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Pioneer sx 780

V

Vintagefan25

New Member
Hello
I just joined this forum and I apologize if this is the wrong section for my question. I recently acquired a Pioneer sx 780 in very good condition. Everything works great. I am looking to pair it with solid speakers and I am looking at the Fluance hi fi 3 way towers or the Elac debut reference b6.2 option. Fluance said not to use the pioneer with them because it will damage the speakers or the receiver. Since they are passive speakers I am not sure how it would damage them. The Elac units are rated at a lower sensitivity so it would require more effort from the pioneer to drive them. Any opinions? I also have a sansui 9090db which I know can drive both speaker options quite well but I want to enjoy using the pioneer unit. I listen to jazz, classical and music of various types from CDs to bluetooth switched amazon music on my phone. Thank you in advance for your insights
 
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Welcome aboard!

I don't really understand how the amp could damage the Fluance speakers. The 780 is rated at 45 watts. It would drive the ELACs just fine. Unless you are running the system in a really large room and wanting to listen at high dB levels the 45 watts will be ample. My first system was a Pioneer SX-3600, the follow on amp series to yours, and a pair of Advent speakers which were about the same sensitivity as the ELACs. That amp was 30 watts and I never had a time where I thought it was under powered for what I wanted. Enjoy the journey of some vintage gear!
 
I am sick of such opinions from sellers of HiFi - equipment. Why should the Pioneer (a device I always liked) damage a totally normal passive speaker? If vou don´t abuse the system. And if you do so, you can damage each speaker with each amplifier.

I have sold and serviced consumer´s electronic back then when the SX-780 was new for a living for decades I have learned that job.
 
Just a wild ass theory, but perhaps
1. The people at Fluance don't know what an SX-780 is?
2. It seems a lot of speaker designs nowadays are not terribly concerned about keeping the impedance above four ohms, or they have crazy current hungry designs with high phase angles that are hard on an amp. The Fluance page says they are 8 ohm compatible, which does not really say much of anything. So perhaps they think the SX-780 will have problems.
3. They are just blowing smoke up your backside.

The STK modules in the 780 are not the most robust things and don't take a lot of abuse, but they should not damage the speakers if operated within their limits.

I don't think you are looking at this model but it is interesting to note what looks like a lower end vintage Pioneer receiver in this image from Fluance.

fluance.jpg
 
mrk229 said:
Just a wild ass theory, but perhaps
1. The people at Fluance don't know what an SX-780 is?
2. It seems a lot of speaker designs nowadays are not terribly concerned about keeping the impedance above four ohms, or they have crazy current hungry designs with high phase angles that are hard on an amp. The Fluance page says they are 8 ohm compatible, which does not really say much of anything. So perhaps they think the SX-780 will have problems.
3. They are just blowing smoke up your backside.

The STK modules in the 780 are not the most robust things and don't take a lot of abuse, but they should not damage the speakers if operated within their limits.

I don't think you are looking at this model but it is interesting to note what looks like a lower end vintage Pioneer receiver in this image from Fluance.

View attachment 3784977
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Indeed, that appears to be a pioneer sx-434. Was the budget offering mid 70s. I have an sx-424, previous generation. Pretty nice little units really. Small footprint, great tuner, good sound.
 
The STK modules are a big red flag to me at the age they are at. I lost a KLH6 woofer to a Fisher STK module going BOOM a few years ago. When they were new, they sounded fine and had plenty of power.....but 45 years down they road they are a risk, probably not a huge one but still a risk.
 
Bodyblue said:
The STK modules are a big red flag to me at the age they are at. I lost a KLH6 woofer to a Fisher STK module going BOOM a few years ago. When they were new, they sounded fine and had plenty of power.....but 45 years down they road they are a risk, probably not a huge one but still a risk.
Click to expand...
Oh good catch!

The sx-434 is an stk unit as well as the sx-780! (The sx-424 i spoke of is not.)
 
Well, went back to Fluance requesting they clarify their feedback and they admitted they messed up. They thought I was asking about their powered bookshelf series and realized I was referring to their passive three way hi fi signature towers ($799). They still said my pioneer receiver would be under powered to make the speakers sound well but it would still work, just not as well. I would think that with a 89db sensitivity it should not be too hard to drive these units with the sx 780. I am between these and the 2-way Elac debut 6.2 bookshelf which cost the same or the much pricier Klipsch Heresy IVs.
 
Vintagefan25 said:
Well, went back to Fluance requesting they clarify their feedback and they admitted they messed up. They thought I was asking about their powered bookshelf series and realized I was referring to their passive three way hi fi signature towers ($799). They still said my pioneer receiver would be under powered to make the speakers sound well but it would still work, just not as well. I would think that with a 89db sensitivity it should not be too hard to drive these units with the sx 780. I am between these and the 2-way Elac debut 6.2 bookshelf which cost the same or the much pricier Klipsch Heresy IVs.
Click to expand...
They are out of thier minds.......or they are lying about how sensitive they are.
 
Vintagefan25 said:
Well, went back to Fluance requesting they clarify their feedback and they admitted they messed up. They thought I was asking about their powered bookshelf series and realized I was referring to their passive three way hi fi signature towers ($799). They still said my pioneer receiver would be under powered to make the speakers sound well but it would still work, just not as well. I would think that with a 89db sensitivity it should not be too hard to drive these units with the sx 780. I am between these and the 2-way Elac debut 6.2 bookshelf which cost the same or the much pricier Klipsch Heresy IVs.
Click to expand...
There are plenty of other speaker companies. Why not look for something else?

:idea:
 
Mr Boochie said:
There are plenty of other speaker companies. Why not look for something else?

:idea:
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Exactly........they are feeding him a line of BS. Now they may think an old receiver may not be the best choice for their speakers (a fair point) but to say around 45 wpc is not enough power to drive them well? No thanks. They can keep their ugly $700 little speakers.
 
Bodyblue said:
Exactly........they are feeding him a line of BS. Now they may think an old receiver may not be the best choice for their speakers (a fair point) but to say around 45 wpc is not enough power to drive them well? No thanks. They can keep their ugly $700 little speakers.
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They seem more worried about potential legal problems than audio.

That's a red flag for me. :(
 
Mr Boochie said:
There are plenty of other speaker companies. Why not look for something else?
Click to expand...

Best advice yet. Find some reputable company that offers COPPER wound voice coils which are more than 8mm diameter, uses magnets and poles which have better flux density, and can maintain something close to 8Ω through their entire response range.

Fluance was a company that made vinyl and stylus (and probably toilet bowl) cleaners, and now has diverged into slapping their name on some Malaysian speaker company's rejects?

The STK modules in the 780 can go endlessly at 35W with 8Ω loads, but aren't going to like higher levels of constant wattage and/or lower impedance - Not just the rating, but actual impedance throughout the curve.
 
Without getting into the (gritty, individual) details, there is too much value within the used speaker market to justify a new speaker purchase unless it's EXACTLY what you desire. $400 will get you some incredibly good used speakers, far better than anything new at twice the price.

Turntables and speakers. Think at least twice before you buy new.
 
I have been looking at used speakers in my area but pickings are slim to overpriced. $1300 for pioneer hpm 100 is a bit high for me. Also searched for advent, ads, klh but so far nothing. I am considering new klh 5s as the klipsh are like 4 grand new
 
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