Help with identifying Pioneer garage sale finds

Ron-P · October 2005

Found these this morning at a neighbors garage sale. Got the lot for $25, and it all works and is in good shape.

Any help with what I have here and how / what I can use to clean them up.

polkatese · October 2005

cool find, Ron! here is a site for you: http://www.classicaudio.com/value/pio/index.html

audiobliss · October 2005

Nice find. Maybe I should start frequenting garage sells.

shack · October 2005

Everything you want to know should be here....

http://silverpioneer.netfirms.com/

amulford · October 2005

Way cool. Vintage Pioneer was fairly nice for that time period. Makes for a nice rig...

Dennis Gardner · October 2005

The components alone are with the effort. Cleaned up they could make a great vintage garage, den, or patio setup. I use vintage Marantz for my throwback setup.

Now cut the ends off some brown extension cords for speaker wire, since that was all we had back then, and enjoy. :cool:

Ron-P · October 2005

Thanks for those links guys, very helpful.

Dennis, this will become the new garage rig. I plan to rebuilt the speakers.

The face plates are a bit dirty. Any recommendations on what I can use to clean and polish them up? Also, any place where I can purchase new bulbs?

Dennis Gardner · October 2005

I like dish soap solution to avoid taking any of the silkscreen lettering off. Just enough to break down oils and dirt without using alcohol that can harm some old paint. This works most of the time, unless the fronts have seen garage duty like on old integrated I'm working on that has flourescent paint overspray on it.

steveinaz · October 2005

Thats some great vintage Pioneer stuff Ron. That cassette deck (CTF-500) was the first cassette deck I ever owned.

As Dennis suggested, use dishwashing soap diluted in warm water with a cotton towel of some type. Then wipe dry with a chamois. On the covers you could either prime/repaint them, or just clean them up if the aren't scarred.

heiney9 · October 2005

steveinaz wrote:

Thats some great vintage Pioneer stuff Ron. That cassette deck (CTF-500) was the first cassette deck I ever owned.

As Dennis suggested, use dishwashing soap diluted in warm water with a cotton towel of some type. Then wipe dry with a chamois. On the covers you could either prime/repaint them, or just clean them up if the aren't scarred.

My very first cassette deck as well. Vintage Pioneer sure brings back the memories

.

H9

speakergeek · October 2005

Very nice find there!

I have a pioneer CT-W650R cassette deck that still is in mint condition. It is about twenty years old or so. It is close to being vintage.

speakergeek · October 2005

Found this site too: http://oaktree.cippsites.com/Stereo_Cassette_Tape_Decks.htm

They have some killer vintage stuff.

WJE · October 2005

Here's another good site with a forum section dedicated to vintage solid state gear:

AudioKarma.Org

There's still quite a great following on vintage Pioneer gear and Sansui gear. Looks like you found some great things at that garage sale. I guess I should be hitting garage sales for my audio stuff.

F1nut · October 2005

Ron,

I've had great success using Windex, never a problem with the lettering.

Here's a little Bluebook info on your finds,
PIONEER
CASS, CT-F 500
Description:
Manufacture Years: 1978 - 1980
Additional Information:
Retail
MSRP: $195.00
USED: $13.00

PIONEER
INT, SA-6700
Description:
Manufacture Years: 1980 - 1982
Additional Information:
Power: 40
Retail
MSRP: $320.00
USED: $49.00

PIONEER
TUNER, TX-6700
Description:
Manufacture Years: 1978 - 1980
Additional Information:
Retail
MSRP: $180.00
USED: $47.00

Nothing on the speakers.

speakergeek · November 2005

Check out the internals of this booger. Pioneer used to really make em' for power huh. Reminds me of the inside of the latest Denon flagship receiver. This one's the SX-1280. Wow, look at those caps and transformer.

http://ckopfell.com/SX12802.jpg

http://ckopfell.com/PionBro12807.jpg

steveinaz · November 2005

Hell yeah, receivers today are pussified. What was 35 watts in the 70's is like 150 watts today. My vintage SX-780 was 45 watts, and weighed about 4 times as much as a current "105 watt" Yammie I have in the garage....105 watts, yeah right.

HT=Demise of affordable, good audio

audiobliss · November 2005

steveinaz wrote:

HT=Demise of affordable, good audio

Indeed. I think that should be in a sig.

shack · November 2005

HT=Demise of affordable, good audio

Indeed. I think that should be in a sig.

Except it just isn't true, IMO. Affordable, good (2 channel) audio is still alive and well. from the likes of NAD, Cambridge Audio, Rotel, POLK, B&W, etc... (and yes even some of the mainsteam Japanese mfgs.) not to mention many of the "internet only" sources. I know what I paid for my Pioneer/Advent rig in the 70s and I know I can get as good if not better audio for the same amount of inflation adjusted dollars, if for no other reason than the improvements in technology and mfg. techniques. Is it as common palce as HT? No...because the public has moved to HT, digital portable audio and so forth...but it is still available. Turntables, CDPs, Amps, Pre-amps, speakers that provide good sound are available at very reasonable NEW prices if you just look.

I believe there are a couple of so-called famous "quotes" that might apply here...

