Baffled by price range for a Pioneer SX-950

Islander21

Islander21

Active Member
There is a possibility of acquiring a Pioneer SX-950 in my area. It looks like this:
1729044986114.png
And he has only replaced these caps, so it's a partial recap/rebuild:

1729045064694.png
I know prices have gone bonkers on good vintage stereo equipment the last couple of years, so maybe it's not the time to buy. Having said that, he is asking $995, but I will try to negotiate down a bit if the item is still for sale when I return from a trip early next week. When I researched the prices for the recent sales of the SX-950 they ranged from $650 to $1700. That's a wiiide range. Most were stock, the rebuilt ones were on the higher end. If this guy is legit and I can go see, feel and listen to the receiver, would that price be in-line with a partially rebuilt unit in really good cosmetic shape? Keep in mind it would be a cash sale - no taxes, no shipping, unlike an eBay or Reverb transaction. That would help reduce the "Pioneer tax" effect.

This would probably be the last receiver I would want to buy, it hits all the buttons. If not a 950, an 850 would also do. Oddly enough they are priced similarly.
 
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That seems to be about the going rate for a clean, working SX-950. Considering that it has been at least partially recapped that seems like a pretty good deal.
For that kind of money I would go over it with a fine-tooth comb including removing the top part of the cabinet and making sure those parts were really replaced.
 
mea2112 said:
That seems to be about the going rate for a clean, working SX-950. Considering that it has been at least partially recapped that seems like a pretty good deal.
For that kind of money I would go over it with a fine-tooth comb including removing the top part of the cabinet and making sure those parts were really replaced.
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That's the nice thing about it being semi-local. I can drive to inspect the unit instead of doing a "blind sale" on eBay or Reverb. Thanks for the cost outlook and the advice.
 
I wouldn't pay that price. Some folks I know that sell a lot of gear haven't been able to move much of anything lately.
People are holding on to their money.
These folks listing these for those higher prices will more than likely drop their prices or just keep relisting them waiting for someone with deep pockets.

I'd have to talk him down quite a bit.

I have an SX-750 that I replaced over 50 parts in and an acquaintance said he was looking for a good receiver. Told him about mine and asked $500.
Told him to search the bay and other places to get an idea about how things stand.

He didn't want it.
 
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I participated at an audio show about 8 years ago. I had a nice 850 and traded it for a serviced AU-417 and $40 my way (both sounded great). The guy I traded with said he had picked up a 950 at the same show for $300. Prices have gone a little crazy lately but one in that cosmetic condition may get close to that price, not from me but from someone with little patience. The 850 was a huge step up in sound quality over the 750 I had and is one of the few I regret getting rid of but at the time I was hell bent on trying them all. I would put the SX850 in the 90% percentile as far as SQ, imaging and tuner sound.
 
Islander21 said:
There is a possibility of acquiring a Pioneer SX-950 in my area. It looks like this:
View attachment 3321302
And he has only replaced these caps, so it's a partial recap/rebuild:

View attachment 3321303
I know prices have gone bonkers on good vintage stereo equipment the last couple of years, so maybe it's not the time to buy. Having said that, he is asking $995, but I will try to negotiate down a bit if the item is still for sale when I return from a trip early next week. When I researched the prices for the recent sales of the SX-950 they ranged from $650 to $1700. That's a wiiide range. Most were stock, the rebuilt ones were on the higher end. If this guy is legit and I can go see, feel and listen to the receiver, would that price be in-line with a partially rebuilt unit in really good cosmetic shape? Keep in mind it would be a cash sale - no taxes, no shipping, unlike an eBay or Reverb transaction. That would help reduce the "Pioneer tax" effect.

This would probably be the last receiver I would want to buy, it hits all the buttons. If not a 950, an 850 would also do. Oddly enough they are priced similarly.
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No.

A grand for a 950 with a half-ass recap is a no go. A lot better gear can be found, even online for that price. A 1050 that I fully restored for a client just went for 1200 locally, and I think that’s fair.
 
Why do you want to buy the Pioneer? Looks? Nostalgia? Sound quality?. If the latter, I'd look elsewhere. If the former, then buy it, but only if you know a competent tech, as it will need to be serviced/repaired at some point. (Very possibly in the near future.)

I've owned a SX-850 (that I did a complete recap), and a SX-1250 (that I only cleaned the pots/switches). To me, they both sounded about the same, and I wasn't impressed with either. Although the SQ was good, it was easily surpassed by other receivers/amps that I've owned.

Without an available tech, I agree with @Ross6860. Buy an new Yamaha.
 
