Excellent clean power reserves, stunning to look at, excellent tuner, two phono inputs, preamp loop, lights dim when you turn it on and the caps fill :) HEAVY!

Small holes for speaker output, though I saw a picture online where it had gold screw-post terminals.(!) Should have screw posts for 100+ RMS and this unit will happily move 120 clean with a 250 peak.

I'm going to tell you right now, without much circumlocution, that this unit is absolutely stellar. It's timeless beauty and genuine walnut case are aesthetically pleasing, and its immense weight is indicative of its massive power reserves, though not as deep as the 1280 and 1980. The sonic attributes are dead on and this receiver has no problem handling some large, hungry drivers. I'm running a 4 ohm load and it powers cleanly with bottomless reserve thanks to the monstrous filter caps. Everthing about this beast screams "refined power." I love the non-scratchy stepped pot volume and the two phono inputs with awesome preamp topology. I love the VU meters and the beautiful metal face and knobs. I wish these very same companies still had the impetus to produce fifty pound amplifiers. The primary transformer must weigh 25 pounds. It even has a preamp loop on the back.

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SX-1280 SX-6 Various black box PCB addled crap. Also Conrad Johnson tube amps.

Build quality. Sound quality for price paid. Classic Looks.

Too big to fit on most modern audio racks.

I purchased this receiver new in 1978 and used it with various sets of components up until 5 years ago when the upgrade bug finally won out. Don't get me wrong, I had tried to replace it with several different amplifier/receiver combos, but always came back to the Pioneer. I must agree with the other reviewers that the 70's must have been the pinacle of Japanese electronics, because every Japanese receiver since then looks cheap in comparison. This thing is built like a tank and weighs nearly as much as one. The 1080 still works as well as it did when it was new - the only exception being the panel light for the Aux connection has burned out. It could deliver plenty of power to drive almost any speaker made. The soundstage is large and well defined. Bass and Treble are also good, although the lower mid-range is not as well defined as the newer higher end amps will provide. To finally replace this unit with something that clearly sounded better, I had to spend about 8 times what I paid for this unit (Aragon seperates). I agree with the others that the Pioneer receivers from the late 70's (along with Marantz) were some of the finest one-box units of their time and would compare well with todays seperates that cost many times more. Even though it's retired to a closet right now, I'll hang on to it for another 25 years.

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Marantz, Pioneer, Harman Kardon, Acurus, Lexicon, Aragon

Tonal purity, MONDO Dynamics, Fit and Finish!!! The apex of solid state receiver design. (I'm speaking of the series as a whole, though below the 980 the cost cutting begins to take a serious toll on the sound, though the little ones don't sound bad, just not quite as good. My first receiver was a 680, in -prophetically- 1980)

None to speak of, save, it could use a few more inputs. Each model had its design quirks (especially the 1980) but they pale overall in the overall presentation,beauty and performance.

I own an SX-1980,1280,and just bought this 1080. It was dinged and needed a power switch and the tuner aligned. ( which I fixed with parts from "parts carcasses".) About 3/4 of a bottle of Windex and Old English and tuner cleaner later and I'm in Heaven. These things sound SO MUCH BETTER THAN ANYTHING MANUFACTURED TODAY UNDER $3000.00 it is stupifying. Should we be insulted that the Japanese decided in the 1980's that black box, low quality crap was what we wanted and that we couldn't tell the difference? Or did we get what we deserved by refusing to ante up when the things were being blown out at Brendle's (Local catalog store)for what must've been at or near "dealer cost". If I'd have had the money I'd have bought every 1980 I could lay my hands on and stuck 'em in a closet. I may be exagerating, but I believe this stuff is going to be the McIntosh of my end of the baby boom. The difference in the production run numbers between both brands may cause the Pioneer stuff to not inflate to quite the altitudes that the Mac stuff has, but I believe the quality (especially among receivers) to be second to none! The Amar Bose difinformation war would not have been lost if the "room full of stereo equipment" that those pathetic thingamabobs were being compared to were built like this. DIE, Surround Sound BLACK BLOBS, DIE!!!! If you can find 'em, BUY TWO!

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Too many to list.

Effortless power; full rich sound, elegant blue face dial, solid construction, nice wood cabinet

Heavy!

This is also a review for the Pioneer SX-1010, the "top of the line" from 1974-1975. I have owned about 200 receivers in my lifetime....and I like this one the best. I have it hooked up to a Pioneer Elite PD-71 CD Player and the sound it....simply put.....the best I have ever heard. The detail, the clarity...with full, solid bass. I own some Home Theater Receivers.....but if you open them up and compare them with the 1010...there is no comparison. The 1010 for its rated 100/ch uses twin 18,000 micro-ferad capicators. These look the bean cans, compared to the thimbles of the modern units. The SX-1010 when played through some Boston Acoustic T830 Towers produces sound effortlessly. There is no hint of strain. The soundstage is wide and dimensional. I don't know what happened, but you simply can't find this experience anymore for less than $2,000. The construction of the 1010 is a testament to its quality. I took it in to my Tech, Tom Ishimoto, former Chief Engineer for Marantz, and, even though he "hates" Pioneer, he had to admit that even after 30 years, my 1010 still performed to spec.....which he said was "amazing". And, that it is. it and the Marantz 2325 were the first two Monster Japanese receiver. One day I've have a 2325 to go with my 1010. But, till then, the 1010 will just continue to amaze me all by itself.

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Don't get me started.....

