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dbx BX-3 Amplifier and Pioneer Elite Curiosity

No opinion as to value, though that's high for sure, and there is cachet or whatever the word is in having matching sets. I would not pay more than several hundred $US myself, just on performance, or would wait patiently for one of the units in the last line above to come along. dbx pro, now in Texas, may have documentation (I do not, though I do have the B200 OM, which I wrote, maybe) and may have schematics, not sure. An ace tech (db-ex) in Mass. can work on them and probably has some schematics. I see on the best F/b audiophile page that matching sets are a big thing now, but then so are yuge bucks for Jpn receivers of the 1970s.
 
Nice to meet you, please forgive me for using automatic translation as I do not speak English.
While reading a website of a former SANSUI engineer, I read a story about how he designed and produced the dbx bx-3.
As he wrote above, Koichi Hirano, a former SANSUI amp engineer, formed a company called CTS with his friends in the 1980s and now makes amps in a workshop called Ishino Labs.
When Hirano was still at SANSUI, an acquaintance asked him to design and power amplifier and control amplifier under the dbx brand. The delivery destination will probably be for the U.S. military. The scale of production was about 1,800 pairs and the amount of money was about 200 million yen.
It seems that the paperwork screening was held at Yokota Airfield, a U.S. military base in Japan, and after passing the screening, he left SANSUI with his colleagues, started a brand called CTS, and designed and produced the BX-3 and CX-3 under the dbx brand. Hirano suspects that this was to fill the demand for dbx amplifiers, as dbx did not have orthodox amplifiers at that time. Later, he was also entrusted with the design and production of the dbx 4320 and subwoofers.
The following website describes the background of the project in Japanese. Ishino Lab is a minor company, but it has enthusiastic fans. Also, reading other articles written by him, I think it is quite credible. If you like, you can read them via google translate, etc.
1, https://ishinolab.net/modules/doc_serial/audio_history_japan/serial001_051.html
2，https://ishinolab.net/modules/doc_serial/audio_history_japan/serial001_052.html
 
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painttoad said:
i believe that some of the early soundfield speakers used pioneer drivers
Click to expand...
That could be, but I would think the Soundfields used what everyone else used in that era when they didn't have access to bespoke drivers: Peerless, Eminence. Audax. There were other companies of course, but those were the big three in the raw driver business in that era.
 
Jeepnmon said:
I've owned a couple of dbx BX-3 amplifiers since the early 90's and thought I knew all there was to know about them and then I ran across an ad on Canuck Audio Mart where the owner states that the dbx BX-3 amplifiers were manufactured by Pioneer Elite. I never knew that nor can I find anything online that indicates this. So I emailed the seller and asked how he had learned this and he replied that "Mike @ MM electronics with over 40 years experience confirmed it long ago". Can anyone confirm that these were actually made by Pioneer Elite? Anyone know who "Mike" is/was?

Here's the ad title: FOR SALE: 1989 DBX ( Pioneer ELITE ) BX-3 Power Amp & CX-3 Pre Amplifier

Ad text: "Units are actually manufactured by Pioneer Elite".
Click to expand...
Is that Mike Marola in Rhode Island ? I have that very amp right now in mint condition, they are kind of rare and very heavy at 84 lbs, mine sat unused for a good while , I even have the big pre-amp with it that has a fabulous phono stage , it sat on my dinning room table for a good while, also have the huge DBX speakers rated at 400 watts
 

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Tetsuki said:
Nice to meet you, please forgive me for using automatic translation as I do not speak English.
While reading a website of a former SANSUI engineer, I read a story about how he designed and produced the dbx bx-3.
As he wrote above, Koichi Hirano, a former SANSUI amp engineer, formed a company called CTS with his friends in the 1980s and now makes amps in a workshop called Ishino Labs.
When Hirano was still at SANSUI, an acquaintance asked him to design and power amplifier and control amplifier under the dbx brand. The delivery destination will probably be for the U.S. military. The scale of production was about 1,800 pairs and the amount of money was about 200 million yen.
It seems that the paperwork screening was held at Yokota Airfield, a U.S. military base in Japan, and after passing the screening, he left SANSUI with his colleagues, started a brand called CTS, and designed and produced the BX-3 and CX-3 under the dbx brand. Hirano suspects that this was to fill the demand for dbx amplifiers, as dbx did not have orthodox amplifiers at that time. Later, he was also entrusted with the design and production of the dbx 4320 and subwoofers.
The following website describes the background of the project in Japanese. Ishino Lab is a minor company, but it has enthusiastic fans. Also, reading other articles written by him, I think it is quite credible. If you like, you can read them via google translate, etc.
1, https://ishinolab.net/modules/doc_serial/audio_history_japan/serial001_051.html
2，https://ishinolab.net/modules/doc_serial/audio_history_japan/serial001_052.html
Click to expand...
Does he has the schematics for the DBX 4320 amp ?
 
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