The Pioneer "ELITE" Gear Thread!

Did not realize this thread existed... Pretty great thread!

I'm a new owner of an A-71 Amp. Videos below.

Picked up the amp on a trade for some gear with a fellow AK user. The amp looks brand new, came in the original box, and had all the original packaging. The thing is a work of art.

YouTube:


Kind Regards,
John
 
The 93 is the Mack Daddy of the Pioneer Tuner DNA legacy and don't let anybody tell you any different. There was some backlash because somebody (a literal "mac daddy") of U.S. Tuner design fame declined to work on it and that became the basis for the "it's complex and therefore to be avoided" fables that thereafter ensued.
Here's my capsule review. (I'm working on one for the Tuna group, but I don't know if I'll ever get it put up or not.....)

Some buttons ARE not necessary or particularly beneficial. The fake Stereo application was meant to compete with the old C-Quam AM Stereo movement of the '80's and it's pleasant but NOT Stereo, so it's a fail by design. Not bad if you like to "play with stuff" (Sonic Holography, etc.) but not "Stereo" either.
The Stereophile "damned by faint praise" review disparagingly said it resembled a VCR in programming complexity. Anybody who's lived with a Microsoft operating system (then or now) will think this machine's utterly simple to use.
Even its detractors said it's the RF hottest tuner (very possibly) ever built.
The sound is, if anything BIGGER/more dynamic at the frequency extremes than the F-91. (I've owned multiples of every tuner since the TX-9500 II with the single exception of the F-26.) I don't DISLIKE the 91, but it's lack of user accessible controls (particularly with regard to IF bandwidth) makes it very much "not my cup of tea".
I've owned two F-28's and they sound more like the 93 (and 91) than any other Pioneer Tuner I've ever aligned/owned/restored. However, they're not my "cup of tea" either because they can't be purposefully "detuned" in order to assist in IF bandwidth narrow DX'ing. The 93 can be microtuned at 10khz increments in "Fine Tune' mode.
I'll be selling off a bunch of my extra Pioneer's in the coming year. I will keep one TX-9500 II, one TX-9800, one 91 and EVERY 93. The rest (including the 449 and F-90) are going to auction. YMMV, but if you like the Pioneer "house sound" there's not an awful lot to be offended by if considering any of their other models. But to me, in every aspect of performance, the 93 was their last "statement" piece and there's precious little "wrong" with it. I own three. They all are uniformly excellent......
 
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The 93 can be microtuned at 200khz increments in "Fine Tune' mode.
The standard channel spacing is 200KHz in the US, how can that be fine tuning? maybe you mean something like 50KHz?
To me a TOTL tuner should have 3 IF filter bandwidths, ranging from 150KHz( very fine), normal, to wide in the 200-300KHz area, something like the Kenwood 600T does.
 
I was incorrect. It's 10Khz! (I haven't used that feature lately.) I dashed the reply off with dinner on the table waiting. Thank you for catching my error, RCS. I corrected it in the OP as well.

The number of bandwidths (to me) isn't as important compared to their bandwidths.

The first one is a "gimme" unless it's made so ridiculously wide as to be useless. If the second one is sufficiently narrow to cover every situation than the third is just another "click".

For example my MR-78's narrowest bandwidth is VERY much audibly inferior to the other two. (But it DOES do its job well though....) That said however, the narrowest bandwidths on any of my Pioneers (F-93,F-28,TX-9800, F-91,TX-9500 II, F-90, F-449) all sound nearly indistinguishable from their ""Wide" setting. The first four Pioneers on that list can "see" around obstacles (unattractively programmed) at least as well as the MR 78 does and still sound terrific. I'm not particularly keen on getting on the endless modification hamster wheel. (To be fair, for any brand....). Everyone's list is going to be different and I'm good with that. What I did want to speak to is my findings with respect to (multiple) samples of the F-93 being unjustly vilified. I should've looked on Ebay before I posted because one just got away for about $200.00USD, and I'd have added another all day LONG for that money. (If it's in mint-ish condition....).

They do (All Elite Series tuners that I've owned, every sample except my single F-91) have to have their tuner "memory" capacitors replaced. It's not a hard modification though and anybody who's had a little training can do it. No tuner's perfect!
 
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This is one for you guys how about an Elite GR-777, no not really but close. I put the feet and side panels from my SP-91D on it. Really wish they would have made one at the factory they could have called it a GR-91. Now I need to make the face glossy, any idea's on a good product to use? The metal of the face comes off of the rest of the unit so i can use spray or brush to coat it.
IMG_0197.JPG IMG_0198.JPGIMG_0199.JPG
 
Currently I use a DV-79avi for digital sources. I have one that's been tweaked but is down at the moment and another untweaked as a backup. They play all the formats I want and sound darn good doing it. As cheap as they are now they can't be beat so far.
 
Added a LD-X1. Japanese market player. Basically the same thing as my US spec LD-S2. But just different enough.
xoGL5A.jpg
 
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Added a LD-X1. Japanese market player. Basically the same thing as my US spec LD-S1. But just different enough.
xoGL5A.jpg

That deck just wreaks of quality. I love the looks of the old Elite gear. I think I like the looks of it better with the white display than with the amber display. Just classy looking.
 
That deck just wreaks of quality. I love the looks of the old Elite gear. I think I like the looks of it better with the white display than with the amber display. Just classy looking.

Ya I just love it. I have the remote for it also. It is identical to the LD-S2 remote except the words are all Japanese.
 
This is one for you guys how about an Elite GR-777, no not really but close. I put the feet and side panels from my SP-91D on it. Really wish they would have made one at the factory they could have called it a GR-91. Now I need to make the face glossy, any idea's on a good product to use? The metal of the face comes off of the rest of the unit so i can use spray or brush to coat it.
]

I'm thinking many layers of clear gloss. Possibly urethane or some other high build spray.
 
Does it have an AC3/RF input for LaserDisc 5.1? If so, it's desireable to somebody, somewhere...

je
Hi, I'm lookin for Elite VSX-14 owners manual/operator guide. short of that just instructions on how to set stereo channel presets. thank you.
 
Very Nice, I have been after a pair of those for years, but they never come up for sale this side of the pond, I wonder if they ever sold them in the UK?
Funny you ask. They were sold in N. America only.
 
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