SX-3900 Powers on, but no audio output...

Thanks Mark for the technical response portion of the work...

Is there a way for me to test for THD figures relatively easily, or do I need a scope or some higher level of expertise to determine that spec? Would love to know where it currently stands as compared to the original 0.005% THD spec.

EDIT: One more thing... I keep reading about burnishing (polishing) the protection relay contacts. Is this something I should do prior to buttoning this thing up for good? Does the protection relay affect the sound quality if not making perfect contact, or is it one of those "it either works, or it doesn't, or is intermittent" things? If so, what is the best way to get the plastic case (cover) off the relay without breaking it?

That low of a THD figure isn't easy to test for, you need a top quality distortion analyzer and a well thought out hookup to minimize external interference pickup, which would skew the results.

The relay is a Pioneer ASR068 and will not come apart gracefully - I know - I have a dead one in my hands. There is a LOT crammed into that little case. The cover would have to be trimmed away from the contacts to burnish them, and something arranged to close it back up. There are two contact sets per channel - and they are paralleled.

edit: Strike that, the case cannot be trimmed, it forms part of the integral structure of the relay and isolates the contact sets from each other.
 
That low of a THD figure isn't easy to test for, you need a top quality distortion analyzer and a well thought out hookup to minimize external interference pickup, which would skew the results.

The relay is a Pioneer ASR068 and will not come apart gracefully - I know - I have a dead one in my hands. There is a LOT crammed into that little case. The cover would have to be trimmed away from the contacts to burnish them, and something arranged to close it back up. There are two contact sets per channel - and they are paralleled.

Roger on the "Not Easy"...
 
It's Over... and the SX-3900 is Singing...

Well, the culmination of over 2 months of hard work is at an end. The SX-3900 did not win me and it is up and running and looks AND sounds absolutely stellar. Thanks to those who contributed (MTF is a stereo hero no doubt).

Just to give a final recap of the receiver project, here are the main points:

- I received the SX-3900 on October 24th (2008). It was dead in the water. Nothing happened when power was applied. Replaced 10a fuse, powered on for half a second, then blew again. Found a broken output transistor connector, causing a pin/wire to short on the heatsink. Pulled the wire away from the heatsink and re-installed a new 10a fuse and she powered up fine. Everything worked, EXCEPT the power amp (no audio output).

- I immediately posted on AK for help and MTF stepped in with much needed critical knowledge, and yes, the patience of a saint...

- I got a game-plan together to recap the entire receiver while troubleshooting and fixing it. Not an easy task. The SX-3900 is a BEAST and consumed me for over 2 months!

- I shotgun repaired (replaced virtually EVERY component on) both the Power Supply and the Power Amplifier boards. (the Power Amp board has over 100 resistors on it BTW..., in case you were wondering).

- I replaced every electrolytic capacitor on the receiver. EVERY el cap. And many of the ceramics/polys/etc.

- I deoxited and faderlubed EVERY single control and connector, multiple times and actuated them multiple times as well to ensure oxidation free cleanliness.

- I significantly cleaned up the entire receiver, inside and out. It won't win any awards, but it is MUCH better than it was upon receipt. The receiver had obviously been stored for a number of years in a very high humidity environment like a cellar or basement (it came from the eastern US). There was this smell of damp musty moisture throughout it, that took a lot of effort and time to eradicate.

- While waiting for some additional parts, I began the task of reworking the case and upper/lower metal grills (which had serious rust on them). I used solid red oak for the case, which I hand routered, sanded and contoured to ensure a custom fit. The wood was then stained with a very light (5 coats) of Minwax sealer/stain, and no final sealer was applied. The metal portions were painted with Rustoleum paint. The black top metal is a "Hammered" finish, which looks really nice. The bottom grill is a metal finish semi-rough texture paint, which made it look much better than new. Overall the case rebuild turned out top-notch. (see the pictures).

- Once the final parts arrived, I installed them and completed the final DC offset and bias adjustments and verified the voltages (thanks again MTF).

