home Theater/2 Channel:
    Front: SDA-2ATL forum.polkaudio.com/discussion/143984/my-2as-finally-finished-almost/p1
    Center: Custom Built forum.polkaudio.com/discussion/150760/my-center-channel-project/p1
    Surrounds & Rears: Custom Built forum.polkaudio.com/discussion/151647/my-surround-project/p1
    Sonicaps, Mills, RDO-194s-198s, Dynamat, Hurricane Nuts, Blackhole5
    Pioneer Elite VSX-72TXV, Carver PM-600, SVS PB2-Plus Subwoofer

    dhsspeakerservice.com/
  • voltz
    voltz Posts: 5,384
    Kudos! You just put some much life back into those.
    2 ch- Polk CRS+ * Vincent SA-31MK Preamp * Vincent Sp-331 Amp * Marantz SA8005 SACD * Project Xperience Classic TT * Sumiko Blue Point #2 MC cartridge

    HT - Polk 703's * NAD T-758 * Adcom 5503 * Oppo 103 * Samsung 60" series 8 LCD
  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 49,708
    Thanks guys, it was a fun project and I learned a lot about semi-conductors and LED's.
    Political Correctness'.........defined

    "A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."


    President of Club Polk

  • tonyb
    tonyb Posts: 32,902
    Looks good Jess, as usual you don't do anything half-assed. Now all you need is a "guest" for the bedroom.
    HT SYSTEM-
    Sony 850c 4k
    Pioneer elite vhx 21
    Sony 4k BRP
    SVS SB-2000
    Polk Sig. 20's
    Polk FX500 surrounds

    Cables-
    Acoustic zen Satori speaker cables
    Acoustic zen Matrix 2 IC's
    Wireworld eclipse 7 ic's
    Audio metallurgy ga-o digital cable

    Kitchen

    Sonos zp90
    Grant Fidelity tube dac
    B&k 1420
    lsi 9's
  • Those look sweet, nicely done! I refurbed an old Pioneer SX-650 for a Christmas present a few years ago and almost kept it for myself. Most of that older silver faced pioneer gear has a nice warm sound to it.
  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 49,708
    Ever since I completed the mods done in 2014 I've been toying with the idea of having remote controlled volume capability. The main issue with this idea is the volume pot doubles as the balance control and even though I doubt I'd ever use that feature I wanted to keep it like that. So, that meant I wouldn't be able to use a drop in motorized pot. The solution I came up with involved drilling out and tapping the back of the shaft in the original pot to take a threaded stud, which in turn was threaded into an aluminum extension shaft connected by a flexible connector to the motorized pot mounted at the rear of the chassis. Needless to say, drilling these holes dead center was tricky and critical. I had to relocate the phono board in order for this whole idea to work, but it wasn't a big deal. The steel "L" bracket for supporting the motorized pot, which came in a kit along with the extension shaft was a joke as it was way too thin and would flex and bend. I ordered a better, thicker aluminum "L" bracket, but it was too tall, so I had one custom made. However, I asked that it be made even thicker, which turned out to be a mistake as it was too thick. I then reworked the aluminum one, which came out rather well if I do say so myself.

    Since I was only using the motor, the only connection I needed was power. My plan called for tapping off the 30VDC B+ using a DC-DC converter to step it down to 9VDC, but as space was at a premium I ordered a pair compact ones off eBay from a seller in China. I got a second one as a back up not having much confidence in the quality coming out of China. Unfortunately, both did not work properly. Having no other real choice I got an external dedicated 9VDC power supply, which was probably the best idea anyway as it is totally out of the signal path. As I now had holes drilled in the black FR4 board and chassis for the mounting of the converter I needed to cover them up. I bought a vintage Pioneer speaker badge, mounted it on two bevel edged tiers and attached it where the holes were.

    The Alps motorized pot was purchased from Bent Audio and comes complete with the IR receiver and remote. It's a top notch product used by many high end OEM and the customer support is excellent. I decided to mount the eye in the front panel where the "Speakers On/Off" switch was located as I had previously disconnected it anyway.

    Even though I replaced the original captive power cords on the integrated and tuner with better ones back in 2014 I decided to replace them with Furutech IEC's in order to use aftermarket cords of my choice. Along with the IEC's I also upgraded the binding posts again, changed the filter cap again to a Mundorf and replaced the stock plastic feet with solid aluminum ones. I even polished the copper banding on the transformer. I mean, why not.

    Of course, there are numerous smaller details, which I won't bore you with. Suffice to say, it was a rather involved project, but the end result was well worth the effort as I now have what some said couldn't be done, remote controlled volume.

    I would be remiss if I didn't mention the folks that helped me in one way or another on this project.