Thanks for all the responses. I'd LIKE to have a clean Pioneer SX 850/950 or perhaps a Sansui 7070, but I don't NEED one, especially if it's overpriced. I'll be patient and wait for the right one to come around at the right price. I get good enough sound from my Technics Sa 727 and my Luxman 1040.
 
You might consider becoming a subscribing member here (click on subscribe in the header). For $25 per year, you get access to Barter Town. BT is a forum where members buy, sell, and trade with each other (and not limited to just audio). You can also place a WTB ad. The cost of admission helps to keep the lights on here.
 
Islander21 said:
I'd LIKE to have a clean Pioneer SX 850/950 or perhaps a Sansui 7070,
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Maybe approach some of the guys that refresh gear and contract one from them. Get a great looking unit at the right price and get the full refresh so it lasts and you would be at a decent price overall for the completed unit. and ask in BT as stated above
 
There was one on CL here all summer for $250, the ad said it had belonged to his dad and they were clearing out his things.
First it was listed as part of a two day in person sale at the house, and later a bit farther away. It was up for months with no takers.
I offered less but he wouldn't budge on the price. Then the ad price dropped to $150, then $100, and finally it was gone. Around the same time I had bought an SX-1050 for $75 listed AS-IS, untested, as found. It was 40 minutes away and the seller wanted to meet at a storage facility. When I got there it was a woman in her 70's who said she was trying to clear out her dead brothers things so she could finally get rid of the locker she was renting.
I bought the receiver, a matching wood hifi rack, a same era CT-F950 tape deck, and a PL-530 tt all for $100, and she then gave me gave me all the albums she had which I thought were going to break the springs in my car on the ride home. I tried listing the tape deck but got no takers, I finally sold it for $25 to a guy who refurbs and sells equipment in another state. I did sell off the unwanted albums as well, but kept about half of them. I see now that the store that guy had is now gone, a are several other vintage music and hifi shops that sprang up over the past 10 or so years. I don't think any remain .

The SX-1050 was like new, it replaced my SX-650 in my living room and I kept the PL-520 as well.
 
freeisforme said:
There was one on CL here all summer for $250, the ad said it had belonged to his dad and they were clearing out his things.
First it was listed as part of a two day in person sale at the house, and later a bit farther away. It was up for months with no takers.
I offered less but he wouldn't budge on the price. Then the ad price dropped to $150, then $100, and finally it was gone. Around the same time I had bought an SX-1050 for $75 listed AS-IS, untested, as found. It was 40 minutes away and the seller wanted to meet at a storage facility. When I got there it was a woman in her 70's who said she was trying to clear out her dead brothers things so she could finally get rid of the locker she was renting.
I bought the receiver, a matching wood hifi rack, a same era CT-F950 tape deck, and a PL-530 tt all for $100, and she then gave me gave me all the albums she had which I thought were going to break the springs in my car on the ride home. I tried listing the tape deck but got no takers, I finally sold it for $25 to a guy who refurbs and sells equipment in another state. I did sell off the unwanted albums as well, but kept about half of them. I see now that the store that guy had is now gone, a are several other vintage music and hifi shops that sprang up over the past 10 or so years. I don't think any remain .

The SX-1050 was like new, it replaced my SX-650 in my living room and I kept the PL-520 as well.
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Nice score!
 
Islander21 said:
Thanks for all the responses. I'd LIKE to have a clean Pioneer SX 850/950 or perhaps a Sansui 7070, but I don't NEED one, especially if it's overpriced. I'll be patient and wait for the right one to come around at the right price. I get good enough sound from my Technics Sa 727 and my Luxman 1040.
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Consider a realistic sta2080 very nice receiver very robust classic looks plenty of power no marantz or pioneer tax ! Made to compete with the big boys !
 
I've always preferred the X50 series from Pioneer, they seem to have better sound, at least to my ears. (I've got a buddy who absolutely hates it though and tells me over and over I need to buy something with tubes. I had tubes, didn't like tubes, I couldn't stand the wait for it to warm up or the fact that every other year I was spending money on it for new tubes, and other repairs.

This 950 and 1050 have found their forever home as far as I'm concerned, unless I find a deal on a 1250, but I can't imagine needing any more power in a house that don't have a room bigger than 12x12ft.

The prices on eBay do not reflect the prices on CL, I could almost guarantee if I listed one of these on CL I'd likely not get a single serious reply, just scammers, date miners, and tire kickers. I listed my SX 650, which is 100% and ready to go, but all original for $300 for two months, I got nothing but 'Is this still for sale' emails and "call me' type emails with phone numbers that either don't exist or never answer from a far off zip code.

