SX-780 with real walnut cabinet? check this out!

Looking at the two views of the back, either someone went to the trouble of veneering the back edges or that is a solid wood case.

Rob
 
The rears might be veneered because mine is just sanded and stained. I got mine last week and it came with the wood case and is just a scootch under pristine. :thmbsp:
 
I had a SX580 with a real wood cabinet. It was a lemon. It blew 3 of those stk chips before I gave it to a friend. It was finally lost in a house fire.

Harry
 
merrylander said:
Looking at the two views of the back, either someone went to the trouble of veneering the back edges or that is a solid wood case.

Rob

Well, the back edges seem to be showing end grain, but views 5 and 6 clearly show end grain on the front edges, that matches the face grain on the two side panels. My vote: Solid side panels, no veneer. Top looks to be 1/4" veneer ply, same as the Marantz 3-pc dress kit for my 2252B
 
Answer: My 780 with the wood cabinet still has the factory warning label on the side panel (warning that one should not remove the screws and refers the owner to another warning on the bottom.) So it is a factory installed cabinet but it does look to be veneered. Hope that helps. :yes:
 
It could very well be true. Are the SX780's and SX880's built on the same chassis as say an SX850? If that is the case, it would be fairly simple to swap cases or even have cases changed at the factory. I know I have an SX1010 case on my SX838, vent areas are roughly the same and it looks good.
 
One thing i do know is the 1010 case is much larger then the 828,838,850,880. You sure about that.
 
This is a mystery. The side panels are solid wood and there is a warning? sticker on the rear corner. The case is not from the xx50 series. I have never seen a nice case like this on the 780. It looks factory or it could be homemade. The receiver is Japan made. Most were made later in Korea. I wonder what the reserve is?
 
Maybe custom made for a Pioneer exec...but then again, an exec would probably get a SX-1250, SX-1980, etc.. How about a home made case that some very attentive builder put the factory stickers on? I have only seen the vinyl case on a sx-780 myself.
 
I'm leaning towards the Marantz 3 piece case. Could that fit the 780 like a glove? I have some pictures on a disc somewhere of the 3 piece case - I think it is WC 122. :scratch2:
 
The Marantz 3 piece case I had was all veneer, and the front edges on the side panels had an angle to them. I guess they could have cut off the front edge.
 
I have a WC-122, recent purchase, NIB (yeah, I know, really! Grumpy helped me unwrap it) The depth of the top vent doesn't match the one on the Pioneer, the side holes on the 122 are elongated, like a keyslot, there are plastic grilles in side vents on the Marantz, and the edges of the sides of the Pioneer do not match the bevels on the Marantz.

Might be homemade, or custom order from a shop, but not the Marantz item.
 
I guess the 780 in the series is a one example of the amount of cost cutting during production that shows just how rapidly the quality was in decline. If they used this case on all of the 780 would be on par with an xx50 series.
 
I bought it :thmbsp:, as I use another 780 as my everyday unit, and have had that one in use (vinyl cabinet) since buying it new in high school. (Darlington pin solder connection issues developed, rather than cold solder on the overheating transistor/sink that everyone describes.)

As this will likely remain my stereo of choice for the next 25 years, I thought I would like a real wooden cabinet and a near perfect face plate. The sound is indeed quite distinct from the SX-880 that I tried (which seemed kind of 'dark and deep' in comparison), as well as my Marantz 4270 ('heavy and accurate'), and Sansui AU-517 ('clean and accurate'). People have described the 780 as 'warm' which is perhaps a good term, but its maybe also kind of "rich". (I refuse to use the word 'musical', which seems kind of circular really.)

Any last word on the origin of the walnut case (solid endcaps and veneer top)? I can examine anything that might resolve the mystery when it arrives here shortly.

-sf
 
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That looks like a custom job or an early production unit. My MIJ 780 has the vinyl cabinet. As for the warning sticker, it's usually easy to peel those off and reattach them to any custom veneer job. Some may disagree but IMHO a good 780 is worthy of a custom walnut case if you're going to keep it as a daily driver, mine came almost DOA and I nursed her back to health and she's been going strong for over a year now. She's in my upstairs system driving Polk 7B's of similar vintage, nice period-correct system. I've always liked that unit, just an enjoyable listen all around.

TP
 
On 'hands on' examination, it appears to be a custom job. The ventilation panel is not strictly glued as it is in the typical 780, rather there are wooden dowels glued to hold it better.

The other thing about this one is that it is from Canada. The lettering visible in the auction in French may have been noticed by some. The de-emphsis switch is not blocked by a plastic insert like on the US model, and when you flip that you get a big increase in treble as presumably desired for the failed "Dobly FM" standard.

Interestingly this one sounds a little better than my 'single owner' SX-780 in the balance of the mids-highs to bass ratio, and the FM reception is completely different -it requires a much more careful attenna positioning to get the stereo light to come on. I suspect the tuner was aligned when serviced in 1999 (sticker on the bottom), leading to a change in FM reception. Otherwise it is somehow different in the tuner than the US model.

-sf



B3Nut said:
That looks like a custom job or an early production unit. My MIJ 780 has the vinyl cabinet. As for the warning sticker, it's usually easy to peel those off and reattach them to any custom veneer job. Some may disagree but IMHO a good 780 is worthy of a custom walnut case if you're going to keep it as a daily driver, mine came almost DOA and I nursed her back to health and she's been going strong for over a year now. She's in my upstairs system driving Polk 7B's of similar vintage, nice period-correct system. I've always liked that unit, just an enjoyable listen all around.

TP
 
I've just won a SX-780 for around $40 locally. I am picking it up tomorrow. Guy said he had another unit in "rougher condition" for $25.

I hope I get a walnut case with any of those two.

Interesting, to see the French leyend on the back. I guess the original owner "imported" it from Canada!

Regards,
crooner
 
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Take both, things will emerge that you would never notice when you see any two obsolete 'radios' at the same time. There is essentially no chance that they will have wood cabinets, that appears to be a custom mod (but not difficult for someone that can do woodwork).

When you get he main unit, turn it over open it up and look at the "Darlington" power units on each side, and you will likely see that some soldering has receeded on two adjacent pins toward the center of the connections. Add some more solder in there. :)

You will like this item. I've been using one for 27 years since buying it new in the store. (Compare that to anything else in electronics.)
-sf

crooner said:
I've just won a SX-780 for around $40 locally. I am picking it up tomorrow. Guy said he had another unit in "rougher condition" for $25.

I hope I get a walnut case with any of those two.

Regards,
crooner
 
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