- The faceplate had 2 broken buttons (Phono 1 and Phono 2). I repaired them with a very unique process. If interested, just ask and I will explain it. Suffice to say, they look and work as advertised.

Bottom-line... all is well, the receiver has a new life and I WILL NOT be selling it, EVER. It is with me for the long haul now. Not my original intention, but with the time, energy and money invested, it aint going nowhere.

I thought long and hard on how to post photos for this project and opted for an online service. I have used this online photo hosting service for many things in the past (like photo albums with my family, who is in the Midwest BTW). It is FREE and you do NOT need to register, OR sign up OR do anything except look at the pictures. There are 70 pictures total in the "album". (I took hundreds during this project) Here is what you need to do to access the pictures, it's simple. (THE PHOTOS HAVE SINCE BEEN REPLACED WITH THE SA-9100 I REWORKED)

- Click this link http://solutionroom.shutterfly.com/
- Click "Options" to view is various ways
- Click "Slideshow" to see pictures in largest view

IF THE TITLE AND CAPTIONS DO NOT SHOW DURING THE SLIDESHOW, CLICK "Options" AND CHOOSE "Show Titles" and "Show Captions". You will want to see this information, because I added some narrative on each photo. Some of the pictures will not display all of the written narrative during the slideshow. To see all of the text, click on the individual picture when not in slideshow mode.

I hope this either helps or at least provides some enjoyment for fellow AK'rs. I thoroughly enjoyed this process. Once again, thanks Mark (aka Markthefixer) for your golden assistance. I'm going to let this one cool down for a bit then get started on my SA-9100. At least that one is fully functional and only needs recapping and cleaning, and I am pretty good at that right now!:D

Oh, and sorry Mark for not heeding the "do not disturb the wire wraps at all costs" warning. I ended up ripping her apart pretty good and in the end it all worked out fine. I rewired about 90% of the receiver and soldered where the removed wire wraps had been. If anyone else decides to ever do this, use a good wire unwrapping tool, get on and off the post quick, use flux to ensure fast solder bonding, and take your time. "Haste makes waste"

Happy New Year!
 
Last edited:
Absolutely stunning! I followed this post from the beginning (also owning an SX-3900) and was waiting in anticipation for the successful conclusion. I had a feeling with your determination and Mark's help, all would be well. The wood cabinet is phenomenal and I'm going to try to do one for mine. I'm sure I'll be referring to your album and photos as a guide. Thank you so much for sharing your experience with us and enjoy 2009! Hope to hear more.
 
Absolutely stunning! I followed this post from the beginning (also owning an SX-3900) and was waiting in anticipation for the successful conclusion. I had a feeling with your determination and Mark's help, all would be well. The wood cabinet is phenomenal and I'm going to try to do one for mine. I'm sure I'll be referring to your album and photos as a guide. Thank you so much for sharing your experience with us and enjoy 2009! Hope to hear more.

Thanks jgmacv. The case did turn out really well, but was not an easy build. It has to be made very exact to fit properly, and is unforgiving if off even just a little. I had to make a few fine tuning mods once it was done. The tuning wheel inside uses the case to prevent the wheel from moving outward. I placed a strip of felt on the inner portion of the case to allow the tuning wheel, if it moved outward to make contact with the felt. Also, the grooves and cutouts on the topmost wood piece are all there for a specific purpose, which is to allow clearance for mounting screws and the clear lens portion that the 3 lamps mount into. I just followed the original as closely as I could, while beefing it up and keeping the three separate wood pieces each a solid piece of oak with no lamination (except for gluing the top panel, which was 2 1/4 inch pieces sandwiched to make 1/2 inch thick).

I appreciate the kind words on it. The entire receiver looks super nice now. I am very pleased.
 
How did you clean the back plate? Or did you replace it.

It is the same back panel. It was an absolute MESS wasn't it!

