Time for a boring, personal blog entry. It will help to channel my glee.

Seven or eight years ago, I purchased a Pioneer SX-950 at a yard sale. Chances are good that this means nothing to most readers. This is a good thing. It means that those readers lack one more alienating quality. Me? I’m an AMATEUR audiophile that has spent VERY little money feeding this interest. Mostly, I engage in the act of looking at vintage home electronics on eBay and this laughably archaic site. The SX-950 resides towards the top of Pioneer’s late-70’s line of home audio receivers. This is a Pioneer SX-950. In the realm of home audio, the Pioneer of the late-70’s is nothing like the Pioneer of the past 20 - 25 years. To a lesser extent, that goes for Sony, Technics, Sansui, Kenwood, and many other “common” brands. The late-70’s = The Hi-Fi Heyday. As such, common brands made high quality components without blinking or making a big to-do about doing so. These days, ugh…don’t get me started. Truthfully, a mid-level Pioneer or Technics component did cost more than the same would today, but you were walking out of the store with a much better product. And a much better looking product. Home theater has finally destroyed common home audio. Add to that the trend of butt-ugly combined systems with multitudes of tiny, crappy speakers, and it’s time for me to issue a loud “CHECK PLEASE!” The Pioneer SX-950 outputs around 120 true watts, despite the back panel claiming a 345 watt output. 120 true watts, namely 120 true watts from an audio component built in the late-70’s, is nothing like the wattage that new components piss out. For instance, a brand new Sony or Pioneer A/V receiver that boasts 120 watts is equal or similar to (and sounds worse than) 40 or 50 true, late-70’s watts.

Back to the point: I paid $15 for my SX-950 and used it for four or five years until both channels eventually crapped out…..slowly. I utilized other awful means to listen to my records (and very occasionally, CD’s), then on Monday, I actually took the SX-950 in to a TV repair shop called “Teletronics.” My fingers were crossed. I did not want, nor was I able, to spend a lot of money on this concern, a concern that could easily fall into the “vanity” category…all things considered. My $100 Sherwood A/V receiver, purchased from Radio Shack back in June (I didn’t feel like doing the pawn shop/thrift store hustle….didn’t have the time, either), was doing just fine.

On Tuesday, my cell jingled at EIGHT IN THE MORNING and I was given some good news by the nice Teletronics employee. The refurbishing cost $71, and the Pioneer was working like new. I picked it up (it’s as heavy as a window-unit air-conditioner), and I’m now staring across the room at its warm glow. It’s the start (again, I’ve done this before) of a romance with building a nice, vintage mutt of a stereo system. Over the next year or two, I’ll be replacing my turntable and speakers, and adding some more silver-faced monsters.