Pioneer Tuners

[darth]

I just bought my 2nd tuner yesterday. It is a Pioneer TX-6500 II. I think it pulls in stations quite well. Now I am looking for the Pioneer matching integrated amp to complete my system. Anybody else use this combo?

 

[Retro Stereo]

Yes, this guy does:

http://audiokarma.org/forums/member.php?userid=9318



Retro

 

[theodoric]

Yeah, just got this combo last week. It was too clean to pass up, although I suppose should have used that money toward something more "serious". I'm using it in the guest room, hooked to a pair of Altec 886a's. A JVC XU-300 is the digital source.

The SA-6500II matches the TX-6500II tuner in size and appearance; a bit narrower than full-size gear. It does well with appropriate speakers and volumes, as one would expect. Don't expect to rock the whole house with inefficient speakers. It's 30Wpc, and it's larger sibling the SA-7500II is 45Wpc, while retaining the same narrowish width, so you might want to look for one of those.

Price-wise, both of these run less than $100 mint on eBay, etc.

 

[darth]

Should I look for a SA-6500 or a newer SA6500II integrated for my TX-6500II tuner? Is there really much difference between the two?

 

[theodoric]

According to the Silver Pioneer Reference Site:

The SA-6300 and SA-6500 were Pioneer's entry-level integrated amps in the mid-1970s. The SA-6500 was rated at 25 watts per channel. Interestingly, this amp had the same low intermodulation distortion and total harmonic distortion specs as the top-of-the-line SPEC-2 amplifier, 0.1 %. So, while the buyer of this amp couldn't afford a SPEC-2, he could boast it had the same specs! The list price was $175.00.

The SA-6500 II was the successor to the SA-6500 and introduced in 1977. It featured increased output of 30 watts per channel. All other specifications were practically the same. In fact, the greatest changes were the cosmetics with slightly different arrangements of the knobs and toggle switches. Price remained at $175.00.

Your call.