    My father
    John Chapman/Bent Audio
    Scott/MillerLiteScott
    Larry/Toolfan66
    Ken Swauger
    Ray/Darqueknight

    Thank you one and all.
    Political Correctness'.........defined

    "A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."


    President of Club Polk

  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 49,708
    edited May 2016
    Some pics. This is what the stock version looks like inside.

    n6piia5sz53r.jpg

    This is what mine looks like now.

    33iu7boccl1o.jpg

    8v4nxjn4kc1r.jpg






    Political Correctness'.........defined

    "A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."


    President of Club Polk

  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 49,708
    More....

    w5k7fuv0jjfq.jpg

    w970yp66uqq5.jpg

    ybqgbwm7rrx7.jpg

    wqtl4tzh6a7b.jpg

    548gd5hz087r.jpg




    Political Correctness'.........defined

    "A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."


    President of Club Polk

  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 49,708
    edited May 2016
    What the rear of the stock versions look like.

    m111c4ljl345.jpg

    What mine look like now.

    xfcogcyad6dj.jpg

    yidavjttnbjt.jpg

    Ready to rock....

    iaoghmn5yt6w.jpg




    Political Correctness'.........defined

    "A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."


    President of Club Polk

  • txcoastal1
    txcoastal1 Posts: 13,124
    I feel honored to be the first to say "That looks Kicka$$"

    A ton of work and rattling nerves
    2-channel: Modwright KWI-200 Integrated, Dynaudio C1-II Signatures
    Desktop rig: LSi7, Polk 110sub, Dayens Ampino amp, W4S DAC/pre, Sonos, JRiver
    Gear on standby: Melody 101 tube pre, Unison Research Simply Italy Integrated
    Gone to new homes: (Matt Polk's)Threshold Stasis SA12e monoblocks, Pass XA30.5 amp, Usher MD2 speakers, Dynaudio C4 platinum speakers, Modwright LS100 (voltz), Simaudio 780D DAC

    erat interfectorem cesar et **** dictatorem dicere a
  • Nightfall
    Nightfall Posts: 10,042
    edited May 2016
    Wow. Very nice work Jesse.
    afterburnt wrote: »
    They didn't speak a word of English, they were from South Carolina.

    Village Idiot of Club Polk
  • westmassguy
    westmassguy Posts: 6,850
    Sweet :)
    Home Theater/2 Channel:
    Front: SDA-2ATL forum.polkaudio.com/discussion/143984/my-2as-finally-finished-almost/p1
    Center: Custom Built forum.polkaudio.com/discussion/150760/my-center-channel-project/p1
    Surrounds & Rears: Custom Built forum.polkaudio.com/discussion/151647/my-surround-project/p1
    Sonicaps, Mills, RDO-194s-198s, Dynamat, Hurricane Nuts, Blackhole5
    Pioneer Elite VSX-72TXV, Carver PM-600, SVS PB2-Plus Subwoofer

    dhsspeakerservice.com/
  • oldrocker
    oldrocker Posts: 2,590
    That is impressive.

    How I wish I had those skills to do the same thing on some of my vintage stuff.

  • EndersShadow
    EndersShadow Posts: 17,517
    edited May 2016
    So @F1nut

    All thats left is redo ALL the internal wiring, well just because at this point lol...

    May as well hot rod it till all thats "original" is the boards, display and chassis lol...

    So get to it :wink:

    Its a work of art, just like your RTi modded crossovers on those standoff boards you built.

    I wish I had the time lol...
    "....not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted." William Bruce Cameron, Informal Sociology: A Casual Introduction to Sociological Thinking (1963)
  • pitdogg2
    pitdogg2 Posts: 24,477
    interested in the Black FX4 I need a small piece. Where do you buy it? the guy that put new RCA's in my Pioneer PD9 SACD player at the moment I just have them tightened to the back panel but they need more. 1.5" x 2" I think would be enough but I'd have to check to be certain

    any pointers Jesse.

  • MrBuhl
    MrBuhl Posts: 2,419
    I wish I had the stones to do that kind of work - very nice indeed sir!
    VA HT HK AVR20II, Sony S9000ES CD/DVD/SACD, Polk Audio RC80i / Polk Audio CSi3, 60" Panasonic Plasma, Nordost / Signal Cable A2 / Wireworld / Pangea / Magic Power
    VA 2 Channel Focal Electra 926 speakers, Pass Labs X150.5 Amp, Eastern Electric MiniMax Preamp (Tutay mods), Eastern Electric Minimax CDP (Scott Nixon mods), Music Hall mmf 5.1 Turntable, Parks Audio Budgie Phono Pre , Audioengine B1 streamer, MIT S3 IC's / MIT Shotgun S3 Speaker Cables / PS Audio power cables
    Noggin Schiit Valhalla, Pangea, Phillips Fidelio X1, Polk UF8000

