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Worth $225?

steveyager

New Member
I have an opportunity to buy a Pioneer SX 636 and pair of KLH Model 22's for $225. Both in excellent condition. I'm fairly novice with vintage gear and wondering if you all think it's a good price. Thanks!
Steve
 
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Your posting may get moved to Dollars and Sense, since it deals with pricing.

The KLH 22's are a nice bookshelf, with nice, tight bass and a good balanced sound for an economy speaker...very similar to the KLH 24 and 32. The crossover capacitors will definitely need to be replaced (cheap and easy to do....you don't even have to be able to solder - wire nuts will be fine), and the cloth surrounds will need to be re-sealed. The Vintage AR site on ebay has the right product for this...kind of pricey, though ($15?).

They cannot handle a lot of power....they start bottoming out if you try to get to party levels with them. The SX636 would probably be a good match for them. Just be aware that while this series of receivers is quite robust, it's 40 years old. It may serve you just fine for many years, or it may already have problems. Test it out well before you buy it. Check for any significant hiss, noise or humming in the speaker output. Check all the knob and pushbutton functions (volume, tone controls, speaker selector, etc) to be sure they work correctly. If you hear static when turning the knobs, this usually is no big deal...they just need to be cleaned/deoxidized (easy to do). Check all the lamps to see that they are working, as well as the tuning dial and the tuning meters. Look at the back panel to see if any of the RCA jacks are broken. You can do most of the testing by using the FM tuner...but ideally, you would also check to the aux or tape in connections work as well (if one of them does, all of the others will as well...with the exception of the phono connections, which can only be tested with a turntable).

Finally, in answer to your question....even if both are in perfect condition (operationally and cosmetically), I think the price it too high. In my opinion, $175 would be a fair price, and as much as you could probably expect to get if you were selling them.

Good luck!
 
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Ah, I didn't see there was a "dollars and cents" thread. You're right, I shouldn't posted there. These components are coming from an audiophile, so that work may have already been done. I'll email him to see. Thanks for the advice about the price too. He's not going to like that. Ah well. Thanks so much for the advice.
 
He's looking for a top ebay price. That receiver usually goes for $100 or so on ebay (which represents the highest prices in the marketplace)...pristine examples for $125-160. I've even seen them go as high as $200 plus, but that's crazy unless you are trying to complete a collection or some such thing.

Bottom line, its a fine little 30 watt receiver. Cool looking, sounds good, but nothing special in terms of sound quality. Will somebody pay his price? Probably. But to me, it's too high.

If he's had the receiver serviced recently, and it has no problems, and the speakers are pristine and have been recapped and resealed, and you like the sound and the looks, then $200 is a fair price. So if everything checks out, what's another $25? $225 is certainly at the very high end for this combo, but if it's in good shape, you'd probably have to spend twice that to get something new that's comparable.
 
'Pretty nice lower power receiver in my book. I have a 636 in my bedroom and listen to it often. The tuner in mine isn't all that sensitive and has some hiss but has a very nice tone and surprisingly good stereo separation. I'd recommend one for a smaller listening area. I agree with the others that the price seems high unless the owner has done recapping, etc.

Here's an old thread talking about the 636 and some other older Pioneer receivers:

http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=55953
 
The price is a bit "optimistic" on the seller's part. (Pretty high).

BUT, it may depend on where you are.

Folks, as you move away from the larger cities in the US, gear gets to be far and few between.

Yes, there is ebay for competing sales, but there is a lot of thread activity about the type of gear and shipping that you get dealing off ebay.


Buying from here (AK) is usually a much safer and saner thing. But noobs don't know the good folks here at first.

NOW, IF the gear has been fully serviced and restored, yes the price is OK.
IF its in original condition, I say, no.
 
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