I absolutely love it! You guys are too funny
It seems as though we have some serious Pioneer
Afficianados here - way more information than I could have hoped for and far more appreciated than I can ever express. As an ex-employee of Pioneer (90'-96'), these discussions bring back very fond feelings of years gone by. Unfortunately, as you can see by the employment dates, these units were before my time, so I carry no empirical knowledge into the discussion and can only marvel at the wealth of knowledge you guys bring to the topic. I own a SA-7800 but would like to purchase one of these bad boys. I absolutely love the classic appearance of both and am ready for the extra headroom.
Since I'm certain both units will perform admirably, I'm more concerned with its
restorabilty; the availability and matching of parts for restoration is actually what's driving my decision. Understanding these concerns prior will likely reduce the headache and irritation while underway, so, the ability to source parts, such as the power output transistors, carries a lot of
"weight." If you guys know of any restoration threads on either, or can speak to this issue, please feel free to share.
Given the wealth of information you guys have so freely shared, it seems to me that the 9500 series was targeted at the mid-level pro market for smaller PA work; I'm sure those spinning records at dances owned a some of these.It also seems to corroborate its architectural and equalization approach. And while the 9500 offers three center frequencies by selection, applied to one control, I personally believe that the dual controls working simultaneously at two center points would lend greater control and therefore be of greater benefit. I also tend to lean towards the overall architectural design of the MkII series as well. I'd rather have the connectors situated on the rear back plane instead of the sides.
So at this point, it really seems like the MkII series would be the most appropriate given my application, unless, it's impossible to source a replacement for those
"bat wing" output transistors or any other parts that are known issues.