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My stereo receiver is a little too bright. Can a cable help me out?

I just had my vintage Pioneer SX-1050 refurbished.  I had a severe case of sticker shock when presented with the bill - oops!!  Which unfortunately pretty much forces me to use it. 

I will say It is sounding very powerful which is no big surprise because there is a lot of horsepower under the hood.  But the audio impression is that it’s also a little too bright.  The only way I know to tame brightness is with the right interconnects.  But I’m not experienced in that area.  Recommendations would be most welcome.


It’s probably important to know how I am using  the Pioneer SX-1050.  It is responsible for all audio in my TV system.  My choice of music is almost exclusively opera and classical.  

 I send the HDMI signal from my four sources ( TV-DVR, OPPO DVD, ROKU streamer and Pioneer Elite Laser Disc Player ) to my AVR, an ARCAM SR-250, and I send the respective analog audio signals to the Pioneer.  I am into opera and classical music and I didn’t think my ARCAM AVR sounded as good as I wanted it to, even though it’s ideally  suited to my needs, a two-channel product touted for its exceptional audio.  The audio is good but definitely not great.  Prior to deciding to refurbish it I had paired the Pioneer with a Musical Fidelity A3cr Preamp, using the Pioneer just as an amplifier, and I was getting very good audio that way.  But one of the goals of the refurbishment project was to feature the Pioneer and eliminate the musical influence of the Musical Fidelity preamp.   And now, after spending so much,  I wanted to hear how my now very expensive Pioneer sounded, so I pulled the Musical Fidelity Pre and attached my sources directly to the Pioneer.  Currently all the interconnects are Blue Jeans Cable.  Obviously I can’t spend huge amounts replacing cables for all four sources, so the DVD is priority.
128x128echolane
cd318
2,636 posts
 
Sometimes 'brightness' in equipment will magically disappear when you use it with loudspeakers that have a fuller sound. It's also worth experimenting with speaker placement if that can help to restore the correct balance.

Any system with a weak /capped bass output can have a tendency to sound bright.

Using cables as a form of tone controls adds unnecessary complexity in my experience, and never worked for me. 

Much sooner use tone controls to dial in the exact adjustment needed.
teo_audio
2,197 posts
 
Give it some break in time.

At least 100 hrs of operation, maybe a bit more.

Then look at the situation again.
erik_squires
16,007 posts
 
Room acoustics.

In particular for this issue, between and behind the speakers on the floor is really helpful. Experiment with blankets first.


Best,

E
millercarbon's avatar
millercarbon
12,531 posts
 
I just had my vintage Pioneer SX-1050 refurbished.  I had a severe case of sticker shock when presented with the bill - oops!!  Which unfortunately pretty much forces me to use it.


A common mistake. No not the refurbishment. Not the bill. The conclusion. So common there's a name for it: The Fallacy of the Sunken Cost. Or The Sunken Cost Fallacy. Whichever way you prefer. The relevant word in any case being: fallacy. Its just wrong.

So look. You made one stupid mistake. So what? Who doesn't? I sure have! Everyone has! The trick is to first of all realize it was indeed a mistake, look it in the face and until you understand as well as you can what led to that mistake, in order to not repeat it hopefully ever again (but mistakes happen, so good luck with that) and then correct it. 

You clearly know this was a mistake. Good. Not sure if you know why, but whatever. My job now is try and help you understand you don't have to spend the rest of your life suffering over that one mistake. Which you seem to want to do. 

Why? Ditch the receiver. Water under the bridge. As a newly refurbished bit of good looking classic kit there's plenty of schlubs be happy and proud to have something so cool to look at (the real appeal of this stuff anyway, as you now know it just don't sound that good) and pay handsomely for. So maybe you lose a few bucks. So what?

Clean start. 

Or, what you seem to want to do instead: buy a bunch of absolute crap, which you know has to be absolute crap, since by definition it can't be what you want, really good sound, since really good sound is only gonna make more and more clear how you screwed up with the receiver! So instead you want to buy one band-aid after another. First this then than, all trying to hide the fault of the receiver. Which one day you finally realize has got to go, and then what? You're left with all this crap! 

The fallacy of the sunken cost. Fallacy, indeed.
teo_audio
2,197 posts
 
I’ve taken such receivers and re-done them in nichicon muse capacitors, and all non magnetic resistors lie PRP brand and what not. the switches are high quality, and so on..

what one can end up with, when they do it right, is a old 1978 +50lb stereo receiver... that sounds better than some $3-5-7k modern integrated.... as the parts quality is higher and the circuit is also tweaked - in the old unit.

Easy-peasy

I do it as a form of a ’message’ in the general sense, to all.. that old is not worse than new, and that ’best’....is tied quite tightly to parts quality.


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