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Pioneer SX-990

jameslauffer

jameslauffer

Active Member
A friend has offered me an extremely nice Pioneer SX-990 for an extremely low price. I've never owned a vintage Pioneer receiver, but have spent time with the Sansui 800 and the Harman Kardon 330c receivers. What are the strengths of the SX-990? I understand that characterizing "sound" is subjective, but would the sound quality be similar to the Sansui and HK? The SX-990 is still all original, and according to my friend, has a bit of non-volume-related "noise." It still has the speaker clips as well. Any shared experiences with this receiver is appreciated. I plan to take a closer look at it this weekend.

Thanks, Jim.
 
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Great tuner section and cap-coupled output. I love the sound of a the 990, the 1500TD is similar.
I'd give it the De-Oxit treatment if you should purchase.
 
I had a Harmon Kardon 330C. As I recall, it only had about 25watts of output power. The Pioneer has much more power and will have much better bass. By better I mean stronger, clearer and deeper.
 
The 990 is a really nice receiver and has a great cabinet. It's very similar sonically to the next series the x2x series. You'll want to dig into some previous threads as it does have some transistors that are prone to failure. As long as the price is within reason its worth buying but I would recommend having the troublesome transistors and caps replaced.
 
gbroot said:
The 990 is a really nice receiver and has a great cabinet. It's very similar sonically to the next series the x2x series. You'll want to dig into some previous threads as it does have some transistors that are prone to failure. As long as the price is within reason its worth buying but I would recommend having the troublesome transistors and caps replaced.
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Thanks for replying. I think the price is quite reasonable (I could eat eight or nine meals at the Golden Arches for the price). I'd hoped that Pioneer experts might share their experience -- and some have! You're right about the cabinet; it is great looking. I also like the range of functions that are available, including two phono inputs. He also has a Kenwood KR-5150, which is quite the ugly duckling, but which, he says, sounds good and is nearly as nice as the Pioneer.
 
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