    Polk SDA1c modded
    Polk CRS+ 4.1TL modded (need veneer)
    Polk SDA2BTL (fully modded)
    A/L 1000VA Dreadnought Canare 4s11 SDA cable
    SACD Marantz DV8300
    Sony S9000ES CD/DVD/SACD
    Yamaha YP-D6
    Soundcraftsmen PCR800
    Audible Illusions L1 Preamp
    Vincent MFA based Cocci Tube Preamp
    Pho-700 Phono Pre
    Signal Cable Silver Resolution IC's






  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 49,708
    Thanks guys!

    Ivan, I'll send you a PM.
    Political Correctness'.........defined

    "A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."


    President of Club Polk

  • Incredible work Jesse. I want to take my CA-1000 to that level at some point. You sure set the bar high brother.
  • codycatalist
    codycatalist Posts: 2,662
    Looks jaw dropping!
    Just a dude doing dude-ly things

    "Temptation is the manifestation of desire which equals necessity." - Mikey081057
    " I have always had a champange taste with a beer budget" - Rick88
    "Just because the thread is getting views don't mean much .. I like a good train wreck doesn't mean i want to be in one..." - pitdogg2
    "Those that don't know, don't know that they don't know." - heiney9
    "Audiophiles are the male equivalent of cat ladies." - Audiokarma Member
  • Nightfall
    Nightfall Posts: 10,042
    Incredible work Jesse. I want to take my CA-1000 to that level at some point. You sure set the bar high brother.

    Yamaha?
    afterburnt wrote: »
    They didn't speak a word of English, they were from South Carolina.

    Village Idiot of Club Polk
  • msg
    msg Posts: 9,308
    Jesse, wow. Complete agreement with the reactions above - *truly* beautiful work here. Enviable in an inspiring way. Very impressed.
    I disabled signatures.
  • Nightfall wrote: »
    Incredible work Jesse. I want to take my CA-1000 to that level at some point. You sure set the bar high brother.

    Yamaha?

    Yes it is.
  • hochpt21
    hochpt21 Posts: 5,423
    I love the blue lights. Very impressive. They just look so classic, but better.
    2 ChannelTurntable - VPI Classic 2/Ortofon 2M BlueAmplification - Rogue Audio Cronus Magnum II, Parks Audio Budgie PhonoSpeakers - GoldenEar Triton 17.2 Home TheaterDenon AVR-X3300W; Rotel RMB-1066; Klipsch RP-280F's, Klipsch RP-450C, Polk FXi3's, Polk RC60i; Dual SVS PB 2000's; BenQ HT2050; Elite Screens 120"Man CaveTurntable - Pro-Ject 2.9 Wood/Grado GoldAmplification - Dared SL2000a, McCormack DNA 0.5 DeluxeCD: Cambridge AudioSpeakers - Wharfedale Linton 85th Anniversary; LSiM 703; SDA 2A
  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 49,708
    So @F1nut

    All thats left is redo ALL the internal wiring, well just because at this point lol..

    Not going to happen. I did what I considered critical, the rest would be a PITA.

    Political Correctness'.........defined

    "A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."


    President of Club Polk

  • Toolfan66
    Toolfan66 Posts: 16,834
    Looks great, now I see what you needed that little bracket for...
  • HzTweaker
    HzTweaker Posts: 723
    Fantastic work!
    2ch rig:Speakers: LSi9s with VR3's Fortress modsPreamplifier: Parasound P5Amplifier: Parasound A23CDP: Pioneer DV-563ACables: Wireworld Equinox 7 XLR ICs, Wireworld Ultraviolet 7 USB, AudioQuest Q2s, AudioQuest NRG X(preamp)
  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 49,708
    Thanks again guys. I do so enjoy pushing the buttons. B)
    Political Correctness'.........defined

    "A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."


    President of Club Polk

  • steveinaz
    steveinaz Posts: 19,521
    edited May 2016
    Too cool Jess; Love the ol silver series Pioneer stuff. My 1977'ish SX-780 is still rocking my shop. She's MINT BTW.
    Source: Bluesound Node 2i - Preamp/DAC: Benchmark DAC2 DX - Amp: Parasound Halo A21 - Speakers: MartinLogan Motion 60XTi - Shop Rig: Yamaha A-S501 Integrated - Shop Spkrs: Elac Debut 2.0 B5.2
  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 49,708
    edited May 2016
    Thanks Skip, <3 u 2 :D
    Political Correctness'.........defined

    "A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."


    President of Club Polk