Pioneer SX-1280 MONSTER Receiver Repair 

No, they weren't.

@@foobarmaximus3506 Yes they were , the 1980 had a power supply board that was mounted facing down on the bottom of the receiver . It would fry from heat rising and being under spec in component voltage . Still , the SX 1980 is the grand daddy of all vintage receivers. The sansui G series are pretty but not built as rugged , the marantz are ruggedly built but less modern than the sx@@80 line and the technics sa 1000, for being the highest rated at 330 wpc looks like a boombox in comparison.

@@savagedick1462 You are both right. They were not a problem IF you only played them at candlelight, background volume and had very good ventilation. If you used them to their potential (and certainly in any cabinet setting), the AWR-154 board, mounted under the main power transformer and, yes facing down, would get hot, cook the components and fail. The carnage was slow but always ugly. The design flaw sure it made getting them from early e-waste easy! By the 1990s nobody was fixing them and they were going to trash. I got one for free from an e-waste pile in 2000. Having resurrected a 1280 in the early 90's I thought the 1980 wouldn't be a problem. Upon inspection it was UGLY. I buttoned it back up as is, put it on a shelf and slowly compiled replacement out of production parts (especially the output transistors) for the future surgery. About eight years ago I re-visited the project. As luck would have it I found Semiconductor Support Services' all new production, new design AWR board. It's not cheap and you need to have technician skill to install it but I gave it a whirl. Shazam! the 1980 came back to life. It turned out the outputs were not bad either. I spoke to the engineer who re-designed and fabricated the new AWR board. There are some modern modification to the original circuit design and the heat generating regulators are moved to the large output heat sinks. With the new AWR board setup the 1980 is a safe and solid powerhouse. Ebay has a couple of other options for new boards as well but they seem to be built just as the original. I think the SSS one I used is still the best. It has an improved circuit design and the heat producing regulators are now heavily sinked. I can rock my version of the SX-1980 with multiple sets of speakers for hours without a hitch (or smoke or fire or even much heat). Certainly something to consider.

I've tried finding a link to this board. I can't even find the company you mentioned. The only SSS is in the 'Wafer Fab Equipment Solutions' business. Can you help me?@@WC0125

The 737 is a great little receiver.

Do you repair stereo's for customers ? I have a Marantz and a Pioneer both not working would love to send to you to repair if possible Thanks Troy

Close, they're Model 17's!

Not off hand but I'm pretty sure it's been covered on audiokarma.org

Volume was controlled entirely by my phone at that point, yes. The volume knob was bypassed at that point since it's not part of the power amp.

The two shops didn't want to go out of their way to make modern components work. Check audiokarma. People have found ways to get 1280's and 1980's running again. The one I had did not seem to run hot, and I was pushing my maggies pretty hard with it.

I do not have very much experience with new gear so I can't answer your question too well. I'll answer it anyways, though. From what I've gathered over the years, vintage gear from the 70s, FOR THE MONEY, at least prior to 2020, sounds better. There is new stuff that will blow the panels off of any vintage piece, but you're paying thousands of dollars for that stuff. In many cases, a lower wattage (cost) vintage marantz or pioneer or sansui coupled with efficient speakers like Klipsch can sound absolutely fantastic. But you're giving up remote control and many other modern conveniences. Audio is extremely subjective and always comes down to the listener's personal preference. You won't know what you're missing, if anything at all, until you try! Check out Andrew Robinson's RU-vid videos on his Pioneer SX-450 and SX-780. He has some good commentary on this subject of old vs new.

If you do not get it fully restored would you be willing to sell it? and if so what would you want for it?

Not on the SX-1280

Really?

Get a life.