I see dozens listed all the time for five times that but I decided to try and buy one and all I got after sending off my number to get a call back was a hundred spam calls trying to sell me solar panels or new windows for the next month. The same with FB. On eBay there's too big a risk of someone claiming it don't work or not as described and shipping you back a box of rocks for an instant refund. It happened to me over a set of hubcaps, the guy paid, I shipped and two days before the item even showed as delivered he claimed "not as described and i got a 14 lb box with a three red bricks in return, the day after the box showed as delivered to him.

So now anything I buy I plan to keep, unless someone shows up with cash, its not for sale, CL, FB, and fleabay have become nearly irrelevant these days for all but the Chinese sellers who flooded the place in 2020.

Its a shame because nearly all my gear came from CL, with a few eBay buys long ago before it got bad there. I gave up buying after buying a dead receiver that was supposed to be mint, a CD player that looked like it took a lightning hit, and an Integrated amp that had 7 different brands of output transistors installed, and only two of them correct.
All but the last one went back, those sellers took the returns, the last seller was gone like the wind, closed their account and were gone. For the $18 I spent for it I just took it as a lesson learned not to believe what they say there. (It was listed as a Fully refurbished, Works 100%, new outputs, new caps,"
It had two new caps, the fuses were jumped with two pieces of bolts with strips of white electrical tape around the middle to make them look like fuses, and the outputs looked used, being made by Motorola, ON, Toshiba, and RCA. (The originals should have been all Japanese).
I rebuilt it but it cost more in parts over three years than i cared to spend on it but at least now I've got an expensive amp vs a $37.94 loss in the cost of the amp and shipping.
The seller was likely angry that it didn't bring more so he screwed around with it before shipping it. The ad pics showed all new outputs and a tray full of used caps but its not what I got. I wasn't the one who listed it for $.99 and I wasn't the one who misspelled 'Onkyo', 'amplifier', and 'rebuilt' or the one who listed it in with antiques vs electronics at the time

There's no way I should have been able to get the two deals I got recently on the SX950 and 1050, but the seller was an old guy who probably had his daughter or granddaughter list them for him and the description was just a cut and paste from an online ad from when it was new. The pic was of the 1050 was showing it covered in a fancy flowered pad only showing the front of it from about 15 ft away.

I constantly hear people say they'd never answer a 'bad' ad like that because its always junk. My neighbor saw what I carried into the house that day and he looked at me like i was nuts, he's not a stereo guy and if it don't have earbuds he don't want it.
A guy like that wouldn't look twice at any ad.

Nearly every last piece of gear I have here came from CL and from bad ads or ads with no pictures. About half of my stuff came from ads for other items and much of turned to be 'also had for sale' type items that weren't even listed.

I answered an ad for a pair of Infinity Qb speakers, there was no pic, the guy refused to email back, would only call. it turned out his neighbors' daughter put the ad up for him, he didn't own a computer and could only speak on his home phone because he was so hard of hearing he used a deaf persons type phone.
He didn't have a cell phone. After a 10 minute conversation with the guy, I realized he had a full system he was trying to sell but for what ever reason only the speakers got listed. It turned out that the Yamaha M50 amp and C50 preamp were listed under motorcycle parts titled as ' Old Yamaha stuff'

He would only meet me at a local parking lot near his house, I did, and he brought everything but the table it sat on. He wanted $40 for the speakers, $100 for the amp and preamp, and another $10 for all the cables, a Sound Craftsman EQ, a Technics SL 1500 turntable, and a Technics dual cassette deck. Plus he tossed a huge Walmart bag full of cables in my trunk was I was loading it all up. I didn't realize till i got home that there were over 50 cables there, every one high end cloth or braided wrap cables in various lengths and types. I gladly paid what he was asking, and he looked shocked that it was that easy. Every last piece of gear was spotless and in mint shape.

I asked if he had anything else for sale and he said 'Everything', he was moving to FL and didn't want to take anything with him. A week later I bought his lawnmower, refrigerator, chest freezer and patio set for $200, and he delivered it. All of it was nearly brand new. I heard later he passed away only a few months after moving. If I hadn't of gotten it then, chances are it would have gone to some estate sale where some flipper would have grabbed it up and listed it all like the SX-950 this thread was started about. it for what it was worth. I kept it all since it was all an upgrade from what I had prior.

It all was from answering an ad with no pics and a crap title.

Sure there's a ton of scam ads but a Google voice number and a few emails usually weeds them out fast. The tough part is usually dealing with someone who was told everyone out there is out to rob them, or they've been robbed somehow before online and don't trust anyone.
 
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