Re: PIONEER RECEIVERS: Which One Do I Keep?

"Major Jocelyn" <majorj@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message 
news:DvNUj.1523$zm2.8255@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> James a écrit :
>> "Major Jocelyn" <majorj@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message 
>> news:1OJUj.12433$HB2.6535@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>>> sgordon@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
 a écrit :
>>
>> You need to learn more about the stk based amps.  And I was not
comparing 
>> it to low end surround sound systems.  Many of which use switching
power 
>> supplies and class d amps.
>>
>>
> Yes but for the price of one of those low end surround receiver you can 
> get a great pre-1985 amp that will have a real power supply with real 
> spec. Would you say that the Pioneer SX-A6-J is a "low" end at a retail
of 
> 800$? At that price I can get an incredible piece of Vintage 
> Amp/Preamp/(Cd Player or Turntable).
>
> Jocelyn
> Proud Son of Leo Major, DCM & Bar
> To know why I am proud go there: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leo_Major

You're right, you can get some of the high end vintage gear for $800.   
But 
that pioneer sx-a6-j is available all day new for under $500.  It is a
class 
ab amp and the specifications are in the users manual.  Would I buy one? 
Not likely.  It seems a bit over priced.  But it is xm radio capable and
has 
an ir remote.  Two things that some people might consider a requirement. 
And it is going to be covered by a warranty.  Buying older gear is not 
without drawbacks.  Often the power supply caps need replacing.  I'd go so

far as to suggest that if you took 10 random vintage items off ebay you 
would find that none of them were performing to the original
specifications 
in a bench test.  A lot of people want to take it out of the box and not 
worry about those sorts of things.  And some people want surround sound.

As to the power supplies, switching power supplies are not technically 
inferior to the old style power supplies.  Both can be built to deliver
the 
appropriate level of power as needed by the equipment.  Any piece of
modern 
equipment with a switching power supply is going to be a whole lot lighter

that the traditional power supply because it does not need that big 
transformer.  Your computer has one.  It's probably rated at 500 watts. 
It 
really can deliver that much power even though it weighs next to nothing. 
To get 500 watts via a a 60hz transformer would take a huge transformer
that 
weighed a ton.

None of which is my original point.  What I said was those pioneers and 
other old gear using the stk amps were not particularly memorable.  The 
specs you want to quote have nothing to do with pioneer.  Pioneer didn't 
make the amps, they took them off the shelf and soldered them in.  And
those 
units are worth about $100 apiece at best on flea-bay.  And that is mostly

because they are pioneer, not because their specifications are
particularly 
better than comparable gear for the same era.