It a Pioneer

It old

I have a old Pioneer 4 pice stereo system. The Expander is 30 watts. The receiver is 195 watts and 6 ohm. The Cd player barely works the tape works great. All together it is 295

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none

I have owned this very good reciever in five years. Now it dont work anymore,The tuner section is dead.I found out that is a Ic circiut called Pa1002a is broken. That is a speciel pioneer circiut. I cant get it here in Denmark. I hope one can help where I can buy it.

Power, sound, and dare I say it, BALLS!

It''''s a big brute

Burly! I recently acquired this in eBay to power a pair of JBL model 4311B Studio Monitors and wanted something from that era with which to make them go. This receiver''''s amplifier section has testicular fortitude, that''''s for sure....it''''s a hell of an amp that blows away any of the new stuff. Hell, the power supply probably weighs 25-30lbs alone.... In addition to that, the 1080 proved capable of handling today''''s CD and DVD player sound inputs as well as TV. Just don;t expect a remote...it''''s a trade I can live with ;-) The tuner section sounds better than a modern receiver. This is just one hell of a piece of equipment that you cannot buy any more.....

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H/K AVR520

Perfection of power and frequency from 20 to 20K Hz. Flexible, intelligent design, highest qulity materials/workmanship.

Not enough line level inputs for the modern era.

I owned one of these for ten years and just bout a "new" one on eBay. I also have new Sansui 8080 and 890DB receivers. The Sansuis are excellent, but the Pioneer SX-line high power models are way more accurate especially in the midrange. The Sansuis sound warmer, but vocals and anything else in the midrange don't sound as good. These bad boys with the big caps can make your woofers bounce across the room. Not boomy or loud bass, but quick, tight bass that only comes from having the current reserve in the caps waiting to be dumped in one millisecond into your speakers. Another one of these sold today for $330. They are worth $2000 or more easy. Grab one of these starting at the SX-980 and bigger numbers if you can. There was a SX-1980 with 270 wpc going for a bid of $750 and THE SELLER'S RESERVE PRICE WAS NOT YET MET!! For some things the old saying "they don't make 'em like they used to" is really true and stereo receivers is the best example. I happen to remeber the specs from my owner's manual that the power bandwidth is 2 to 100,000 Hz and the RIAA equalization for phono is accurate to +/- 0.2 dB!!! The best fidelity one could get was vinyl then so they made one of the best phono stages. Also, the FM tuner is just as ultra-high-fidelity. I tuned this thing yesterday and the D'Arsonval tuning meter pegged out to the right for signal strength. Love those power meters. On wide dynamic range classical music, I have watched the meters peg at 240 watts, because these guys can push transients of nearly a thousand watts.

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All the common brands, Adcom, NAD, Sony, Kenwood, Sansui.

Beautiful design, excellent workmanship, power, reliability

Pre-amp/ tone control, small holes on speaker ports

I have been owning the SX-1080 for approximately ten years. So far I had no problems with it except a burned out FM indicator bulb. It has a very good tuner, a powerful amp - 120 Watts RMS - and the standard hook up capabilities of the 70's: two turntables, two tape decks with a dubbing switch an auxilary input, mic and headphone and two pairs of speakers which can be ran simultaniously. Unfortunately the speaker inputs have small holes that make the using of thick cables a problem. Of course, one must not forget its beatiful design and the excellent workmanship. I used it with Kenwood LX-888, Bose Acustimas 5 (space problem in the old apartment)speakers. Presently I am running it with AR-10TT (20 year old ) and Infinity RS-31 speakers that I recently purchased. If I compare it to Pioneer SX-1010 that I still own I must admit that the SX-1010 has a better pre-amp and tone controls. SX-1010 delivers 100 Watts RMS with deep bass. After switching to 1080 I had to buy a Soundscraftmen equlizer that overcame this weakness . Some additional cost there ! but if you consider that I paid only DM 100 in Germany to buy it in mint conditon from a guy I know who bought himself a Yamaha A/V receiver it is very acceptable. I would't sell any of these heavy receivers because of their natural sound ,smooth power, beatiful looks, materials and workmanship compared to today's plastic receivers with their turbo sound that give you a headache after some listening. If you run into a SX-1010 listen to it you will see what I mean with deep bass. It also offers more to connect to it including 3 pairs of speakers.

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Pioneer SX-727, SX-1010

Durable, high quality. Powerful. Nice, warm sound.

Bulky.

This review is actually for the SX-1010, a model from 1974. It gets 100 watts RMS. It's a gentle giant. It plays classical and folk music really nice, with warm, smooth sound, but can also rattle the windowpanes if need be. This thing is really better in every way than what I could afford to buy new.
The sound is great- it can make even pathetic cheap speakers sound good. There's very little static- you can hear a little tiny hum if you turn it up 60% with nothing playing, but thats enough amplification to cause ear damage.
Just subjectively, this sucker sounds more powerful than the new cheaper 100 watt amps on sale.
I also like the 70's styling- rosewood case, with aluminum control panel.
These things really were well made, especially compared to what they sell these days (although to be fair, I am comparing $200 cheap stuff to a receiver that originally cost $700- prob. about $2500 in todays money). My folks have a much smaller version of this one, an SX-434, and that one has withstood horrible abuse for 30 years without a needing repair once. The one thing I worry about, though, is how hard it is to get parts for this antique, if it ever does break down.
The only other weakness is that its very heavy- about 60.lb. Also, you don't have a remote, or presets with the radio, or any number of modern conveniences. Hooking up a CD player is fine, though, and its good if you have a phono since unlike newer receivers it's set up for that.

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Pioneer SX-434, late 80's Mitsubishi, cheapish Technics