SX1010 Is it the pinnacle of Pioneers Receiver engineering? Maybe it is!!

Are you guys crazy or being sarcastic?
Oh I'm completely serious, I am a pretty decent rock guitarist to be honest, and this is so because I practice!!
I was using the SX1010 to run my backing tracks which I know very very well, and just noticed things getting edgy as I was probably getting up there in power consumption on the 1010........

Whe I sit and listen to music without playing, I do not listen that loud, nowhere near it.....

So I guess, yeah I'm crazy!!
 
Yes it seems to be just before clipping they do this.....not actually clipping, but running at almost full power...
Apart from that, smooth as a smooth thing can be........

Good info thanks kevzep, you must be making some serious noise across the ditch with your 1010 :thumbsup:.
 
Out of curiosity, what speakers were you driving?

JBL L7's, really nice speakers, they work really well on the SX1010, although I have to say at high volumes, the Sansui G9000 does a better job, smoother top end, but the SX1010 has the "punch" in the bass department which is not as apparent on the Sansui, I have to turn the bass eq up a bit on the Sansui to get the same punch as the SX1010...

Good info thanks kevzep, you must be making some serious noise across the ditch with your 1010 :thumbsup:.

Only when I am playing the guitar with the backing tracks, I don't often "crank" it, but sometimes, when I am getting right into it, the volume creeps up....
 
JBL L7's, really nice speakers, they work really well on the SX1010, although I have to say at high volumes, the Sansui G9000 does a better job, smoother top end, but the SX1010 has the "punch" in the bass department which is not as apparent on the Sansui, I have to turn the bass eq up a bit on the Sansui to get the same punch as the SX1010...

No doubt those JBL's are very nice speakers, interesting the Pioneer vs the Sansui.

Only when I am playing the guitar with the backing tracks, I don't often "crank" it, but sometimes, when I am getting right into it, the volume creeps up...

Why not :thumbsup:.
 
Getting to the question as to whether the Pioneer SX-1010 is Pioneers best engineered receiver I want bring up the problems many SX-1010 receivers experience with over heating of the power supply regulator boards.
The engineers mounted the P/S regulator board upside down allowing heat to be trapped under the circuit board and they did not install adequate heat sink or a cooling means to cool the board. It is common for these circuit boards to become discolored and eventually fail. This is poor engineering.

My SX-1010 did not fail but was very dark brown indicating overheating. It was purchased in 2007. I added additional heat sink and installed a cooling fan to suck the hot air out and allow cool ambient to replace it. A very low money cost and a little time.

The link below gives details of this fix in post 7.

My SX-1010 has worked without issues with the P/S regulator board for 11 years since the modification.

http://audiokarma.org/forums/index.php?threads/sx-1010-mods.111648/#post-10703370

Charlie
 
Getting to the question as to whether the Pioneer SX-1010 is Pioneers best engineered receiver I want bring up the problems many SX-1010 receivers experience with over heating of the power supply regulator boards.
The engineers mounted the P/S regulator board upside down allowing heat to be trapped under the circuit board and they did not install adequate heat sink or a cooling means to cool the board. It is common for these circuit boards to become discolored and eventually fail. This is poor engineering.

My SX-1010 did not fail but was very dark brown indicating overheating. It was purchased in 2007. I added additional heat sink and installed a cooling fan to suck the hot air out and allow cool ambient to replace it. A very low money cost and a little time.

The link below gives details of this fix in post 7.

My SX-1010 has worked without issues with the P/S regulator board for 11 years since the modification.

http://audiokarma.org/forums/index.php?threads/sx-1010-mods.111648/#post-10703370

Charlie
And fair comment on the regulated supply board, a lot of receivers of this generation are the same, Sansui G9000 has a very extensive regulated board undeneath with a lot more going on than the 1010, and they have survived well...sometimes a little scorched. May not have been the engineers that put them in that position though.
am sure the aesthetics department had more to do with that...

I added some heat sinking to my regulator heatsink, easy done...I haven't put a fan in, but thats actually not a bad idea I will look into that...

We have to remember these amplifiers lasted 30 or 40 years before they started failing the way they do, so thats a good testament to the Pioneer engineers...
 
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After thinking about it for a bit, it would have to be a small fan, and where would it be blowing the air to?

Mostly out of the set. The fan would be drawing air past the heatsinks. Previous discussions from experts mention the accumulation of dust that is drawn into the receiver.
I decided it's not worth the hassle. Toasty boards still work, it's the poor shipping and handling practices that causes the PS damage.
Adding the heatsinks, raising the high wattage resistors from the PS board and adding a spacer under the chassis feet works wonders.
I don't fault any who can mod the receiver with extra cooling. Its going to help and that's what is important.
There was a thread some years back and the OP did a wonderful fan mod on a 1010. I'll see if I can find it.

This was it but the images are missing from AK's big re-do.
http://audiokarma.org/forums/index.php?threads/my-pioneer-sx-1010-story.487593/
Here's another:
http://audiokarma.org/forums/index.php?threads/sx-1010-mods.111648/
 
The link shows the details. The link works for me with pictures.

They include drilling a 3 inch circle of holes in the bottom cover and installing a 4 inch flat computer cooling fan under the receiver. Hot air is vented to to side of the receiver. A baffle was made to direct outside air. from top of the receiver, over the hot regulator board and out thru the fan below.

I do not use this receiver 8 hours a day but weekly. Dust accumulation has not been an issue in a clean environment with central heat and air conditioning and True Blue FPR fine paper media, 28 times more effective than fiberglass bought at Home Depot. This is best inexpensive filter I have found and have been using them in my A/C units for over 24 years.
Charlie
 
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Well. I'm a little late to the party. My 1010 < over there was done in 2008. Chris said the power supply is a pain to rectify. Mine had about 160 parts replaced , with a data sheet 3 pages long and sits silently here, a 737 and 850, both new, pushing out the 1010 . I could never put it on eBay, for it is too heavy and fragile. But boy does it play. Especially with efficient speakers. I always thought I had the best 1010 around here because of what has been done to it and the fact it hasn't gotten much use, but it appears Kev' s ranks up there, too.

I don't use the pushbutton features much, but when I do I am careful to be gentle with them.
 
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Never too late to the party!!
I like the pushbutton switches, I am not sure why people don't like them, the unit look sleek, less levers and clutter on the front panel. They are a nuisance to clean, but hey, you can't have everything !!
I was giving my 1010 a work out couple of days ago, the power-amp has the gift of power that keeps giving, bass is so solid!! For a 100watt amp it certainly has a lot of "torque" to use an engine analogy.....
Considering when these came out, they were ahead of their time, no doubt about it.....
 
accumulation of dust that is drawn into the receiver.
This is my concern with the fan too, I am in the Pro Audio business and work on a lot of pro amps which all obviously have fans in them, and the dust is most definitely a problem, they all sport filters, but the dust still gets in there....
With the additional heatsinking, I think its fine in any case, the dissipation with the added heatsinks seems to be able to keep the temps way down compared to the stock design...
 
I also love my SX-1010 I bought from the original owner and have been using it as my primary for a couple of years. It just started going into protection mode after about 1 minute :(. It is headed to the tech for rebuild. I am now using my Sansui AU-9500 now which is a damn fine sounding receiver but I can't wait to get the 1010 redone.
 
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