First I peeled off that nasty tape and residue gunk. Then I just cleaned it as best I could with a cotton cloth dampened in warm soapy water. It was a LOT easier with the connectors loose and out of the way as well. Once it got to a certain point of cleanliness and the more stubborn grime would not budge, I used Meguiers liquid pre-wax cleaner, then sealer, then carnauba wax. I also liberally applied/sprayed all connectors and thumb screws on the back with Deoxit D5 to break the additional grime off them. And I went through about 15-20 cotton swabs at the very end of the cleaning to detail around the screws and connectors and such.

I removed the AM bar antenna and spliced the wiring inside the cabinet, and applied a new piece of clear heatshrink to it to clean it up.

Some of the lettering (silk-screening) on the rear panel remains discolored a bit (not completely white), and there is some residual minor pitting on the paint, but overall it came out WAY better than it was when I got it. I would estimate (and I am a picky B%&$%rd) that it is a strong 7 out of 10 on the cosmetics of the rear panel. The rear panel is the worst aesthetically visible portion of the entire receiver. The case (wood and metal portions) is damn near perfect (10 out of 10) and the front panel is as well (strong 9 out of 10) and the bottom grill, which you really never see came out stellar with the Rustoleum metallic paint I used and looks better than new in my opinion (10 out of 10). I had to sand out some scratches and pretty deep nicks on the left topmost portion of the faceplate, and then sand and polish it smooth again and treat it with wax for protection. Not an easy feat.

This response is likely more than you asked for, but maybe it will help you or someone out if they have one in a similar condition, which was not too good initially.
 
very nice work. i followed this thread from early on and tried to pick up as much info as i could being illiterate to all things technical. glad you got it going, and the new cabinet looks great.
mike
 
very nice work. i followed this thread from early on and tried to pick up as much info as i could being illiterate to all things technical. glad you got it going, and the new cabinet looks great.
mike

Thanks a lot Mike. It became a vendetta at some point and in the end, it all turned out first-rate. I am VERY pleased with both it's performance and aesthetics. This SA-9100 I just started on will be a lot easier I hope.
 
Hello,

Keen to understand what you did to get the ASR-068 relay back into service.

Cheers,

Les

It's Over... and the SX-3900 is Singing...

Well, the culmination of over 2 months of hard work is at an end. The SX-3900 did not win me and it is up and running and looks AND sounds absolutely stellar. Thanks to those who contributed (MTF is a stereo hero no doubt).

Just to give a final recap of the receiver project, here are the main points:

- I received the SX-3900 on October 24th (2008). It was dead in the water. Nothing happened when power was applied. Replaced 10a fuse, powered on for half a second, then blew again. Found a broken output transistor connector, causing a pin/wire to short on the heatsink. Pulled the wire away from the heatsink and re-installed a new 10a fuse and she powered up fine. Everything worked, EXCEPT the power amp (no audio output).

- I immediately posted on AK for help and MTF stepped in with much needed critical knowledge, and yes, the patience of a saint...

- I got a game-plan together to recap the entire receiver while troubleshooting and fixing it. Not an easy task. The SX-3900 is a BEAST and consumed me for over 2 months!

- I shotgun repaired (replaced virtually EVERY component on) both the Power Supply and the Power Amplifier boards. (the Power Amp board has over 100 resistors on it BTW..., in case you were wondering).

- I replaced every electrolytic capacitor on the receiver. EVERY el cap. And many of the ceramics/polys/etc.

- I deoxited and faderlubed EVERY single control and connector, multiple times and actuated them multiple times as well to ensure oxidation free cleanliness.

- I significantly cleaned up the entire receiver, inside and out. It won't win any awards, but it is MUCH better than it was upon receipt. The receiver had obviously been stored for a number of years in a very high humidity environment like a cellar or basement (it came from the eastern US). There was this smell of damp musty moisture throughout it, that took a lot of effort and time to eradicate.

- While waiting for some additional parts, I began the task of reworking the case and upper/lower metal grills (which had serious rust on them). I used solid red oak for the case, which I hand routered, sanded and contoured to ensure a custom fit. The wood was then stained with a very light (5 coats) of Minwax sealer/stain, and no final sealer was applied. The metal portions were painted with Rustoleum paint. The black top metal is a "Hammered" finish, which looks really nice. The bottom grill is a metal finish semi-rough texture paint, which made it look much better than new. Overall the case rebuild turned out top-notch. (see the pictures).

