SX-990 - 7 months after purchase

Joel66

Super Member
Hi all. Back in November of '17 I was in the market for a receiver. After looking and reading/researching for what seemed like "forever" (I'm not real patient sometimes), I purchased an extremely clean SX-990. I may have overpaid, or maybe not. I got it for $50 less than the asking price. Honestly, I don't really care because I absolutely love it. It sounds fantastic paired with my JBL R123 speakers. Not TOTL JBLs I know but, I like them. There's one thing I didn't know until I purchased it. I am the second owner. EDIT- I got it in the original box with original packing materials.

The tuner on this thing blows me away. I can pick up stations without an antenna that I can't pick up on my Yamaha receiver with an antenna. To me, cds even sound better on this system than on either of my Yamaha systems. It seems like you're immersed in the music instead of it just coming at you (if that makes sense). It doesn't sound sterile at all. I'll put it this way, when listening to Johnny Cash At Folsom Prison.....I feel like an inmate, not a record listener.

I had a couple moments of concern a couple of weeks after buying it. Every once in while, I would hear something that sounded like wind blowing over a microphone. Not as drastic as hearing it on the other end of a phone but, still distracting (and concerning). It happened three times but never again (knock on wood).

I can't think of anything else to say about it, other than, I don't see how I couldn't be more happy with it than I am. To @HH-Bham , @Dave1384 , @parman , and everyone else that answered my questions months ago, thank you again.
 
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those old sets are loaded with transistors that become noisy over time. and its been a long time since 1971. it also no doubt needs a recap.depending on your skill set it can be done at home.other than that there are no magic wands. my workshop stereo is a 1500td the older brother of the 990 im very happy with it TOTL in '69
 
Yes, I agree also on the tuner. Can't believe how much better it is than anything else I have, except maybe my TX-8100 tuner. Not only does it pull in more stations, they are clearer than the tuners on my other receivers that I can get the stations on, but with static. Only thing I had to do with mine was replace the indicator dial light (PITA), and one transistor that was causing the stereo lamp to stay on. I have several other receivers, and was thinking about trading this one for some other gear, but I just can't get rid of that tuner. Know a guy who has an SX-2500, which was a couple notches up the same line as the 990, but the 2500 has the auto-tuner. THAT would be something coupled with as good a tuner as the 990 has.
 
those old sets are loaded with transistors that become noisy over time. and its been a long time since 1971. it also no doubt needs a recap.depending on your skill set it can be done at home.other than that there are no magic wands. my workshop stereo is a 1500td the older brother of the 990 im very happy with it TOTL in '69
I was told by the woman that owns the shop that it was recapped and some transistors were replaced. I don't have documentation but, I believe her. I bought a turntable (a cheap Pioneer) from her last year. It didn't work properly. She replaced it with her own turntable.

:thumbsup:
+ 10 on that tuner
I think I just dialed in a station from Philly. :rflmao:
 
those old sets are loaded with transistors that become noisy over time. and its been a long time since 1971.
I don't think this is quite true. Just took a look at the users/service manual, and I don't see any transistors that are on the "10 worst transistors" list. I only had to change one transistor on mine when I got it - the one that controls the stereo light.
 
On second look, head amp does have six 2SC458 and control amp has two 2SC871, but critically, power amp and power supply do not have any transistors with a bad record.
 
true enough but modern replacements are superior.i go with the theory of rebuilding them so i dont have to go in again.whos to say when exactly the next 45 year old diode or transistor fails? by the way, my 828 sounded like the ocean (the o.p's original concern) and those 458's were everywhere it seemed.after every board was redone it got progressively quieter.
 
Yes, that logic makes sense, John. My problem is I just don't have the time to spend replacing transistors that are not failing or not suspect. If you've got a good list of replacements and the time to do a full restoration, that's ideal. In the mean time, I leave things alone that aren't broke. I've replaced many transistors in my projects that made no difference, and so were not the cause of the problem I was trying to solve. I also test every e-cap I take out, and the vast majority above 10 µF are not out of spec (like 98%). On the other hand the small blue Sanyos are almost always out of spec.

So, having said all of that, I left my 990 alone, since it is working perfectly. My 828 had static in both channels when I got it. Just needed to replace the four 2SA726 transistors on the power amp board, and now it works perfectly. I actually have all the transistor and e-cap replacements on hand, but just can't find a reason to open it and start replacing parts when it functions perfectly.
 
:rockon:

Interestingly after your initial thread, I picked up a non-working but great cosmetic condition unit myself. Beautiful receiver. I did brief testing and found my problem is in the amp board as preamp outputs work fine. Fuses blown on amp board. Haven't had time to dig deeper.
 
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