New record maybe?

snow

I am not 100% sure but this Pioneer SX-1980 may have set a new record for a used one. The funny thing is that if you read the questions and answers he doesnt actually say it even works, and then contradicts himself by first saying that he has been selling vintage audio gear for 8 years and always dreamed of finding one, then on the last question says he didnt know these were so collectible.

I also wonder how the metal cover got bent in back?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&item=290320864888



REGARDS SNOW

sucks2beme

snow wrote: »

I am not 100% sure but this Pioneer SX-1980 may have set a new record for a used one. The funny thing is that if you read the questions and answers he doesnt actually say it even works, and then contradicts himself by first saying that he has been selling vintage audio gear for 8 years and always dreamed of finding one, then on the last question says he didnt know these were so collectible.

I also wonder how the metal cover got bent in back?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&item=290320864888



REGARDS SNOW

And they could buy one heck of a good modern high power combo for the same money. But to each their own. My short dip back into vintage
Marantz didn't last long. I'd run the other way. Find one at a garage sale
for $20, wonderful. Buy one on EBAY for over $2300, insanity.
I'd at least have to be able to see it before shelling out that kind of cash.

shack

MSRP for the SX-1980 was $1,295 in 1978. I would love to own one...BUT not at that ebay price.

From the Silver Pioneer reference site:

Pioneer's Finest Receiver of All Time

When the SX-1980 was introduced in 1978, it was the most powerful receiver in the world. It was rated at a staggering 270 watts per channel. It was literally in a class by itself with a level of power, performance and sheer weight that marked the apogee of Pioneer's two-channel stereo receiver development.

Everything about the SX-1980 was on a grand scale, including its price tag. The M.S.R.P. was $1295.00, making it the most expensive receiver Pioneer had ever built. Nothing like it had ever been built by Pioneer before, and nothing has been built like it since.

The SX-1980's beauty was more than skin-deep. As Pioneer's best receiver, the careful and logical layout of the receiver's hefty toroidal transformer and four massive capacitors were flanked by the component circuit boards, a layout that was shared by the SX-1250 and SX-1280. This receiver had 12 Field Effect Transistors (FETs), 11 Integrated Circuits (ICs), 130 transistors and 84 diodes!

Pioneer designed large heatsinks to dissipate the SX-1980's full-tilt operating temperature. The SX-1980 was the largest and heaviest receiver Pioneer had ever built. The receiver measured 22.0 inches wide, 19.50 inches deep, and 8.25 inches high. It weighed a staggering 78.0 pounds.

The SX-1980 was not for everyone; Pioneer had receivers for consumers who did not need the power and performance this receiver was capable of. But then, Lamborghinis and magums of champagne are not for everyone either. The SX-1980 is the most sought-after Pioneer receiver today, oftentimes being bought over the internet at its original list price.

If Pioneer built a receiver with this level of power and build quality today, what do you think it would sell for? According to S. Morgan Friedman's Inflation Calculator, it would list in for $4073.92 in 2007!

snow

sucks2beme wrote: »

And they could buy one heck of a good modern high power combo for the same money. But to each their own. My short dip back into vintage
Marantz didn't last long. I'd run the other way. Find one at a garage sale
for $20, wonderful. Buy one on EBAY for over $2300, insanity.
I'd at least have to be able to see it before shelling out that kind of cash.

I think the biggest reason why people pay such high prices for this vintage gear is that when they were kids this is the gear they drooled over and dreamed about but couldndt afford and now that they are older and more affluent they can. But yes $2300.00 is a lot of coin for an unknown and unheard receiver.This particular model was Pioneers TOTL model and at $1295.00 original retail I doubt they actually made much if any money on these, it was a statement piece and there bid in the reciever power wars.