"The King is dead....Long live the King!"

"The rumors of my death are greatly exagerated"

steveinaz · November 2005

Shackster, you make some good points...let me modify:

HT=Demise of affordable, good receivers

shack · November 2005

steveinaz wrote:

Shackster, you make some good points...let me modify:

HT=Demise of affordable, good receivers

You may be right about that....but this is certainly a step BACK in the good stereo receiver direction....we will just have to see how it goes....

http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?t=33655

Denon and HK make "decent" stereo receivers.

Rotel still makes a nice one...

http://www.rotel.com/products/specs/rx1052.htm

NAD has just come out with a new one...

http://www.nadelectronics.com/hifi_receivers/C720BEE_framset.htm

And I understand where you are coming from....There is not the proliferation of "good to great receivers" as in the past but for the most part...what is available is pretty good.

audiobliss · November 2005

Now I'll hafta change my sig, lol.

George Grand · November 2005

While the electronics are okay for a second, or garage system, I expect those speakers to sound like a bag of male cats. Your ears deserve better.

George Grand (of the Jersey Grands)

speakergeek · November 2005

I expect those speakers to sound like a bag of male cats. Your ears deserve better.

Now that paints an interesting picture!

shack · November 2005

George has never been fond of "vintage" Pioneer speakers....

heiney9 · November 2005

shack wrote:

George has never been fond of "vintage" Pioneer speakers....

Here's a definiton of Vintage

Characterized by excellence, maturity, and enduring appeal; classic

Something Pioneer speakers never were and never will be

H9

George Grand · November 2005

Pioneer, Sansui, JVC, Kenwood, Akai, Teac. Those guys couldn't make a decent pair of speakers if somebody was holding their kids hostage over it. I have always been amazed at how some of these manufacturers could stick a 12 or 15" woofer into a fairly well constructed box (acoustic suspension OR infinite baffle) and have a damn -3db point that is in the mid 50's. Boggles the mind. Were they SHOOTING for mediocre performance?

If the speakers have lattice grilles, it's a dead giveaway too. They suck. I've heard truly vintage stuff from AR, KLH, and Advent with 6" woofers that dig deeper than those Kabuki squawkboxes with 15"ers, and are much more pleasant in the mid and upper areas as well. Doesn't take golden ears to hear that **** either. Stephanie would use that **** for firewood at the drop of a hat rather than listen to them.

Leave me alone about this, I don't want to get even more pissed off than I am just THINKING about some of the arguments and stuff I've had with lovers of these brands. HEY, if you're reading this (yes YOU) THEY SUCK!!!!

George Grand (of the Jersey Grands)

ND13 · November 2005

Nice to have you back George

speakergeek · November 2005

George Grand wrote:

I've heard truly vintage stuff from AR, KLH, and Advent with 6" woofers that dig deeper than those Kabuki squawkboxes with 15"ers, and are much more pleasant in the mid and upper areas as well. Doesn't take golden ears to hear that **** either.

I agree 100%. I've heard the 15" Pioneers before, and I know my RT7s (7" woofers) dig deeper. All show and no go with those really big paper woofs.

B3Nut · November 2005

Those aren't Pioneer speakers...they're most likely Quadraflex, judging from the CBS parentage. Bet $$ that setup came from Pacific Stereo. Those drivers look interesting, a dome tweet and what look like rubber-surrounded woofs and passives...might be an at least listenable speaker after a good cleanup and maybe x-over recap. For what he's got in 'em, they'd be a worthwhile project to tinker with. That's part of the fun of this old stuff. I'd love to see a nudie of that amplifier, always wondered what that series of Pioneer integrateds looked like under the hood.

Clean those pieces up, check the amp for DC at the speaker terminals, and let 'er rip...go from there.

Todd in Beerbratistan

B3Nut · November 2005

Pioneer didn't really have much to offer speakerwise until about 1976 or 77 when they hired ex-JBL engineer Bart Locanthi. The HPM series was the result of his efforts, a series of what amounted to JBL clones (except the HPM-200, a somewhat rare and strange beast, said to be a rather sweet speaker, but I've never heard them.) The HPM-100 is considered the archetype of the line, being a variation on the theme of the L-100 Century. Thick cabinet, cast-frame drivers, and strange mylar-film supertweets. I have the HPM-100's, great rock speaker (and they do reach pretty deep, no kabuki squawk here) but they are an unashamedly west-coast speaker. Acoustic and vocal music shows their weaknesses in stock form, but I'll reserve ultimate judgment until I yank the crossovers and take the old bipolar 'lytics out and pop in some Solens.

They don't hold a candle to my Peerless-based DIY's WRT openness, coherence, and soundstaging, though.

Still, a fun speaker (and one I used to drool on as a kid in the old shops, so I get to relive those memories heheeh) Still, west-coast speakers are pretty much restricted to rock'n'roll in my basement tinkering lab.

Fun stuff, fer sure.

TP

Danny Tse · November 2005

steveinaz wrote:

Shackster, you make some good points...let me modify:

HT=Demise of affordable, good receivers

Yamaha just introduced a brand-new line of stereo receivers.

Help with identifying Pioneer garage sale finds

Comments