- Once the final parts arrived, I installed them and completed the final DC offset and bias adjustments and verified the voltages (thanks again MTF).

- The faceplate had 2 broken buttons (Phono 1 and Phono 2). I repaired them with a very unique process. If interested, just ask and I will explain it. Suffice to say, they look and work as advertised.

Bottom-line... all is well, the receiver has a new life and I WILL NOT be selling it, EVER. It is with me for the long haul now. Not my original intention, but with the time, energy and money invested, it aint going nowhere.

I thought long and hard on how to post photos for this project and opted for an online service. I have used this online photo hosting service for many things in the past (like photo albums with my family, who is in the Midwest BTW). It is FREE and you do NOT need to register, OR sign up OR do anything except look at the pictures. There are 70 pictures total in the "album". (I took hundreds during this project) Here is what you need to do to access the pictures, it's simple. (THE PHOTOS HAVE SINCE BEEN REPLACED WITH THE SA-9100 I REWORKED)

- Click this link http://solutionroom.shutterfly.com/
- Click "Options" to view is various ways
- Click "Slideshow" to see pictures in largest view

IF THE TITLE AND CAPTIONS DO NOT SHOW DURING THE SLIDESHOW, CLICK "Options" AND CHOOSE "Show Titles" and "Show Captions". You will want to see this information, because I added some narrative on each photo. Some of the pictures will not display all of the written narrative during the slideshow. To see all of the text, click on the individual picture when not in slideshow mode.

I hope this either helps or at least provides some enjoyment for fellow AK'rs. I thoroughly enjoyed this process. Once again, thanks Mark (aka Markthefixer) for your golden assistance. I'm going to let this one cool down for a bit then get started on my SA-9100. At least that one is fully functional and only needs recapping and cleaning, and I am pretty good at that right now!:D

Oh, and sorry Mark for not heeding the "do not disturb the wire wraps at all costs" warning. I ended up ripping her apart pretty good and in the end it all worked out fine. I rewired about 90% of the receiver and soldered where the removed wire wraps had been. If anyone else decides to ever do this, use a good wire unwrapping tool, get on and off the post quick, use flux to ensure fast solder bonding, and take your time. "Haste makes waste"

Happy New Year!
en
 
Hello,

Keen to understand what you did to get the ASR-068 relay back into service.

Cheers,

Les

It's Over... and the SX-3900 is Singing...

Well, the culmination of over 2 months of hard work is at an end. The SX-3900 did not win me and it is up and running and looks AND sounds absolutely stellar. Thanks to those who contributed (MTF is a stereo hero no doubt).

Just to give a final recap of the receiver project, here are the main points:

- I received the SX-3900 on October 24th (2008). It was dead in the water. Nothing happened when power was applied. Replaced 10a fuse, powered on for half a second, then blew again. Found a broken output transistor connector, causing a pin/wire to short on the heatsink. Pulled the wire away from the heatsink and re-installed a new 10a fuse and she powered up fine. Everything worked, EXCEPT the power amp (no audio output).

- I immediately posted on AK for help and MTF stepped in with much needed critical knowledge, and yes, the patience of a saint...

- I got a game-plan together to recap the entire receiver while troubleshooting and fixing it. Not an easy task. The SX-3900 is a BEAST and consumed me for over 2 months!

- I shotgun repaired (replaced virtually EVERY component on) both the Power Supply and the Power Amplifier boards. (the Power Amp board has over 100 resistors on it BTW..., in case you were wondering).

- I replaced every electrolytic capacitor on the receiver. EVERY el cap. And many of the ceramics/polys/etc.

- I deoxited and faderlubed EVERY single control and connector, multiple times and actuated them multiple times as well to ensure oxidation free cleanliness.

- I significantly cleaned up the entire receiver, inside and out. It won't win any awards, but it is MUCH better than it was upon receipt. The receiver had obviously been stored for a number of years in a very high humidity environment like a cellar or basement (it came from the eastern US). There was this smell of damp musty moisture throughout it, that took a lot of effort and time to eradicate.

