Pioneer SX-780 Receiver..Thoughts??

hochpt21

Local CL...

https://madison.craigslist.org/ele/5587087040.html

Said he'd do $120.

Thoughts? Good price?

I'd be using it with the SDA 2a's in a 10' x 10' room.

Thanks,
Paul

Nightfall

Not enough power for the SDA 2A's. 45 watts @ 8 ohm

heiney9

I would never put a receiver on SDA's. To be blunt the Pioneer's were always a bit overrated IMO.

H9

steveinaz

Well, FWIW I have an SX-780 driving a pair of Energy C-9 towers in my shop; 2400 sqft of shop (all open) and it plays suprisingly loud and clean in this huge area. To give you an idea, the speakers are 22 feet apart!

hochpt21

Thank you for the feedback so far.

The Pioneer does have a 4ohm setting, and I thought all those 70's receivers were under-spec'd?

I guess the reason I thought it might work, is the room is a small bedroom. Only 10' x 10'.

The 2A's work really well right now with a 120w HK 3490. I figured the vintage specs would be similar potentially. But I very well could be wrong.

Any other thoughts?

steveinaz

If you look all the way to the back you'll see a loft, on each corner of the loft, note the Energy towers:

footwedge

heiney9 wrote: »

I would never put a receiver on SDA's. To be blunt the Pioneer's were always a bit overrated IMO.

H9

Overrated how? I have a SX 880 connected to some RT 55's in my garage and it sounds good. Also have a SX 1080 needing a new power cord. Found this one during a bridge inspection 15 years ago. For some reason the plug was cutoff and someone soldered it back on leaving the wire exposed.

steveinaz

hochpt21 wrote: »

I guess the reason I thought it might work, is the room is a small bedroom. Only 10' x 10'.

The 2A's work really well right now with a 120w HK 3490. I figured the vintage specs would be similar potentially. But I very well could be wrong.

Any other thoughts?

Did you miss the part where I said my SX-780 is in a 2400sqft shop?

oldrocker

120.00 is not that bad as the bay is all over the place on that one.

Might be a bit limp power wise on your 2's but that depends on your ears.

I run a 950 on my 2's which I'm quite happy with.

Then again I am partial to the vintage stuff..

oldrocker

Hi Fi engine has 11 reviews that might help you decide.

hochpt21

steveinaz wrote: »

hochpt21 wrote: »

I guess the reason I thought it might work, is the room is a small bedroom. Only 10' x 10'.

The 2A's work really well right now with a 120w HK 3490. I figured the vintage specs would be similar potentially. But I very well could be wrong.

Any other thoughts?

Did you miss the part where I said my SX-780 is in a 2400sqft shop?

LOL...I was mostly referring to @Nightfall and @heiney9 . I was not trying to argue or discount their points, but was trying to converse with them on the effectiveness with the SDA.

That is a freaking sweet shop by the way

hochpt21

oldrocker wrote: »

120.00 is not that bad as the bay is all over the place on that one.

Might be a bit limp power wise on your 2's but that depends on your ears.

I run a 950 on my 2's which I'm quite happy with.

Then again I am partial to the vintage stuff..

Thank you sir.

oldrocker

Yeah that shop is WAY to clean...Nicely done Mr. Steve..

steveinaz

I don't know what the efficiency is on the SDA's, My towers are 91-92dB@1watt.

heiney9

I am not a vintage receiver guy. So you will never see me recommend one. I have had a multitude of 70's and 80's receivers (back in the day) and today I'm not that impressed with them. I had an SX-780, meh.

But I am but just 1 opinion. I guess it depends on what kind of results your expecting and what you are using the rig for.

We all differing expectations of different rigs. I always assume from my POV, and I don't compromise too much, nor do I have a garage or work space rig.

