SX-450 flickers...but is it safe?

[rucarlso]

Found a SX-450 receiver at a thrift for cheap, and having never owned any Pioneer I picked it up. It flickers upon powering up, for either 20 seconds or perhaps up to 60 seconds. Then it's good to go. After reading here at AK that this is a known issue with this unit, my question is just whether or not an SX-450 that flicker like this is safe? As in, safe to keep it going for hours of listening pleasure? Safe to keep it plugged in?

Even though this is an entry level piece of Pioneer (to say the least)---I instantly loved the sound. Gonna have to find a more powerful Pioneer receiver soon!

 

[DaWoofer]

I suggest you leave it on 24 hrs a day if your using it as a daily unit. It is tough on that switch and it will soon fail I believe. I had the same problem. Find a remedy for the switch. There is a thread here somewhere about re-wiring those Pioneer switches like that. I thought that Pioneer perhaps only used 1/2 of the switch or something. Search and you might find it quickly.
Otherwise, its not dangerous to just leave it on, once its up and running it's safe. I would check DC offset and bias and perhaps adjust as needed first so you know it's idling along nice and cool.

 

[Watthour]

Remove the switch and clean the contacts. It's been covered in detail in several threads here, like this:

http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=173215

http://audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=53495

 

[rucarlso]

Will do! Many thanks for the advice and links.