Randy Reed's Tree House Design Studio Receivers

Pioneer, Kenwood, Sansui, Phase Linear, Marantz, McIntosh, Carver, SAE, HH Scott, Yamaha, JBL, Sony

                             Randall Reed Studios ▪ Motley, MN 56466 ▪ 218.575.2965
Home
Pioneer SX-1050
Kenwood KR-9600

Excellent, over-built Japanese technology.  The way they used to make em.

You know the plastic junk in the stores will be in the dumpster in 5 yrs.  These ones have already withstood 30 yrs and are ready for 30 more.

That's why they cost between $500 and $1300 back in the 70's.  Equal to $1200 to $4000 (or more) in today's bucks.

8-05-08

I've been rediscovering what the big boys (Pioneer, Sansui et al) were doing prior to the receiver wars of the mid 70's.  I am totally amazed at the great sound and high level of technology of the late 60, early 70 receivers.  I have an old 71 Pioneer receiver raging away in my shop for months now on a pair of big Cerwin Vega Speakers.  Beautiful real wood (not veneer) enclosure, fabulous styling, ample power and even a spring reverb!  I bought plenty for everyone.  Keep your eyes peeled for early summer as I get some of these beauties refurbished.

Also I'm thinking of getting back into     hot-rodding the amp sections of some selected receivers. I used to do this in the 70's.  I'd beef up the power supply, replace other components with high precision/quality components, do some circuit changes, pump up the output wattage etc. Basically taking a mild-mannered little receiver and make it into a fire-breathing high quality sounding unit.  Kind of like the Corvette engine that I dumped into my Chevy Nova (family sedan) when I was 18. Let me know if this rings your bell.

8-05-08.

Just a few notes on THD which is one of the significant noise specs to consider.  Most of the receivers and separates from the 1970's like the Pioneer Spec 2 power amplifier show the worst-case THD at full rated power and across the frequency spectrum.

For example, closer examination of Pioneer's specification graphs shows that at 125 wpc, the Pioneer Spec 2 has 0.05% THD which is half the rated 0.1% THD for the amplifier at the rated maximum output of 250 wpc. It gets even lower at normal listening levels.

Companies were much more conservative in their claims back then, probably because the FTC hammered them when they were supposed to.

I generally am not a big fan of government regulation but in some areas like consumer products or pharmaceuticals, it's almost mandatory having it to keep from getting hosed by some of the companies out there.

Sure wish they would come down on all these so called diet aids that are considered food additives and not drugs.  Wonder who made that back-door deal to screw the public?
Receivers are the compromise in space but not necessarily in performance.  One of the baddest boys on the block is the Pioneer SX-1980 with 270 wpc and was never equaled by Pioneer. (The "Baddest Boy on the Block" award is the Technics SA-1000 in terms of raw power at 330 wpc) Other great amps in the Pioneer 'Silver' line are the SX-1250/1280, SX-1080/1050 and so on.  Great tuners also.

The Sansui line of receivers is absolutely amazing!  Many of the functions from their integrated amps found their way into these beauties.  The Sansui 9090 is one of the all time best receivers with excellent FM grabbing ability and enough power to satisfy most listeners and have enough left over for a block party.  If that doesn't fit the bill, the G-9000 is considered one of the high points in Sansui receiver technology with 165 honest watts per channel.

One of the most interesting Sansui receivers are the two piece G22000 and G33000.  The receiver and pre-amp was in the front (looks like a G9000 on steroids) and the power amp could be bolted to the rear or else placed on another shelf with a tether signal cord. The G22000 has 220 wpc and the G33000 has 300 wpc.  These units are extremely rare.  Their tuner sections compare favorably with the Sansui TU-X1.  I have several G22000's that will make their debut on this site sometime this year.  Let me know if you want to be on the waiting list. (1-05-08).

In the receiver wars of the 70's, Kenwood was no slouch with it's line of big-boy receivers.  The KR-9600's design is beautiful and its 160 wpc hangs right in there with all the others. To me this is a Cadillac in terms of how neat it looks - lots of meters and knobs and rack handles to heft it's 54 lbs around. Great FM section too!

