Kenwood KR-5200 or Pioneer SX-720

enathan1085

Respect.
So I have been currently questing for the various components to my very own starter system. I already have the centerpiece if you will, a beautiful Technics SL-1200 turntable all rarin' and ready to go. I am currently looking for a receiver to mate my turntable with and some affordable speakers to listen to the tunes with. In my weekly thrift store finds I stumbled across an Salvation Army with these:

1) Kenwood KR-5200 ($80 w/ 2 "kenwood" un-id speakers)

2) Pioneer SX-720 ($50)

Both units lit up fine when I plugged them in. All lights were in working order and cosmetically they looked gorgeous. No ostensibly visible dings or marks of any kind. So my question:

Which of these receivers would be the best mate for my Technics Turntable? What are their respective stats (wpc, etc)? Do either of them perform better than the other in any specific areas? Any tips for a first-timer setting up his first system? Many thanks for all your assistance.
 
Orion lists both receivers, but does not give output. The Kenwood might be about 20 wpc, the Pioneer about 30 wpc.
Prices seem a bit high for both of those receivers. Maybe $25 for the Kenny (not including the speakers, and Kenwood speakers were very "iffy") and $45 for the Pioneer.
 
Kenwood and Pioneer make some excellent gear. I am not familiar with the SX-720, I know of the 750 and 780 so I would assume that it may be a later 80s or even 90s. Maybe Dr.Strangelove or bully will chime and give more info on that one.

So I guess I would go with the Kenwood if its worth that much.
Try not to cross post if you can.
 
Woooodoggies--gotta love AK coming up with little bits of info!
The Pioneer SX-720 is given as being from 1981-82. The KR-5200 (oops, it wasn't listed) is mid-70s, probably 1974-78 along with similar numbered models.
I still think he's asking too much for the Kenwood. Nice as it may be.
 
I'm not familiar with that particular Pioneer, but I have that Kenwood (disclaimer: I have a vested interest - it's on eBay now) and it's a fine performer. 30 watts per, and sounds bigger actually. Kenwood stuff in general is very competitive - you get a lot of performance per $$.

Here's the spec sheet from the owners' manual --
 

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Thanks to all for their input. Gosh darn it but they both look so purty! My current plan of attack is to head back down the the Salvation Army at the earliest convenience, take some speaker wire and a set of headphones, and sit down and have a listen. At least that way I'll be able to discard one outright if it doesn't perform up to par. If they both work fine, which judging by their outward appearence might well be the case, then the decision will just be that much tougher. Decisions decisions :smoke:
 
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