I need to get headphones so haven't tried it just yet. Hoping to try it this week.
I need to get headphones so haven't tried it just yet. Hoping to try it this week.
Yes, I was moving the speaker cables when cycle through the channels.
The Rebel
Active Member
KingBubba to the rescue!! I would almost guarantee this is the issue with your receiver. One of my 1250s began to have this horrible sound in one of the channels, scared the mess out of me. I figured it was having a nuclear meltdown and I was going to have to spend hours with it on the diagnostic bench to find the problem. Low and behold, I started playing with the filter switches and to my SURPRISE it cleared up. BINGO!! It turned out to be the 30Hz filter switch as the culprit. Not the easiest part of the receiver to access in order to do a thorough cleaning, so I opted to do the second best thing, do it through the front panel as best I could. Front panel has to come off in order to get the cleaner of choice to seep down into the dirty contacts with the receiver carefully resting on its rear panel(heat sinks) allowing gravity to work the cleaner down into the switches. Then cycle them for several minutes to get it worked in. Repeat. Then spray deoxit shield into it and work that in. I use MG Chemicals NuTrol for cleaning and various Caig Deoxit products for special areas of service. YMMV
I believe it is KingBubba that had a thread on this very topic several years ago that got me going again. It's been working ever since. Ever so often it may get that sound for a second or two. I can turn it off and cycle that switch about 20-30 times and it will play fine again. Hope this helps.
@Watthour @avionic
So latest update, I finally got the adapter to test headphones and am having the same issue. I unplugged the speakers and deselected ABC channels. With balance on Center, I get sound, when I move to the left I get sound, when I move to the right I only get static and barely can hear music.
I take it this mean it is likely not the NC contacts being dirty or failing correct?
Remaining potential issues:
- Volume control needing a cleaning (Thank you @simplynuts )
- Filter switches needing a cleaning. (Thank you @KingBubba & @The Rebel)
Any other thoughts out there on what the problem could be? If not, I'll take it back to the local tech to address these two items. I'll also have him check to see if the 4 main capacitors are shot or not. Lastly, any references for who might be the best person on the Central East Coast (Carolinas) to help me get this thing working again? Already being $600-$700 deep in to just repairs, I'd rather pay a little extra for the rest of it to be gone over in detail and refurbished by the right person. I'm certainly not qualified to work on this myself and would be terrified to attempt it.
Thank you all for your input and help, it's greatly appreciated!
So latest update, I finally got the adapter to test headphones and am having the same issue. I unplugged the speakers and deselected ABC channels. With balance on Center, I get sound, when I move to the left I get sound, when I move to the right I only get static and barely can hear music.
I take it this mean it is likely not the NC contacts being dirty or failing correct?
Remaining potential issues:
- Volume control needing a cleaning (Thank you @simplynuts )
- Filter switches needing a cleaning. (Thank you @KingBubba & @The Rebel)
Any other thoughts out there on what the problem could be? If not, I'll take it back to the local tech to address these two items. I'll also have him check to see if the 4 main capacitors are shot or not. Lastly, any references for who might be the best person on the Central East Coast (Carolinas) to help me get this thing working again? Already being $600-$700 deep in to just repairs, I'd rather pay a little extra for the rest of it to be gone over in detail and refurbished by the right person. I'm certainly not qualified to work on this myself and would be terrified to attempt it.
Thank you all for your input and help, it's greatly appreciated!
Thanks. With the system off, I cycled the filter switches somewhere between 50-100 times and nothing changed. However, I do recall instances where with the system playing and everything working, if I would press the filter switches, it would cause quite a bit of static. That makes me wonder if it is the problem.
I have not tryed cycling the volume knob though. I'll try cycling both again.
Regardless of the outcome, I'm thinking of suggesting the tech do the following tasks first to see if that fixes the issues. Then leave it to him to continue to diagnose if problem is not corrected. Open to and welcome any other suggestions!
Remaining potential issues:
1. Confirm 4 primary capacitors are good and functioning correctly.
2. Clean filter switches.
3. Clean volume control.
4. Clean upstream switches from filter switches.
So spoke with the tech again. He said all of the switches have been cleaned already including the volume control. He's still thinking it's one of the 4 capacitors becuase when they were testing them voltage readings were spiking from it's true value on one of the them. Eventually the readings stabilized after other fixes so they thought they were good to go.