H9

heiney9

If it were me, I'd go for this. But, it depends on what you want out of the rig. If it's in a shop or work out area just pumping out tunes w/no critical listening...........the Pioneer might be just fine.

http://forum.polkaudio.com/discussion/172894/nice-nad-317-integrated-with-remote-manual-and-original-box#latest

H9

pongshi

The receiver price is good for a clean (inside and out) SX-780. I had an SX-750 that I sold in my bedroom driving a pair of Monitor 10A speakers and it was adequate, but Polks in general like lots of clean power....but really that is true for most speakers.

hochpt21

heiney9 wrote: »

I am not a vintage receiver guy. So you will never see me recommend one. I have had a multitude of 70's and 80's receivers (back in the day) and today I'm not that impressed with them. I had an SX-780, meh.

But I am but just 1 opinion. I guess it depends on what kind of results your expecting and what you are using the rig for.

We all differing expectations of different rigs. I always assume from my POV, and I don't compromise too much, nor do I have a garage or work space rig.

H9

I appreciate the insight.

TBH, I have a rig in there that I am happy with. The Dared feeding the power amp section of the HK 3490 and it sounds really good.

But my initial goal with the system was to make it all 'vintage'. My initial idea was to have a sweet silver-face receiver with the lights. The price on a lot of that gear seems to have gotten out of my range. I'm not even actively looking right now, because like I said...my it sounds really good right now. But this for $120 popped up 10 min from me and didn't know if it would be a good match.

steveinaz

I hear ya, I love the vintage silver series stuff, very cool. I originally got my 780 for my 70's mancave--as that was the first piece of decent gear I bought in 1977. I had some Pioneer HPM-40 speakers as well, which I gave to a buddy of mine.

Nightfall

hochpt21 wrote: »

LOL...I was mostly referring to @Nightfall and @heiney9 . I was not trying to argue or discount their points, but was trying to converse with them on the effectiveness with the SDA.

It would work, absolutely. I had my 4 ohm RTA-12's hooked up to a weak Yamaha AVR for a while that was also powering two other pairs of 4 ohm speakers. It made sound, yes, but fell on it's face if you tried to turn it up and rock out a little.

hochpt21

Nightfall wrote: »

hochpt21 wrote: »

LOL...I was mostly referring to @Nightfall and @heiney9 . I was not trying to argue or discount their points, but was trying to converse with them on the effectiveness with the SDA.

It would work, absolutely. I had my 4 ohm RTA-12's hooked up to a weak Yamaha AVR for a while that was also powering two other pairs of 4 ohm speakers. It made sound, yes, but fell on it's face if you tried to turn it up and rock out a little.

Good info, thanks.

I remember looking at some refurb Marantz 2270 sometime last year and they were selling in the $500 range. I thought that was expensive. Right now on eBay the going rate for one is about $800-$1,000. Yikes.

boston1450

heiney9 wrote: »

If it were me, I'd go for this. But, it depends on what you want out of the rig. If it's in a shop or work out area just pumping out tunes w/no critical listening...........the Pioneer might be just fine.

http://forum.polkaudio.com/discussion/172894/nice-nad-317-integrated-with-remote-manual-and-original-box#latest

H9

Especially with 2a's . NAD or even a small Adcom

footwedge

steveinaz wrote: »

I hear ya, I love the vintage silver series stuff, very cool. I originally got my 780 for my 70's mancave--as that was the first piece of decent gear I bought in 1977. I had some Pioneer HPM-40 speakers as well, which I gave to a buddy of mine.

Bought mine in '79 and also, my first piece of gear. Still have the original box and packing.

Nightfall

My piece of equipment ever was a SX-650.

F1nut

I've not heard the SX-780, but in general those 70's Pioneer receivers are pretty darn good. Power was rated differently then and they have more than appears, plus they are rated to drive 4 ohm loads without limiting current unlike most AVR's today. I say buy it.

That's not to mention Steve has one and likes it, so it must be nice.

One thing though, if it hasn't been re-capped you should plan on that cost.

dromunds

Steve, I want that John Deere! Lol