Wow, lots of advice to wade through for which I am most appreciative!
I think the most sensible thing to do is to have some patience and decide whether to move on or not after a couple hundred hours of break in. Believe it or not, now, only 24 hours later, I think it sounds quite a bit better. The rawness is gone, or if not gone, considerably tamed.
Using the Pioneer’s tone controls is another easy fix. It’s been so long since I had tone controls on any equipment, I’d forgotten they existed! I first bought this Pioneer in 1976 or 1977 and even then I didn’t have a habit of using them.
There is certainly something to be said for not sinking any more dollars into the situation. If the foundation isn’t right, nothing that follows will be right! In hindsight, probably the wisest choice would have been to trade in the ARCAM for something that would better satisfy my audio criteria. Though that would have left my old Pioneer still hanging around with no job to do. I have a history of letting good things go and regretting it later; perhaps that’s why I decided to fix it rather than sell it.
I can’t resist repeating what the shop owner told me after listening to the rebuilt Pioneer: “You can’t equal the Pioneer with anything built today for less than $5000”. Of course I recognize that could be flattery, trying to make me feel better after spending such an unexpected amount. I prefer to think it is plausible.
I think the most sensible thing to do is to have some patience and decide whether to move on or not after a couple hundred hours of break in. Believe it or not, now, only 24 hours later, I think it sounds quite a bit better. The rawness is gone, or if not gone, considerably tamed.
Using the Pioneer’s tone controls is another easy fix. It’s been so long since I had tone controls on any equipment, I’d forgotten they existed! I first bought this Pioneer in 1976 or 1977 and even then I didn’t have a habit of using them.
There is certainly something to be said for not sinking any more dollars into the situation. If the foundation isn’t right, nothing that follows will be right! In hindsight, probably the wisest choice would have been to trade in the ARCAM for something that would better satisfy my audio criteria. Though that would have left my old Pioneer still hanging around with no job to do. I have a history of letting good things go and regretting it later; perhaps that’s why I decided to fix it rather than sell it.
I can’t resist repeating what the shop owner told me after listening to the rebuilt Pioneer: “You can’t equal the Pioneer with anything built today for less than $5000”. Of course I recognize that could be flattery, trying to make me feel better after spending such an unexpected amount. I prefer to think it is plausible.