Photobitstream
02-05-2006, 09:15 AM
Who in his right mind would pit a gorgeous classic Pioneer against an obviously ugly Sansui, especially when the common consensus is the 7900Z is past Sansui's prime? Call me out of my mind, but I've been running the Sansui in my office for about two weeks, and recently pulled it and put the Pioneer in its place. But first, a little background.
I bought the SX-980 from Grumpy last year. Echowars did his usual thorough job on it, so we must assume this example is about as good as they get. It has certainly been reliable, and upon arrival relegated the POS Marantz SR-7400 to doorstop status. The Pioneer became the centerpiece of our living room system. About two months after getting the Pioneer I found a Carver TFM-25 in a pawn shop, moved the Pioneer into my office and installed our Marantz 2250B into the living room system, where it fed signals to the TFM-25. It took my wife about six weeks to convince me to get the "ugly" Marantz out of the living room, so the Pioneer and Marantz swapped places again.
All was well until the Marantz AUX circuit quit playing the right channel. Fortunately, I found the 7900Z on craigslist and put the Marantz into a local shop for repair.
The 7900Z was a pleasant surprise. I expected a decent receiver, but nothing special. As I listened to it over a few days it earned my respect. I work at my computer six to eight hours at a stretch, and have built a decent system for listening to music while working. Ohm Model L speakers, Nakamichi Cassette Deck2, Technics SL-1400 turntable, and a PowerMac G5 with more than 19,000 track in iTunes. My collection runs from Aaron "T-Bone" Walker to ZZ Top, with a bunch of folk, jazz, classical, and country albums thrown in for spice. The humble 7900Z handled them all gracefully. I also listen to the local NPR affiliate, KUT-FM, quite a bit, and the Sansui's tuner pulls in the station cleanly.
Which leads us back to the Pioneer. I finally talked my wife into letting me buy a Carver CT-Seven to go in the living room so I could bring the Pioneer back into my office. The CT-Seven arrived Friday, so after installing it I removed the Sansui from my office system and hooked up the Pioneer. I was disappointed immediately. Upon tuning the Pioneer to KUT-FM I found not music, but static. The Sansui had been playing the station quite cleanly a few minutes ago, so I checked the antennae connections. Fine. The problem is the Pioneer tuner. I recalled one reason I was willing to bring the 2250B back into my office last summer: the Marantz has a better tuner.
After listening to KGSR-FM for a few hours (the Pioneer pulls in that station with no problem) and spending some time listening to my iTunes collection, it became apparent that the Pioneer simply does not sound as good as the 7900Z. The power shouldn't matter in this setup (80 wpc for the Pioneer vs 100 wpc for the Sansui). The difference is the Sansui has a lower noise floor, which gives a cleaner, more transparent, sound. Having compared the Marantz and Pioneer in my office earlier I preferred the Pioneer, except for the tuner. Now the Sansui 7900Z has bested the Pioneer SX-980, which means the humble 7900Z is the best receiver in my modest collection and will soon return to duty as my office receiver.
Sidebar: How does the Pioneer stand up as a pre/tuner vs the Carver CT-Seven? It doesn't, and the difference is not even close. The CT-Seven has a dramatically lower noise floor, a better tuner, and simply does everything better than the Pioneer. The difference is so large I'm thinking of selling the Pioneer and buying separates for my office. Getting the CT-Seven has convinced me, again, that for the best sound you need separate components, and an excellent preamp is essential for getting the best sound.
Edited 2/9/06 to correct model name of Sansui receiver.
I bought the SX-980 from Grumpy last year. Echowars did his usual thorough job on it, so we must assume this example is about as good as they get. It has certainly been reliable, and upon arrival relegated the POS Marantz SR-7400 to doorstop status. The Pioneer became the centerpiece of our living room system. About two months after getting the Pioneer I found a Carver TFM-25 in a pawn shop, moved the Pioneer into my office and installed our Marantz 2250B into the living room system, where it fed signals to the TFM-25. It took my wife about six weeks to convince me to get the "ugly" Marantz out of the living room, so the Pioneer and Marantz swapped places again.
All was well until the Marantz AUX circuit quit playing the right channel. Fortunately, I found the 7900Z on craigslist and put the Marantz into a local shop for repair.
The 7900Z was a pleasant surprise. I expected a decent receiver, but nothing special. As I listened to it over a few days it earned my respect. I work at my computer six to eight hours at a stretch, and have built a decent system for listening to music while working. Ohm Model L speakers, Nakamichi Cassette Deck2, Technics SL-1400 turntable, and a PowerMac G5 with more than 19,000 track in iTunes. My collection runs from Aaron "T-Bone" Walker to ZZ Top, with a bunch of folk, jazz, classical, and country albums thrown in for spice. The humble 7900Z handled them all gracefully. I also listen to the local NPR affiliate, KUT-FM, quite a bit, and the Sansui's tuner pulls in the station cleanly.
Which leads us back to the Pioneer. I finally talked my wife into letting me buy a Carver CT-Seven to go in the living room so I could bring the Pioneer back into my office. The CT-Seven arrived Friday, so after installing it I removed the Sansui from my office system and hooked up the Pioneer. I was disappointed immediately. Upon tuning the Pioneer to KUT-FM I found not music, but static. The Sansui had been playing the station quite cleanly a few minutes ago, so I checked the antennae connections. Fine. The problem is the Pioneer tuner. I recalled one reason I was willing to bring the 2250B back into my office last summer: the Marantz has a better tuner.
After listening to KGSR-FM for a few hours (the Pioneer pulls in that station with no problem) and spending some time listening to my iTunes collection, it became apparent that the Pioneer simply does not sound as good as the 7900Z. The power shouldn't matter in this setup (80 wpc for the Pioneer vs 100 wpc for the Sansui). The difference is the Sansui has a lower noise floor, which gives a cleaner, more transparent, sound. Having compared the Marantz and Pioneer in my office earlier I preferred the Pioneer, except for the tuner. Now the Sansui 7900Z has bested the Pioneer SX-980, which means the humble 7900Z is the best receiver in my modest collection and will soon return to duty as my office receiver.
Sidebar: How does the Pioneer stand up as a pre/tuner vs the Carver CT-Seven? It doesn't, and the difference is not even close. The CT-Seven has a dramatically lower noise floor, a better tuner, and simply does everything better than the Pioneer. The difference is so large I'm thinking of selling the Pioneer and buying separates for my office. Getting the CT-Seven has convinced me, again, that for the best sound you need separate components, and an excellent preamp is essential for getting the best sound.
Edited 2/9/06 to correct model name of Sansui receiver.