[rocketeer]

I bought this 1974 Pioneer SX-636 (25WPC) at auction last week. Opened it up, blew the dust out of it, connected a pair of cheap speakers I picked up until the Polk Audios I ordered arrive, and tried it out. It plays perfectly. Gotta love the blue dial. This one might be a keeper.   

   

   

[Ron Ramirez]

Very nice! The x3x series of Pioneer receivers (SX-535, 636, 737, etc.) are well regarded, good looking, good performing receivers.

[PhilcoMike]

Very nice. Consider recapping if you get time to be kind to a couple of unobtainium thick film hybrid IC's in it.

Thanks,

Mike

[rocketeer]

Well after threatening Best Buy with the PA Attorney General they finally shipped the speakers I bought and paid for back on Oct 4th so I now have the SX-636 set up the way I want and it's really nice.  Definitely a keeper. Listening to Billie Holiday right now. Sweet.  

[Ron Ramirez]

Glad to hear it is working well for you, Larry!

Sorry about your Worst Buy experience, though.

I hate Worst Buy. I absolutely hate that store. After the last time I bought something from them (the HDTV we currently own), I swore that would be the last time.

We had purchased it online for pickup in a nearby city which I will not name to protect the guilty.

We went there to pick it up and they were the most condescending, rude, hateful people I have ever had the misfortune of dealing with. I wanted to demand a refund but Dear Wife would not let me (even though she agreed that the people there were a bunch of AHs).

I said then that I would never set foot in another Worst Buy store...or order anything from them online...ever again. And I've kept my word. I never even look at their website to see what they have anymore. I would gladly pay more to buy something somewhere else...anywhere else than Worst Buy.

P.S. Did I send in a complaint to their headquarters? You betcha! Did they respond with an apology...or something? Are you kidding me? They did not even bother to reply. They do not care. I compare them to the eBayers who stuff your bakelite radio in a box barely large enough for the radio to fit...with no packing material...and then blame everyone but themselves when it arrives destroyed. They, too, simply do not care.

[rocketeer]

I bought the speakers off an Ebay listing, not realizing it was a Best Buy storefront until I went back in a few days later to see if they had been shipped (they hadn't). I sent a message asking why they had not been shipped and received a reply that said don't worry, you'll have them by the 10th. When the 20th arrived and they still weren't shipped I emailed the home office and suggested I would file a fraud complaint with the AG rather than cancel since they had ticked me off. Within 2 hours I was notified they had been shipped and the next day they arrived, minus an apology. That's the last thing I buy there.

[morzh]

Interesting....not that I bought a lot from the Best Buy, but my experience with them wasnt at all bad. Not stellar, but not bad. Though the last time was quite a few years back, like 2008 or so....oh wait, I bought a laptop for my inlaws this last June.
Never dealt with their mail order though.

[rocketeer]

Time for an update. The Pioneer has become my daily driver. It is permanetly tuned to the Philadelphia classic music station, although I sometimes think they have trouble figuring out what classical music is and what it isn't. They often play big band music in the evening, including vocals by the likes of Billie Holiday, Sarah Vaughn, and Dinah Washington also. But when they launch into their definition of jazz (screeching, off-key, off-tempo noise) I switch over to my transmitter and listen to OTR.

One of the dial bulbs has croaked so I'm ordering LED's to replace them all but I'm hoping someone can point me to a source for the tiny indicator bulbs, like for the "Stereo" indicator for example.

[Ron Ramirez]

If they are like the Lafayette LR-3500 I recently rebuilt, the tiny bulbs can probably be replaced with 3mm LEDs. I've found that they do not require a separate diode for AC operation but they do require an appropriate series dropping resistor; and in the case of the stereo indicator, it also needs a parallel resistor to simulate the current draw of the original bulb (typically 60 mA in incandescent stereo indicators).

I like to go over them with some sandpaper to make the clear surface opaque, causing the emitted light to be less directional and look more like an incandescent lamp.

[Arran]

I bought the speakers off an Ebay listing, not realizing it was a Best Buy storefront until I went back in a few days later to see if they had been shipped (they hadn't). I sent a message asking why they had not been shipped and received a reply that said don't worry, you'll have them by the 10th. When the 20th arrived and they still weren't shipped I emailed the home office and suggested I would file a fraud complaint with the AG rather than cancel since they had ticked me off. Within 2 hours I was notified they had been shipped and the next day they arrived, minus an apology. That's the last thing I buy there.

 That's probably the only way Worst Buy can stay in business is through outlets like that, their pool of likely suckers (I mean customers) that will actually walk into their stores is shrinking by the day.
Regards
Arran

[rocketeer]

Sometimes things you least expect pop up and surprise you. I pulled the Pioneer to open it and work on the bulbs and decided to temporarily put a Technics SA-200 I had picked up in it's place. Here's the surprise, the Technics is noticeably better sounding, at least to these old ears, even though they have essentially the same specs. Hmmm, I may have to change my thinking and keep the Technics instead of the Pioneer.

[rocketeer]

As the merry-go-round turns, it just keeps getting better. I sold the Pioneer at Kutztown. I had been hanging onto it as a backup to the Technics SA-200 but fate intervened. I found a Technics SA-303 (40wpc) at a flea market and had someone donate a really nice pair of Technics SB-CR33 speakers. The SA-200 is now the backup. My goodness does it sound nice. That's my Dual 1019 on the shelf.

   

[Ron Ramirez]

All's well that ends well...right?

Congratulations on your Technics finds!