THE HIFI HOLY GRAIL… Why Pioneer SX-1980 is the BEST RECEIVER EVER! #audio

THE HIFI HOLY GRAIL… Why Pioneer SX-1980 is the BEST RECEIVER EVER! #audio

Don’t miss the MOST POWERFUL RECEIVER ever made! The Pioneer SX-1980 from 1978 was a staple MONSTER RECEIVER in the STEREO WARS!

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Chapters:
00:00 Intro
01:09 The Stereo Wars
03:21 The Holy Grail/ Pioneer SX-1980
03:54 Pioneer HPM-100
06:21 SX-1980 Front Panel
12:22 SX-1980 Inputs / Rear Panel
14:36 SX-1980 Build Quality
15:17 Bonus Content

50 Comments

  1. reid abney on January 11, 2022 at 5:24 pm

    Beautiful receiver never had one and never heard one but hopefully I will get the chance I have 2 Kenwood 9600 that I have been using as power amplifiers for the past 8 to 10 years I just brought another set of amplifiers I’m hoping to be able to afford to have these 9600s restored someday do you guys do this kind of work?



  2. Joe Smith on January 11, 2022 at 5:24 pm

    Parents had this. It was a daily pilgrimage for my mom daytime and Pops when he got home. Awesome powerful sound with proper speakers.



  3. Toney Isaiah on January 11, 2022 at 5:32 pm

    Sir, how much does that thing
    weigh?



  4. Mem Zendut on January 11, 2022 at 5:33 pm

    Just bought a mint SX 1080



  5. sound life dirt on January 11, 2022 at 5:33 pm

    I have a pioneer sx-1010….. love it



  6. Robert Hyde on January 11, 2022 at 5:38 pm

    V U meters. Amazing



  7. Ray Nemergut on January 11, 2022 at 5:39 pm

    I have a beautiful sx1080 that I really want to get restored I paired it up with a pair of Avid 103’s



  8. Bill D on January 11, 2022 at 5:39 pm

    In my experience, just about any Magnepan speaker would absorb all the power you can feed it and beg for more.



  9. Toney Isaiah on January 11, 2022 at 5:42 pm

    That receiver is huge!



  10. Tim Stubbs on January 11, 2022 at 5:42 pm

    Best ? BS



  11. Anthony Smithey on January 11, 2022 at 5:45 pm

    The very low distortion of the 1973-1980 Pioneer receivers was worth having alone.



  12. vintage stereo on January 11, 2022 at 5:45 pm

    the biggest yes but the best sounding are the 1250 and 950. Also the 1250 have much lesser problems and is better built.



  13. deekay2 on January 11, 2022 at 5:45 pm

    Sorry, but nothing is "the best". Other than a measly 2db in higher power output, many would say the SX-1250 is better than the SX-1980 because of better build quality.



  14. Ed Lawless on January 11, 2022 at 5:46 pm

    You could use all that power if you had speakers that were less sensitive and could handle the power rating. There are a few JBL cabinets from back in the day that could take that power and not make your ears bleed. JBL SVA-2100s would be a good example. 93db sensitivity. Of course it also depends on the size of your room.



  15. Glen Newdick on January 11, 2022 at 5:47 pm

    best ? no. sure lots of power but power is not everything, looks yeah great. there was better sounding receivers of that era than all of those monster receivers. I’d take a low power Leak or Fisher over that Pioneer any day. Sound wise they were mediocre at best compared to the lower powered receivers even from Pioneer’s own stable. The power wars did not do any favors to the audio world back then. Just My opinion of course.



  16. Vincent Simon on January 11, 2022 at 5:47 pm

    You love your job



  17. Allan Ellis on January 11, 2022 at 5:48 pm

    That is one great looking receiver however I am partial to the looks of Marantz. I had the 2325 that I think is an absolutely gorgeous receiver. On the whole the vintage receivers are visual works of art. Today’s don’t come close in appearance.



  18. Garvin Kelly on January 11, 2022 at 5:52 pm

    luxman r-1120 is another holy grail



  19. Teh Scope on January 11, 2022 at 5:52 pm

    I have brought my smaller Pioneer (45watts) with a pair of Mach Ones outside and more than filled my big backyard with sound so that’s where you would listen to it louder than " normal " , oh yeah I would wait for my first warning from the police before turning it down and my neighbors ? they were sitting next to me .



  20. Vincent Simon on January 11, 2022 at 5:54 pm

    I read a "G class runs cooler. Y’all explain things I can understand. Would you please discuss. Are current systems G class?



  21. Denbo Francisco on January 11, 2022 at 5:54 pm

    Hey, love your passion and enthusiasm for this vintage gear! While the 1980 was certainly a heckuva pc., it really couldn’t hold a candle to the Sansui G22000 or G33000. Back in 1978 I was actually able to directly compare the SX1980 to the Sansui G22000 with a pair of somewhat difficult to drive Magnaplaner MGIIa speakers. These were ‘nominally’ rated at 6 ohms, and the SX1980 just ran out of steam during heavy bass and loud passases, where the G22000 sailed right through – and just had a much better and more natural sound. And YES, if you were listening to a pair of these types of speakers (or similar low efficiency designs and were in a decent sized room) you DID need every watt available – ESPECIALLY if you wanted clean ‘life like’ sound reproduction. It wasn’t so much about the total output rating, but rather the ability to deliver tons of peak or quick instantaneous transients. I’m not banging on the Pioneer here, as I owned several prior to the G22000. Keep up the good work! Cheers!



  22. Alain Gingras on January 11, 2022 at 5:55 pm

    Seeing the interior would be nice…



  23. Joey Justin on January 11, 2022 at 5:56 pm

    THE ADAPTOR. IS FOR HOOKING UP THE MASSIVE MATCHING EQ. OR ANOTHER PREAMP OR ANOTHER POWER AMP



  24. Marc’s Senti Music on January 11, 2022 at 5:56 pm

    Weren’t the HPM 150 made for this amp?