I watch these auctions because I have one of these myself and I actually like the older vintage items perhaps it's because im also old

Heres a couple quick pics of mine and a pic comparing the next largest model the SX-1280 to the SX-1980



REGARDS SNOW



REGARDS SNOW

thuffman03

Other than the new features you get on a reciever today I do think a lot of the older stuff just does a better job of reproducing music. My friend has a Sansui G 22000 that is 220 wpc with 3db of head room. It sounds great and looks really cool.

shack

I've got a couple of the lower end Silver Pioneer Receivers, and really enjoy them. I have thought about trying to find a decent SX-1280 or SX-1980 but folks have fallen in love with them and priced them way beyond what I am willing to pay. I still keep a look-out for a nice SX-950 or SX-980 that can still be found at a "reasonable' price from time to time...but there again...the fallout from the prices of the big guys have made some sellers too highly of these as well.

George Grand

You can take those big "collectible" all in one things from the power war days. All nice and silvery. I'll never figure the attraction, when most much lower-powered receivers (even the ones in their own lines) sounded a bunch better. Pioneer never MADE a receiver that sounded as good as a KLH Model 52, which was 33wpc. Neither did Sansui, Kenwood, Technics, or all the other big sellers. You could get decent sound out of H-K also. Sony from back then was good also. STR-6060 and that series.

I'd be hard pressed to buy a low-powered H-K though, especially at "today's" prices.

F1nut

My speaker cables won't fit in those clips and where the hell do I plug in my power cord!?!

snow

George Grand wrote: »

You can take those big "collectible" all in one things from the power war days. All nice and silvery. I'll never figure the attraction, when most much lower-powered receivers (even the ones in their own lines) sounded a bunch better. Pioneer never MADE a receiver that sounded as good as a KLH Model 52, which was 33wpc. Neither did Sansui, Kenwood, Technics, or all the other big sellers. You could get decent sound out of H-K also. Sony from back then was good also. STR-6060 and that series.

I'd be hard pressed to buy a low-powered H-K though, especially at "today's" prices.

I have never heard the KLH Model 52 but it may well sound better allright. And yes for one reason or another most of the lower powered receivers sound better to my ears than the larger ones, for instance I have an old Marantz 2235 that I think sounds much better than the bigger ones I have do.


Part of the reason im sure for why people pay as much as they do is that they can claim they have the TOTL of that brand or series of receivers, ya know bragging rights



REGARDS SNOW

snow

F1nut wrote: »

My speaker cables won't fit in those clips and where the hell do I plug in my power cord!?!

Nope you would have to change to little pins. It comes with it's own power cord



REGARDS SNOW

zingo

I can tell you that there is equipment that I drooled over when I was younger, but that does not mean that I want to pay more for it than something new with better technology and in better condition.

snow

zingo wrote: »

I can tell you that there is equipment that I drooled over when I was younger, but that does not mean that I want to pay more for it than something new with better technology and in better condition.

I agree to a point. Truthfully most any new automobile will outperform most if not all (comparable) older classic ones but the old ones look cooler usally and there harder to find, supply and demand at work here.

Personally I wouldndt have the SX-1980 today if I didnt practically steal it because there is no way I would pay the kind of money that they command now. Even though I do like some of the older classics if I cant get them for a reasonable price I dont buy, I paid $200.00 for mine.



REGARDS SNOW

George Grand

We never had a 1280 when I sold that stuff. I think the SX-1010 or 1050 were the TOTL that was current at the time. We had Sansui receivers also, the xx1 line. We had BIG JBL "Sovereign" loudspeakers in the room too. We had the H-K twin-powered amps, and the H-K Citation 11/12 pre and power amp combo. Nothing in that room sounded as good as the Bozak B-302 being driven by that combo. Next was the KLH 6 driven by that combo, and then the tiny little ADC 404 driven by that combo. The only thing that the Pioneer or Sansui would drive, especially in concert with those big JBL's, was me out of the room. BRIGHT? Wow.

shack

I've been listening to my Pioneer SX-3700 Receiver with The New Advent Loudspeakers for 30 years now. Bright is not a term I would ever use when describing this receiver/speaker combo. Of course it is only 45 wpc.

Now bright to me is a Yahmaha AVR driving B&W CM series speakers...that pair drove me out of a demo room in about a minute...and that was 55 seconds too long.