I bought a pioneer sx 1980
& only the dial lights come on
and nothing else works on it
does anyone live in MD that can fix it?
& only the dial lights come on
and nothing else works on it
does anyone live in MD that can fix it?
Does anyone on here know how to work on pioneer sx 1980
- Thread starter stereomann
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thats a mitey fine amp you have there mate well worth fixing hope someone can help 
What you have is one special piece (monster amp era) that should be restored and brought up to spec. I obviously don't live in Maryland, but if it were me I'd send it off if you cannot find a reputable source for vintage repair. More often than not a lot of shops will screw it up and replace the minimum while charging the maximum.
Give Norm (Superduper) a shout. Maybe he can get you in the right direction. I myself cannot invest the time at this moment or I'd tell you to send it here. (Just buried a bunch of time into a special reel to reel I'll post about later.) If he can't help, get onto AudioKarma and see who is in the area.
Give Norm (Superduper) a shout. Maybe he can get you in the right direction. I myself cannot invest the time at this moment or I'd tell you to send it here. (Just buried a bunch of time into a special reel to reel I'll post about later.) If he can't help, get onto AudioKarma and see who is in the area.
Absolutely agree, spend the time to find someone not only qualified, but that has a passion for these pieces.oldskool69 said:If he can't help, get onto AudioKarma and see who is in the area.
So it powers on and lights up, do all lites work? All the function indicator lites too?
Best case scenario maybe just fuses, but wish you all the best in getting this beast up and running.
This receiver is exceptionally complex, and I would not trust anybody to work on it, except master old school technicians. The service manual is not like a manual at all, more like a book or encyclopedia. It has a ton of protection circuits built in that will prevent it from fully powering up if some circuit values are not in line with expectations. I am presuming it never comes out of protection mode? When it does, there will usually be a click after anywhere from 5 to 20 second delay. Adjustments to bias and DC offset are critical to getting it to come out of protection. Furthermore, there are some semiconductors that are basically unobtanium and some creative circuit replacement is often necessary to get these working again. This includes a varistor in the protection circuit as well as the output transistors. If and when replacements are found, the replacements are treated with kids glove to ensure that these rare and valuable replacement pieces are not toasted upon powerup because other related issues were bit addressed before repalcement.
I'll tell you this, most service centers that are not intimately familiar with the idiosyncracies of this model will not be able to successfully repair this model if they don't by somehow already have these rare parts on hand if they are required. You will then be given the bad news and probably a hefty bill to retrieve your receiver.
If you want a recommendation, there are a few guys on Audiokarma such as echowars or markthefixer who knows this model very well although they are typically very very busy. I do have a guy in mind who I would trust with this receiver and if you want a referral, pm me for his contact.
Make no mistake, unless the only thing wrong with this receiver is the need to adjust bias and DC offset to get it going, and presuming that it will even adjust to within specs, you should be prepared to pay some $$'s to get it running properly. But to be fair, this receiver is itself a very pricey and valuable model especially if fully working with service documentation to back it up, and cosmetically nice. So while it may cost to fix it up, the end result will be a very valuable receiver which truly deserves to be fixed up properly.
To my eyes, this is possiblly the most beautiful receiver in the world, ever. Pictures don't really do it justice because when viewed in real life, in all it's sparkling glory and humungous size, one can't resist comparing it to fine jewelry, artistically designed in the form of audio gear.
Good luck with the fix and congrats on the purchase. They are exceptionally rare. In 3 decades, I was able to collect 3 Marantz 2500 examples (still got them) half a dozen Sansui G receivers (another beautiful receiver) but only found and was able to afford 1 of the SX-1980's which I still have. It also, like yourse, needed service to get up and running but that was 20 years ago when parts were far more accessible. Mine is minty but come to think of it, who knows if it will still power up today? Even sitting, it's possible that some values have drifted off rendering it no longer able to power up. Hopefully I'll be able to drag it out and enjoy it for a bit before time runs out for me. Literally.
