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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.
echolane
millercarbon's avatar
millercarbon
12,531 posts
 
is original vintage gear < = or > than modern gear

- is refurbished vintage gear < = or > than modern gear


Depends. Can't make blanket statements like that. Some vintage gear is better than some modern gear. And vice versa. With refurbished its even harder. Some originally mediocre tube gear refurbished with newer higher quality caps, resistors, and diodes - not to mention wire, tube sockets, RCAs, switches- you get the idea, it can easily be as good or better than even really good modern gear.

No, I think the only thing we can say for sure is these things need to be judged on a case by case basis.
echolane's avatar
echolane OP
115 posts
 
“My first proper amp was a Plinius pre/power combination in 1986. I still have it, had it upgraded last year, and will never part with it. It's going to be my work system.

(Not including the Luxman tape deck and Dual turntable I got in 1982, and not considering the piece of crap my brother sold me in 1979, or the Rotel amp I borrowed off my other brother while he was overseas).“

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Old gear is useful!!  Assuming it was good to begin with.  I have populated four stereo systems in my small house, often with left overs.  And I am happy with most of my gear even though some of it is aging.  
My primary system is in the living room and is centered around my Quad ESL-63 speakers, purchased in 1985 (Is that old enough to be vintage?) and redone in 2016.  I’ll never part with them.  But the amps that drive them have changed over the years.  The Pioneer SX-1050, now in use in my TV system, was replaced by Quad amp and Quad preamp, they were replaced with the Audiomat Arpege, a wonderful integrated tube amp which now powers my computer system and dates to the mid 90s.   The Audiomat Arpege was replaced by its bigger successor the Audiomat Prelude Reference Mark II, never to be replaced either, and already over 20 years old.  There’s a lot to be said for older gear.

But I have lots of gear I should sell, including the most beautiful Bang & Olufsen Beogram turntable which I reluctantly replaced with a Rega turntable, and a Meridian CD player was replaced by a Triode, an Adcom amp and now the Musical Fidelity Preamp can go too.   This latter pair used to power my computer audio system but I no longer have systems to donate them too 😊.
echolane's avatar
echolane OP
115 posts
 
“No, I think the only thing we can say for sure is these things need to be judged on a case by case basis.”

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I certainly agree, and I think this is the take home message of this topic.  I intend to keep listening and will make any change only after considerable listening.


One thing I will add after listening more hours now, is that the Pioneer excels at reproducing speech very clearly.  Considering that the majority of TV programming consists of dialog, clear speech reproduction is a welcome asset, especially when you get up there in age, as my husband and I are now.  Of course music is background to almost everything and for that sort of the usual TV programming, the Pioneer suits.  My issue is when I want to play music DVDs or listen to Live From The Met or Great Performances, or rent movies with great soundtracks, I will want something that reproduced music exceptionally.   That’ll take considerably more listening time.

i have to also admit that doing without remote control Capability in the Pioneer  is a big disadvantage and that may influence any change too.
jerrybj
869 posts
 
echolane
But I have lots of gear I should sell...
I have 9 amps. Only 4 CD players, 6 pairs of speakers.
Most is old. 2 x A&R Cambridge A60 amps (which I love).
Time to sell some gear I think.
cakyol's avatar
cakyol
940 posts
 
Put a capacitor in PARALLEL with the speaker to short out some high frequencies.  Make sure it is NON POLAR and can handle about 150 Volts AC.  You have to play around with the value to experiment.  Typically anywhere between 1 uF to about 10uF would do.
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