- While waiting for some additional parts, I began the task of reworking the case and upper/lower metal grills (which had serious rust on them). I used solid red oak for the case, which I hand routered, sanded and contoured to ensure a custom fit. The wood was then stained with a very light (5 coats) of Minwax sealer/stain, and no final sealer was applied. The metal portions were painted with Rustoleum paint. The black top metal is a "Hammered" finish, which looks really nice. The bottom grill is a metal finish semi-rough texture paint, which made it look much better than new. Overall the case rebuild turned out top-notch. (see the pictures).

- Once the final parts arrived, I installed them and completed the final DC offset and bias adjustments and verified the voltages (thanks again MTF).

- The faceplate had 2 broken buttons (Phono 1 and Phono 2). I repaired them with a very unique process. If interested, just ask and I will explain it. Suffice to say, they look and work as advertised.

Bottom-line... all is well, the receiver has a new life and I WILL NOT be selling it, EVER. It is with me for the long haul now. Not my original intention, but with the time, energy and money invested, it aint going nowhere.

I thought long and hard on how to post photos for this project and opted for an online service. I have used this online photo hosting service for many things in the past (like photo albums with my family, who is in the Midwest BTW). It is FREE and you do NOT need to register, OR sign up OR do anything except look at the pictures. There are 70 pictures total in the "album". (I took hundreds during this project) Here is what you need to do to access the pictures, it's simple. (THE PHOTOS HAVE SINCE BEEN REPLACED WITH THE SA-9100 I REWORKED)

- Click this link http://solutionroom.shutterfly.com/
- Click "Options" to view is various ways
- Click "Slideshow" to see pictures in largest view

IF THE TITLE AND CAPTIONS DO NOT SHOW DURING THE SLIDESHOW, CLICK "Options" AND CHOOSE "Show Titles" and "Show Captions". You will want to see this information, because I added some narrative on each photo. Some of the pictures will not display all of the written narrative during the slideshow. To see all of the text, click on the individual picture when not in slideshow mode.

I hope this either helps or at least provides some enjoyment for fellow AK'rs. I thoroughly enjoyed this process. Once again, thanks Mark (aka Markthefixer) for your golden assistance. I'm going to let this one cool down for a bit then get started on my SA-9100. At least that one is fully functional and only needs recapping and cleaning, and I am pretty good at that right now!:D

Oh, and sorry Mark for not heeding the "do not disturb the wire wraps at all costs" warning. I ended up ripping her apart pretty good and in the end it all worked out fine. I rewired about 90% of the receiver and soldered where the removed wire wraps had been. If anyone else decides to ever do this, use a good wire unwrapping tool, get on and off the post quick, use flux to ensure fast solder bonding, and take your time. "Haste makes waste"

Happy New Year!
en
 
Hey Les,

I didn't mess with the internals of the relay. It worked as intended once all other portions of the amp circuits were proper and functioning. As MTF stated... it is not easy to get inside of it, and getting a replacement would take some effort and likely have to come from a cannibalized unit. Not sure if they are still available new.
 
Hello -

Quote from a previous post on this thread . . .
"- I received the SX-3900 on October 24th (2008). "

Anyway, I am curious if anyone within this Thread or any other members may have the Specifications and / or Data sheet for the 48 volt Audio Output Relay known as "P/N Pioneer ASR-068" ?

Any information would be appreciated.

cferry1
 
A replacement for the power amp board mounted protect relay has never been found. Despite my years of diligent searching.

Part of it is the odd pin out, the rest is the 48v coil.

Remove the relays (soft start especially) and polish the contacts starting with a pink eraser, graduating to an ink eraser ONLY IF NECESSARY.

Ref a past post

The last one I worked on had a new Omron 653-MY4-02-DC48 glued to the back panel with a connected harness from the board. It was well done and seemed to be secure where if it loosened it would not short out. Better would be an added metal mount secured to the chassis.
 
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