  25. Arthur McHugh on January 11, 2022 at 5:57 pm

    I have 2 marantz receiver that I can sell!!!😀😀😀



  26. Dave Lee on January 11, 2022 at 5:57 pm

    HYPE!!! Finished work and chilling watching this video.



  27. shay nakash on January 11, 2022 at 5:57 pm

    well on my altec lansing loudspeaker wich is 99 db ,a 40 w amp would be more than what i need ,as much as i love pioneer recievers i don’t need more power .i have 2 tube 60 w monoblocks with a tube pre amp and thats more than enogh , my friend however have an 84 db loudspeaker with pioneer sx 1250 reciever and it feels like the power is not enogh so there has to be a good propotion between amp wattage to speaker sensetivity ……



  28. Mustang Guru on January 11, 2022 at 5:57 pm

    I remember the days of Quadrasonic sound.



  29. Robert FromOC on January 11, 2022 at 5:57 pm

    My Sony STR-7065 at 33 lbs was pretty damn awesome too. Wish I still had it but then I replaced it with a PS Audio Elite Plus integrated amp and that thing was even better.



  30. Donnie Newell on January 11, 2022 at 5:58 pm

    I would put this old relic class A up against my Cary pre amp /ps audio m700s anyday . My 1400 watts wins . Sorry. Tubes plus less distortion class D wins. No it’s not as beautiful as this unit but it’s not about the looks for me.



  31. William TM on January 11, 2022 at 6:02 pm

    my Pioneer 1250 receiver says hi to it’s younger brother.



  32. krazywog on January 11, 2022 at 6:02 pm

    ah no the best receiver is the technics SA1000 350wrms per channer



  33. Joe Blankenship on January 11, 2022 at 6:03 pm

    You took that man’s Holy Grail and he had to go on a quest to find it.



  34. Karl Langer on January 11, 2022 at 6:03 pm

    It has an Achilles heel and that is the power supply board. Also don’t play this thing too loud because you do not want to blow your output transistors. This thing needs to be driven like a vintage Ferrari.



  35. Chavez chavez on January 11, 2022 at 6:03 pm

    I’ve owned em all. And do mean all the monster recivers. The sx1250 is better and I mean better in every way..these Overpowered units are a waste to be honest.
    The best sounding imho is the concept 16.5
    Its blows them all away.



  36. Brad Yazell on January 11, 2022 at 6:05 pm

    I had one of these that I bought on ebay about 20 years ago. It was in very good condition and sounded great. Only thing is, in all of the years I owned it I never turned it above 50 wpc, and only then a couple of times. It was rattling the windows at that level. I sold it for $2500 in 2011. Try getting one for that now! I now have a re-capped SX-1080 that I love and it is much more realistic as far as usable volume. Still never gets much above 10wpc. It’s rated at 120 wpc. They are beautiful pieces.



  37. John Lennon on January 11, 2022 at 6:06 pm

    Definitely VINTAGE!



  38. rasher bilbo on January 11, 2022 at 6:07 pm

    You left out the little "memory markers" sliders under the tuning scale. A clever and useful feature…



  39. Jim Bowers on January 11, 2022 at 6:09 pm

    No footage of that badboy running???



  40. T F on January 11, 2022 at 6:14 pm

    I run 3 sets of sb-2766 speakers off a Kenwood Eleven iii…at 10w on the meter…my clothes move with the beat(that’s six 12 inch woofers)…I can’t imagine what another 200w per channel would sound like…



  41. buzzcrushtrendkill on January 11, 2022 at 6:16 pm

    It was an era of overbuilding amplifiers/receivers. I have a 2 channel Onkyo amp from the 80’s, 50lbs and 150W into 8ohm or 300W into 4ohm (which is what my speakers are). They have glorious watt meters on the front panel and to be honest, at 30W it’s LOUD. Any higher than that and my neighbors better enjoy my music as well.



  42. Patrick Murphy on January 11, 2022 at 6:16 pm

    I don’t thing this massive Pioneer receiver is best for the following: 1). consumes way too much electricity for me. These days electricity cost is going way up. Also I don’t need such huge output power to enjoy good sound. Less than 50w/ch. golden age receivers with very good speaker such as JBL C50, Jubal or Altec VOT can deliver very efficient, clear sound. No need for over 300w/ch. Besides it is way too heavy to move it around, my back will not support it and I will need crane to hoist it.



  43. Glenn K on January 11, 2022 at 6:16 pm

    Rated at 270 watts rms 8 ohms per channel.



  44. Jeffrey Woodard on January 11, 2022 at 6:17 pm

    Amazing receiver, but maybe not everyone’s holy grail? Would be curious to see a review of Sansui’s G33000 like I own . . .



  45. Kellee Bolden on January 11, 2022 at 6:18 pm

    I absolutely like vintage HiFi MUCH BETTER than what is being made now.



  46. SHEEPLEVISION on January 11, 2022 at 6:19 pm

    Things went downhill when most everything started being manufactured in China. Some of the best equipment use to come out of Japan.



  47. albert albertov on January 11, 2022 at 6:22 pm

    i have sx-1080 and hpm-150 this is the best set up for me



  48. Audfile on January 11, 2022 at 6:22 pm

    That thing is gonna be better than a JC5? I call no way.



  49. Toney Isaiah on January 11, 2022 at 6:23 pm

    It will take two men to carry it.



  50. insert name here on January 11, 2022 at 6:23 pm

    I have my 1990 pioneer stacked deck and amp connected via a bluetooth adaptor via the laser disc output to my smart TV. Sounds great