I'll tell you this, most service centers that are not intimately familiar with the idiosyncracies of this model will not be able to successfully repair this model if they don't by somehow already have these rare parts on hand if they are required. You will then be given the bad news and probably a hefty bill to retrieve your receiver.
If you want a recommendation, there are a few guys on Audiokarma such as echowars or markthefixer who knows this model very well although they are typically very very busy. I do have a guy in mind who I would trust with this receiver and if you want a referral, pm me for his contact.
Make no mistake, unless the only thing wrong with this receiver is the need to adjust bias and DC offset to get it going, and presuming that it will even adjust to within specs, you should be prepared to pay some $$'s to get it running properly. But to be fair, this receiver is itself a very pricey and valuable model especially if fully working with service documentation to back it up, and cosmetically nice. So while it may cost to fix it up, the end result will be a very valuable receiver which truly deserves to be fixed up properly.
To my eyes, this is possiblly the most beautiful receiver in the world, ever. Pictures don't really do it justice because when viewed in real life, in all it's sparkling glory and humungous size, one can't resist comparing it to fine jewelry, artistically designed in the form of audio gear.
Good luck with the fix and congrats on the purchase. They are exceptionally rare. In 3 decades, I was able to collect 3 Marantz 2500 examples (still got them) half a dozen Sansui G receivers (another beautiful receiver) but only found and was able to afford 1 of the SX-1980's which I still have. It also, like yourse, needed service to get up and running but that was 20 years ago when parts were far more accessible. Mine is minty but come to think of it, who knows if it will still power up today? Even sitting, it's possible that some values have drifted off rendering it no longer able to power up. Hopefully I'll be able to drag it out and enjoy it for a bit before time runs out for me. Literally.
That is a monster receiver of Pioneer. 
One of the most expensive receivers of the past.
Like there are specialists for Marantz there must be specialists for recapping, tuning and fixing Pioneers. Some put their ad on Ebay. Most of these guys are very busy and it might take months to get it done.
I have done complete recapping on Maranz 2200 series. Two of mine didn't work because of a bad relay. I replaced relay on it and capacitors. The large capacitors do fail and cause power up problems. The newer replacement ones will look almost 1/3rd of the size so people replace the old ones and place the old capacitor cover on top of it to make it look good. Only high tech guys can work on these monsters. They are so complicated to tune up and all.
I would ask that Marantz expert if he knows anyone whom we can trust to work on Pioneer SX 1980.
Contact Rob info@irebuildmarantz.com
I learned a lot from his site and he directed me on some repairs also.
http://irebuildmarantz.com/classic/html/2235b.html
He is a nice guy!
One of the most expensive receivers of the past.
Like there are specialists for Marantz there must be specialists for recapping, tuning and fixing Pioneers. Some put their ad on Ebay. Most of these guys are very busy and it might take months to get it done.
I have done complete recapping on Maranz 2200 series. Two of mine didn't work because of a bad relay. I replaced relay on it and capacitors. The large capacitors do fail and cause power up problems. The newer replacement ones will look almost 1/3rd of the size so people replace the old ones and place the old capacitor cover on top of it to make it look good. Only high tech guys can work on these monsters. They are so complicated to tune up and all.
I would ask that Marantz expert if he knows anyone whom we can trust to work on Pioneer SX 1980.
Contact Rob info@irebuildmarantz.com
I learned a lot from his site and he directed me on some repairs also.
http://irebuildmarantz.com/classic/html/2235b.html
He is a nice guy!
There you go stereomann you've just been hit by several advice by the ones who knows best!
Take good care of that beast and seek the right Technician to service it.
Classic receiver which I would not mind owning someday.
Take good care of that beast and seek the right Technician to service it.
Classic receiver which I would not mind owning someday.
I believe those images are of one that Pacific Stereo restored and is or was selling. He knows his stuff.
Got those from Tapeheads.net so it might be. I didn't check who made the post just decided to copy these and post them here.Superduper said:
I've been blessed with advice from some members there for my Tascam 122B tape deck.
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