Ruslan_603
New Member
Hey all, new kid, so fresh I just tripped out of the account signup and faceplanted straight into the boards for assistance with my reciever.
Now, normally i could have dealt with its minor problems such as burnt indicator lights, but things have just gone south.
See, when i originally got this, I had found it neglected and in the trash at a condo complex, it still worked pretty decently too! There was a missing knob and a single switch cover I salvaged off some 1960's sears budget clunker that had been completely totalled on some other curb i found a month or two later.
Now, to get into the problems, when I found it; It's one major issue was that the audio on the right channel would not function easily (in stereo mode. In mono they both work fine), unless I jiggled the stereo/mono, and Tape monitor switches until it clicked into connectivity.
If that were still the problem, i wouldn't be here. Today, i had a rude awakening as i discovered my shop radio would no longer amplify the AUX circuit, as in I'd have to max out the volume knob to even get a reasonable volume, and even then it didn't sound right.
So, If any of you have suggestions I'd love to hear them.
- None of the caps look to have bulged, surprisingly, but they may have dried!
- There is this mysterious blue wire on the tuner/AUX/PHONO board, which makes no sense as every single other bridge wire on the boards is your typical non-insulated bars from A to B.
- I don't own an oscilloscope yet so, i can't really check much else as easily.
General overview
So, for those who want a few more details about me:
I've surprisingly had four pioneer recievers over the years, starting with cheapos.
a Pioneer SX 3400 from the rubble of an abandoned house.
An SX-550 I bought for $20 at a pawn shop which has similar problems to the 3700 (given to a friend as a gift, and to fix)
A meh SX-303 reciever which was lackluster in every spec compared to my previous owns, found in the grass near a recently demolished abandoned house (along with a technics tape deck, I didn't bother keeping it, gave that away.)
And finally, this 3700 I've found being yeeted onto the curb on a rainy day. (luckily I got my hands on it JUST as rain started...)
I think as this is my most expensive reciever to date, and I hear it's worth at least maybe 1-200, perhaps more, I should make a concerted effort to at least try and repair this one myself.
I hadn't really been all that into audio just for the sake of being vintage, but with time bought some fitting AKG-K240 MKII headphones, and kinda grew to love the warmer sound of an old stereo compared to the sterile digital sounds. When my 550 would no longer work on one channel, I bought a cheap $25 home theater system from the thrift store as a temporary fix, Sony.
I hated everything about it, from the synthetic echo and filters over the music i could not turn off, to how complicated the settings were without appropriate buttons to easily work the equalizer. Lately the thing's just been giving me surge protection notices out of nowhere and automatically shutting off though i haven't moved it in about a year. Really not worth the effort.
I figure it's about time i restore this anyways, since for the past few years there has been an increased interest in creating synth/wave music once again, which in my opinion is one of the best things ever.
This 3700's been plugged into my computer, until it started to get a little wild with the speakers not doing their job in stereo, I moved it with the intent to repair it, but now I have no option, I can't wait any longer, think of all those tracks that are going unplayed!
Now, normally i could have dealt with its minor problems such as burnt indicator lights, but things have just gone south.
See, when i originally got this, I had found it neglected and in the trash at a condo complex, it still worked pretty decently too! There was a missing knob and a single switch cover I salvaged off some 1960's sears budget clunker that had been completely totalled on some other curb i found a month or two later.
Now, to get into the problems, when I found it; It's one major issue was that the audio on the right channel would not function easily (in stereo mode. In mono they both work fine), unless I jiggled the stereo/mono, and Tape monitor switches until it clicked into connectivity.
If that were still the problem, i wouldn't be here. Today, i had a rude awakening as i discovered my shop radio would no longer amplify the AUX circuit, as in I'd have to max out the volume knob to even get a reasonable volume, and even then it didn't sound right.
So, If any of you have suggestions I'd love to hear them.
- None of the caps look to have bulged, surprisingly, but they may have dried!
- There is this mysterious blue wire on the tuner/AUX/PHONO board, which makes no sense as every single other bridge wire on the boards is your typical non-insulated bars from A to B.
- I don't own an oscilloscope yet so, i can't really check much else as easily.
General overview
So, for those who want a few more details about me:
I've surprisingly had four pioneer recievers over the years, starting with cheapos.
a Pioneer SX 3400 from the rubble of an abandoned house.
An SX-550 I bought for $20 at a pawn shop which has similar problems to the 3700 (given to a friend as a gift, and to fix)
A meh SX-303 reciever which was lackluster in every spec compared to my previous owns, found in the grass near a recently demolished abandoned house (along with a technics tape deck, I didn't bother keeping it, gave that away.)
And finally, this 3700 I've found being yeeted onto the curb on a rainy day. (luckily I got my hands on it JUST as rain started...)
I think as this is my most expensive reciever to date, and I hear it's worth at least maybe 1-200, perhaps more, I should make a concerted effort to at least try and repair this one myself.
I hadn't really been all that into audio just for the sake of being vintage, but with time bought some fitting AKG-K240 MKII headphones, and kinda grew to love the warmer sound of an old stereo compared to the sterile digital sounds. When my 550 would no longer work on one channel, I bought a cheap $25 home theater system from the thrift store as a temporary fix, Sony.
I hated everything about it, from the synthetic echo and filters over the music i could not turn off, to how complicated the settings were without appropriate buttons to easily work the equalizer. Lately the thing's just been giving me surge protection notices out of nowhere and automatically shutting off though i haven't moved it in about a year. Really not worth the effort.
I figure it's about time i restore this anyways, since for the past few years there has been an increased interest in creating synth/wave music once again, which in my opinion is one of the best things ever.
This 3700's been plugged into my computer, until it started to get a little wild with the speakers not doing their job in stereo, I moved it with the intent to repair it, but now I have no option, I can't wait any longer, think of all those tracks that are going unplayed!