I live out in the boonies and these systems will pull in dozens of stations in my metal sided shop with only a piece of wire for an antenna.  Some say, and I'm one of them, that analog tuners are the pinnacle of FM tuning.  Digital is fine but try and pull in a weak station with one.  The analogs will do it like its right next door.

Usually there are tape dubbing functions to copy between two or three tape decks, a tuner connection, two phono sections, one or two aux connections for general inputs, and switched and unswitched 120 VAC connections for external gear.

Some units have adjustments for phonograph loads and sensitivity of the phono cartridges, various filters for adjusting sound quality and sometimes a mid-range tone control.

Of course they all have bass and treble adjustments, volume and balance and usually volume attenuator switches for decreasing the volume to a preset level without turning the volume knob. 

1-05-08:

My personal 'Shop Unit' (NOT for sale) is an almost mint Pioneer SX-1250.  Considered by some to be the best all around Pioneer (or any other) receiver built in the 1970's.  Of course the 'best' of anything is always debatable, but I love this unit! Extremely well built, clean sound and a whole lotta power - enough to probably break some shop windows if I had the nerve to turn it all the way up.  What's nice about the old gear is that the technology designed for the top o' the line units filtered down to the very cheapest units in the line.

As time goes on, I will list more pictures and specifications. These are the units that I have gone through and are ready for sale.

 

Some Prices not including shipping:

  

Kenwood KR-9600 - 160 wpc boomer! SOLD!   Temporarily sold out. $595
Pioneer SX-750 50 wpc, excellent! $150
Pioneer SX-434 - 15 wpc, excellent shape $95
Pioneer SX-780 45 wpc, excellent! $195
Pioneer VSX-9500S, 125 wpc, 0.008 THD, excellent condition.  $1000 when new.  Extremely quiet background and k--k a-- performance.  Lotsa inputs. $595
Pioneer VSX-D307. 70 wpc. Nice unit w/remote. $195
Sansui G-9000 - 165 wpc RMS.  Great receiver, fantastic styling! Pinnacle of Sansui receiver engineering. Minor wear.  Looks and works great! Pic1 Pic2 Pic3 SOLD!  More G-9000 and G-8000's coming soon! $650
Yamaha HTR-5250 5.1 Surround Sound Receiver.  Lifelike sound with 125 wpc and 0.004 THD.  I hand picked this one myself for my home theater.  Has a fiber link to DVD player for low noise.  Can connect just about anything to this unit. Many simulated surround modes if your source wasn't recorded in 5.1.  Really good music reproduction when used as 2-channel stereo.  Comes with remote and operators manual. Don't confuse this unit with the junk they're making now.  This one was near the top of the food chain and retailed around $800. Pic2  $395
Pioneer SX-1050.  Almost mint! 120 wpc.  Beautiful machine.  One owner trade-in.  SOLD! $495
Sansui G-9000 - 165 wpc big boy SOLD! $695
Sansui 5050 receiver.  45 wpc.  Nice unit for just about anywhere.  Little brother to the 9090.  Excellent condition.  Pic2   SOLD! $95
Sansui G-9000 - 165 wpc RMS.  Great receiver, fantastic styling! Pinnacle of Sansui receiver engineering.  SOLD! $695
Pioneer SX-1250, SOLD!  
Sansui 9090 - almost mint! 110 wpc. Few small marks. Looks and runs fantastic! Pic1  Pic2  Pic3  Pic4  1-10-6 SOLD! $495
Sansui 9090 - great shape! 110 wpc.  Function lamps don't work but you can check the function selector switch like other units.  (Some Sansui units like the 5050 from this line don't even have the bulbs).  Silver cover on ON/OFF switch missing but switch is black and looks good. Everything else works and has been serviced.  SOLD! $295
Sansui G-5000, 70 wpc, excellent

SOLD! 3-10-07

$150
   

 

 

Kenwood KR-9600 Monster!

 

 

 

Email me at mailto:randyr@randallareed.com for any questions.

  

Copyright (c) 2001 - 2008, Randall Reed   Randy Reed