I have just acquired a Pioneer SX-1280 stereo receiver. what are the disadvantages/advantages of a dinosaur like this? Reviews and ebay suggest it still holds its own but it's hard to say with my current speakers. I'm seriously considering the M80ti's.
My old Onkyo amp didn't make my M60s perform up to their potential. I'm guessing you have to have digital capability to get the most out of these speakers.
Ask this same question in the Solid State forum at
http://audiokarma.org/forums/. Be sure to indicate the 4ohm impedeance of the M80s. The 1280 is surely a beast of a receiver; the unit was second only to the SX-1980 in Pioneer's line at the end of the 70s during the various manufacturer's Great Receiver Wars of the day. These fellas ought to satisfy your inquiry. Best of luck, and cheers.
DS.
By the way, the SX-1280 is rated at 185(!!) watts per channel. Yikes!! Cheers.
DS.
Digital capability? Phulese! that sounds like something they would put on a white van speaker box. in fact, it IS!
Well, I took the plunge and ordered the M80's earlier today.
My wife is gonna kill me!
Thanks to Dave for the info on audiokarma.org. I knew I had a decent piece of equipment in the SX-1280 but it's nice to see other people are sooo in love with the thing.
What? Is there no difference between analog and digital? Or do you have too much Primo in your ears, brah?
I use a Pioneer SX850 in my garage system, and it is terrific!! These silver face top-of-the-line classics from the golden age of solid state receivers can drive just about any speakers effortlessly and cleanly.
Not only that, but these silver face classics are downright gorgeous, gyro knobs, buttons, levers, dials, they've got it all!
I have my SX850 driving a pair of old Dahlquist DQM-905s sourced by my 10 year old JVC CD changer (you know, the same one with a $10 garage sale value which trounced the Cambridge D500SE in an A/B test). This system sounds wonderful.
If I could justify getting a pair of Axioms for my garage system I'd love to hear the Pioneer driving a pair of M60s or M80s, but if I did that, there'd be trouble and I'd probably be sleeping in the garage.
Hi Bself,
I used a Pioneer SX-1980 for a few years way back when. It was enormous (250 watts per channel at least) and weighed more than a 15 hp outboard motor I used on a utility boat.
Anyway, it should drive anything at 4 ohms or even less, although it is an example of an early solid-state design. It was one of the few solid-state amps of that era that could be driven into Transient Intermodulation Distortion (TIM), a phenomenon found in some of those early amps. It only exhibited this trait with one piano recording of Chopin, played very loud, that would send the input section of the SX1980 into a kind of oscillation that you'd hear from the tweeters. It was a kind of momentary raspy distortion on a sudden piano chord but it was quite audible with music. It was the only solid state amp I ever used that exhibited this liability.
TIM was discovered by a Finnish researcher named Matti Otala. Modern amps, so far as I know, don't have this problem. I've never heard it from any other amplifier.
Regards,