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Pioneer SX-680

Hell. My Beagle/Jack Russel Mix bitch sheds almost that much in a week. Vacuum the house 3 times a week just to keep T-Shirts from looking like a winter coat. She's a good dog otherwise.
 
@john stumpf, tell me about it. Doesn't look like previous owner ever cleaned it haha.

@larryderouin, I have German Shepherds and they shed but my receivers don't look that bad. You could hear the receiver breathe once I sprayed it cleaned with the air compressor
 
I finally got around to polishing the push buttons. I'm going to polish them a little bit more but they look pretty good. Attached are some before and afters, the blue magic works really well.
 

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I finally got around to cleaning the buttons and knobs again and got it all back together. It almost looks brand new and plays even better. Thanks everyone for the advice while working on this unit. Attached are some finished photos and some of the unit when I first got it.
 

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Great to see you have it sorted. You just need to nourish the cabinet to give it a dust free look. Not sure what products you guys have In the U.S., but I get by with Mr Sheen.
 
Haha, funny you say that. That is the first thing my wife said to me after I was proud I got it cleaned up and playing. I'm going to have to take some pledge to it but then not sure what I'm going to do with it. Might keep it in my shop but not sure to be honest. Again thanks everyone for the help and on to the next one haha. I recently got a 750 I'm going to get up and running and replace the veneer case with real wood. Might use walnut maybe even ash.
 
680's get loud quick?

That brings to mind one of my favorite Walter White quotes. ("You're G-x$%##^' right".) I loved mine like it was a 1980 until it was stolen Christmas Eve of 1984. (I was playing Church Services.) A friend bought me a (wedding gift) Technics that was supposed to be negligibly higher power model about three months after. I didn't have access to one, but I'd wager even a 580 would've laid it low. Class A? Ran hot and sounded awful. Class F in my book. (Yes, I know that was supposed to be its Class of operations, but it died within a year.) Unless it was left out in the rain for three decades, I'd wager that 680 will bounce right back after you clean it up and do some restorative work on it. Take care of it, and it'll take care of you. Always happy to know another x80 is rescued.
 
@Ricktptman, the 680 is nice and I really like it. I have a few sx models and I swear the 680 plays just as loud as my 750, 880 and close to my 1050.

It's a nice little receiver and don't think I will be able to part with it.
 
I'm certain it gets as loud, but I've owned all of em and there's a definite difference in the headroom of all of them. They do clump into (not unexpected) groups though. The 580 and 680 sound the most alike. The 780 and 880 sound similar with the larger of each group having slightly more headroom. (Plays cleanly more loudly.) the 980 and 1080 show more difference. The 980 is a pretty literal midpoint between the 880 and the 1080. The 1080 is where things start to get serious. The 1280 is a pretty decent midpoint (again, focusing on headroom) between the 1080 and the 1980. The 1980 is the big daddy rabbit for a reason. The one thing they ALL have is a very clearly defined (and similar) house sound that for my money is as good as it gets for that time. (Later I think it went backwards before it went forward again.) It doesn't sound like tube gear, but it definitely reproduces the goods on the right speakers. (Those from that time, especially. HPM's. JBL-L's, C-V's, some Infinities, etc.) The tuners are the same in the 580/680/780. The 880 and 980 share the same one if I remember correctly. (It's been a while.) The 1080 and 1280 are the same five gang tuner and the 1980 had Pioneer's first Quartz lock. I prefer the 1280 tuner for SQ and the 1980 for sensitivity. But the 1980's tuners have to be realigned. Some of them are twitchy. But that's just my personal preference. None of 'em are bad. Classics all. Back when High Fidelity was High Fidelity....lol. I could have some of those details wrong. I did my great "shootout" with them as I got them and that project was completed about ten years ago. I've got many of them sealed up in storage and use the 1280 and 1980 as daily drivers. I'm about at my limit for gear. It's a chore just to make sure they all get fed and exercised once every week or so......
 
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I actually prefer Solid State all other things being equal. As long as they're driven into the loads for which they are designed I think they (the Classic Silver and Elite Pioneer gear-especially preamps and source components for the latter) sound terrific. I have tube amps but I'm not really a tube guy. I just needed something to keep my MR-78 company in my living room..... ; - )
 
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