[I.Greyhound Fan]

A friend that I made at my local dog park gave me a 1979 Pioneer SX-780 receiver working and in relatively good condition.
I forgot how good these look.  The metal knobs and volume control have heft and are so smooth.
I can't wait to hear it. 

I will probably buy the recap kit for it.  I am going to use it in my bedroom system.  We will see if it sounds better than a Marantz receiver that is from around 2001 that I am using now.  It sure looks pretty.

[S Clark]

The early versions- Pioneer SX-737 -were in my fever dreams as a young married guy with no money. .   I finally bought a Sherwood with more power and a better tuner... lasted me for 20+ years.  Most of those 70's receivers held up pretty well. 

[nlitworld]

I still have a JVC my mom purchased when she was fresh out of high school circa 1976. It's in my office system at work. Those 70s receivers were no slouch since that was before the hyper inflated watt wars. 40w in stereo sounds way more powerful than today's standards. That's quite a gift from a dog park friend. 👍

[I.Greyhound Fan]

I also have a working Technics SU-7600 integrated amp that I bought in 1977.  It is nothing special.
This 780 is supposed to be very musical sounding with tight controlled bass and good dynamics.

[Letitroll98]

Paul Geddes famously used a Pioneer VSX D912 receiver to demonstrate his controlled directivity speakers at the first audio show he displayed at because it had the lowest crossover distortion of any of the twenty or so amps that he tested.  So I bought one years ago for $100 and it did have a very clear, distortion free sound.  Being an old chip amp it doesn't work well with any speaker dropping below 8 ohms and is only really happy with 16 ohm speakers, something very hard to find in today's market, so it's on the shelf in my home.

[I.Greyhound Fan]

I just hooked up the Pioneer and it sounds awesome.  It has great dynamics and punch.  It has that classic 70s warm Pioneer sound that I loved and remember.  Bass is fast and tight, no boom.  It has great air and transparency. The sound stage is tremendously wide and deep.  Treble is smooth and non fatiguing.  It does lack just a bit of clarity compared to the Marantz sr 4023 I was using.  They gain is ridiculously high however.  But over all it sounds better than the Marantz.  It also seems more powerful than the 80wpc Marantz vs the 45 wpc Pioneer. I am sure the power supply in the Pioneer is more robust.

Now if it only had a remote as I am using this in my bedroom with a pair of Monitor Audio RX1 Silver speakers with a Topping E50 DAC and Audirvana Studio.

I may just go all out with a full refurb.  Cap kits are about $100 and a new wood chassis about $160.