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Review 3 of 6
Price Paid:
$70.00
from Some guy on Internet Summary:
I bought this back in the mid-90's from someone I met on the UseNet in the early days of the Internet. I repaired electronics as a hobby, and this guy had a VSX-9500S with a bad amp channel and sold it to me for $70. When I got it, it was in near mint condition and everything worked! I guess I got lucky and he just had a bad connection or something. I love 80's top-of-the-line consumer electronics with their huge displays, faceplate covered with buttons, and quality construction. The 9500S is no exception; 1/3 of its faceplate is display! It shows a lot of unnecessary information, but man is it beautiful! Every function also has its own button, and the other 2/3 of its faceplate is just that - BUTTONS! Tons of buttons may look intimidating to the technophobe, but to me, it's beautiful and makes the receiver much simpler to operate than a modern one. A modern receiver would have condensed all those buttons into 5 that you have to push in weird combinations to get through some cryptic menu system. The 9500S faceplate is also made of sleek black ANODIZED ALUMINUM! Not cheap plastic like most modern receivers. Even the volume knob is aluminum and has a cool, dampened feel to it. The bottom of its chassis has a honeycomb pattern stamped into it for rigidity. A nice touch that surely added cost, but you won't find such things in a modern receiver. The sound quality is wonderful. Over the years, I have used it to drive some vintage Altec Model Sevens, vintage EPI 100V's, a pair of cheap KLH AV5001 towers, and Celestion AVP305's. No matter what speakers I hooked up to it, it sounded great! When digital started taking over, I didn't want to retire my 9500S. I bought a Technics SH-AC500D Dolby Digital/DTS Processor. Since the 9500S has preamp outputs and amplifier inputs, the SH-AC500D acts as a digital preamp and directly controls the 9500S's 5-channel power amplifiers. Push the LINE button on the AC-500D, and the 500D can connect the 9500S preamp outs to the amp ins so the 9500S works as normal. That solution allowed me to bring the 9500S into the modern era, but it's still a little bit annoying (especially to the wife) to have to keep track of which device is hooked up to the AC-500D, and which is hooked up directly to the 9500S. Digital sources also had to use the 500D's volume control, while analog sources hooked up to the 9500S had to use the 9500S volume control. Not wife friendly at all, so I had to switch to a modern digital receiver. However, the 9500S is just too cool to get rid of. Instead, I have put it to use in the living room where it's primarily used for stereo audio only. If you don't need component video switching or DD/DTS decoding, then I would highly recommend this receiver. Strengths:
Excellent audio quality and audio specifications (very low 0.005%THD). If you love 80's audio equipment as much as I do, you'll love this! It's the perfect example: Huge Vacuum Fluorescent Display, tons of buttons, aluminum faceplate, and a very classy appearance. 125Wx2+30Wx3 makes for plenty of power for stereo or home theater. Preamp outs and Amplifier ins allow you to add an outboard Dolby Digital or DTS processor to bring the receiver into the modern era. Weaknesses:
It lacks all the modern features you'd find in a modern HT receiver like component video switching, onscreen display, digital inputs, Dolby Digital and DTS decoding, etc. However, back in the early 90's, it didn't have a single weakness that I can think of. Similar Products Used:
Sony STR-D1011
Pioneer VSX-5000
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