Pioneer SX 1050

[rotini]

A non-working but cosmetically good (if not excellent) Pioneer SX 1050 for $150. Owner says he bought it working ~15 years ago, and when taking off and on the cover, suddenly stopped working.

I realize looking at eBay prices this might be considered a deal, even for a non-working unit, but eBay and craigslist have different market values, and deservedly so. I don't want to pick this up just because it's a "good deal" (compared to recent rising prices, at least), but because this is a worthwhile and long-lasting piece. I picked up a SX 950 that was working and in good condition for $100, which seemed to be a better deal (my first recap/bias and now it's a keeper).

Is the SX-1050 significantly better than the SX 950? Do I get more out of the increased headroom and is there an audible difference at similar volume levels? Do you think the SX 1050 can have a place in one audiophile's "journey", when my next step is moving into high-end separates? Should I save my money, or will I always regret not jumping for that upgraded big round toroidal transformer?

 

[bd1886]

A working one can be had for $300 or so but they need a going through mostly. $150.00 for cosmetics and the chance of it needing just a little work.....I'd jump. (The savings can mean you have $150.00 to $175.00 of the work to bring it up to speed paid for.) Suddenly stopped working sounds real promising to me!

 

[Wolverine]

I don't have a 950 but I can say that my 1050 is a step up in SQ from my 850.

I am a little leery of that description as to how it stopped working. Makes it sound like a possible simple fix as opposed to "15 years ago I saw a puff of smoke and then it died". Perhaps I am just being to cynical.

At $150 fixing a serious problem most likely would take you above market price. If you have the knowledge to fix any problems then the cost will be your time and labor for the most part. If not then do you have or do you want to spend what is needed to bring it back to life?

Just my two cents....

 

[iamdgw]

I'm kinda partial to the 1050 - much cheaper to be had than the ToTL 1250 in that series - and I would say not that far off in quality (though I've never owned a 1250)
at 150 I'd jump on it - if the cosmetics are good - I think they have a pretty good potential to achieve higher than $300 in great condition.

 

[rotini]

Recapping should be a piece of cake (I've done it on my 950), and with MarktheFixer's and others' help I'm sure troubleshooting any other problems would be very do-able.

Gah, the issue is simply that I have too much of the same. I suspect the SX 1050 will sound very similar if not undistinguishable from the 950. I am tempted to pass and put my money towards some nice separates. At the same time, a restored SX 1050 would make an excellent gift/piece that would last a very long time. Ebay prices seem to be rising on these, and a restored piece would exceed the dollar amount I put into it easily (excluding labor).