What he offered, is for his tech to take my receiver home to his personal shop and "stress test the p*ss out of it" to figure out what the problem is. He said they did that to an extent on his bench but not as much as they need to. By taking it home, his tech will spend more time testing and avoid racking up labor costs.
Seems like a pretty nice offer and appreciate them working with me. I think at this point, this will be the best option forward. Open to thoughts. Will share the outcome in a couple weeks.
Thanks again for all the input.
What he offered, is for his tech to take my receiver home to his personal shop and "stress test the p*ss out of it" to figure out what the problem is. He said they did that to an extent on his bench but not as much as they need to. By taking it home, his tech will spend more time testing and avoid racking up labor costs.
Seems like a pretty nice offer and appreciate them working with me. I think at this point, this will be the best option forward. Open to thoughts. Will share the outcome in a couple weeks.
Thanks again for all the input.
$600-$700 for repairs? Sometimes when dealing with (so called Techs) we need a V8 moment...Have your Tech study this Thread on the SX-1250 for a proper restore (as to a working unit). Cold solider joints, Relays, Caps and that dreaded Red Glue are part of an evaluation and from the sound of this "Tech" and a quote from Master Po "Patience, young grasshopper". If I was Yoda and the $$'s you spent thus far..."this Tech he is not".
Don't be discourage as vintage equipment will need proper care and hopefully you will learn along the way on repairing yourself (lot's of knowledge on this site). I would say this should be your LAST time (hopefully this will be fixed). Will be watching this thread.
https://audiokarma.org/forums/index.php?threads/pioneer-sx-1250-recap-and-restoration-thread.420950/
Not to mention that the main filter caps have nothing to do with your issues... It's not a bad idea to change them after all these years, but 4 of them would cost $100-150 not including labor, plus he may gouge you on the parts cost.
Kingbleu
Well-Known Member
I had a similar problem and this was a year after a full restoration. Just pushing the filter switches in and out a few times solved it. Try it while the unit is on. You might get lucky.
Matt817394
New Member
Any update? I'm frustrated with my 1250 that I've had serviced a few times. It is working well, but there is some distortion on the high frequencies in the right channel. All sources. I was going to take it somewhere else but I'm nervous finding someone reliable out here. I may try and mess around with the filter switches. Thanks.
Here is a video demo of the problem. You can really notice it as the music gets quieter, around the 8-second mark. https://share.icloud.com/photos/0795KbqKRqX0sL57kgQljdwHA
Here is a video demo of the problem. You can really notice it as the music gets quieter, around the 8-second mark. https://share.icloud.com/photos/0795KbqKRqX0sL57kgQljdwHA
Last edited:
Where is out here?
Did you run it as an amp only?
Preamp only?
Swap channels?
Try headphones?
Speakers swapped?
Sweeten the pot with something to go on
Last edited:
Matt817394
New Member
Where is out here?
Did you run it as an amp only?
Preamp only?
Swap channels?
Try headphones?
Speakers swapped?
Sweeten the pot with something to go on
Thanks for the reply!
Orange County, CA—seems like the places I've found have really negative reviews.
Not clear to me how to run as amp or pre-amp only.
Swapping channels puts the distortion in the left channel.
It is audible with headphones.
Swapped speakers, same problem.
Working the filter switches didn't seem to have an impact.
Last edited:
Tell
youre right about Orange County repair shops, nobody there in my experience did a good job on mine. Matter of fact, no one actually fixed my problem the same as yours… I have a 1980 thats being worked on by Zebulon1 (really knows what he’s doing) up in vegas…so far so good. He’s doing a full restoration which is what mine needs. I wont be surprised if yours needs it too. Avoid waste of money, time, gas, heartaches and get yours restored. All in one shot. You should contact him, he’ll tell you what it needs…
Last edited:
Matt817394
New Member
Wow, thank you both for the replies! I really appreciate the offer, @zebulon1 . Hauling to Vegas would indeed be a haul for me, but let me see what I can do and I'll be in touch!
If he ever get a hold of your gear, it will be sooo worth it..trust me…ive gone thru everything you’ve said..its a heartache knowing you have this awesome machine but then its not giving you the full potential. These things are old and in need of lots of major TLC that only an expert can do…i hope everything works out for you…
Last edited: