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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
russmac8
7 posts
 
It's about component matching. I have an SX-980 which I love in my all vintage Pioneer set up. The Pioneer can be brighter sounding, so with digital content and some modern bright speakers it could be too much.  Sounds like you're not satisfied with the match..question is what change will give you that sound. I usually start with speakers that will give me the sound I like and then find components that drive them best. Cables upgrades can add some clarity but I doubt they would change the tone the way you want.

PL530 turntable > SX-980 > CS99A speakers 
Full sound, not at all bright. 
erik_squires
16,378 posts
 
I have made the mistake of spending a lot of money re-building much better preamps (Conrad Johnson PV 5, PV 10) from the 80s and 90s because I felt I couldn’t afford new.



Those are classic designs. If you do this, there’s about 3 things you should do:

1 - Add heat sinks to the voltage regulators. They’ll last longer.

2 - Change the output caps.

3 - Replace power supply electrolytics if old.

Leave everything else alone, it’s not worth it, though I often wonder if reducing the gain on them would make them sound more modern. They had way too much, and too much noise IMHO.
fleschler
2,028 posts
 
I had some experience with Pioneer receivers back in the early 1970s and found them to be rather hard and bright, not even in comparison to other highly regarded SS receivers.  The Marantz receivers never sounded bright to me but rather warm and musical.  By the late 1970s, Yamaha and Sherwood produced low wattage (16 to 35 watt) receivers that can still top those all in one receivers sound today.  Yet, the higher the wattage, the worst/less musical those receivers sounded (and I tried dozens of them).  My favorites are the Sherwood 7100 and Yamaha CR620.  I still use the CR620 for my video setups and they can easily musically power big Legacy Focus speakers.   I would definitely give the Pioneer 100 hours or more to break in the news parts, especially the caps.  There could be a myriad of other reasons why it sounds bright and not related to the receiver.  
echolane's avatar
echolane OP
112 posts
 

That is one of the best receivers of that era. It should sound full, fast and sweet. Not bright. What speakers?
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I have floor standing Spendor FL-6 speakers.
i recently had the big woofers refoamed and also repaired the binding posts, so they are good to go for another 20 years I hope.

Here’s a quote from one review on these Spendors:
The Spendors are beautiful, furniture quality speakers that are just very pleasing to listen to. Vocals sound fantastic, detail is good, soundstage is better than the B&W. I wish they had more bass, but overall I am pleased. I'll give them a 4 out of 5 for sound, 5/5 for WAF.
echolane's avatar
echolane OP
112 posts
 
 I would definitely give the Pioneer 100 hours or more to break in the news parts, especially the caps. There could be a myriad of other reasons why it sounds bright and not related to the receiver.  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I was a little dismayed that you heard the Pioneer receivers as “hard” and “bright” and maybe that’s what I am hearing too.  But I will definitely be taking time at breaking them in and hoping for the best.  Whatever they sounded like when I bought them are decades gone out of my memory, so here’s hoping the new parts will make some difference on the positive side, so I will hope for the best.  
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