Northwestdad
Member
My name is Scott and I recently took the plunge to get back into vintage music. I have a lot of great memories of being a kid in the 70's and early 80's when I first really began to notice music. Our home stereo's were monstrosities with knobs and dials and waving needles. We used to spin records backwards to freak ourselves out when having a sleepover with friends. Jukeboxes blasted Foreigner while we pumped quarters into pinball machines, Mrs PacMan and Kung Fu at the arcade. Went on roadtrips with the family in the giant wood-paneled station wagon down Hwy 101 on the Oregon coast listening to John Denver on 8-track. Man the world was good back then....
I now of two teenage boys of my own who are into music, but all they've ever known is what comes out of an iPod. I want them to experience what music was meant to sound like. But since my wife would have strong words with me if I went out and dropped $1000 on some decent audio equipment, I decided to be patient and see what I might come up with from Craigslist, Goodwill, yard sales, etc. and the wait was worth it. For under $150 i picked up a beautiful Marantz 2216B (works flawlessly), a Toshiba SA-304 (that needs LOTS of work), and a Pioneer SX-680 in near perfect cosmetic condition but with a shorted left channel.
The Marantz needed replacement bulbs, but otherwise was fully operational when I got it home. Goodwill was selling it as "non-working, for parts only", but all that was wrong is they had the tape monitor button pushed in so couldn't hear the radio play.
The Toshiba had something spilled on it/inside of it and really did a number on some of the circuitry. It's a 4-channel unit that is in fairly good condition minus the deep half-inch scratch on the face-plate. It does operate but only has sound from one of the four channels.
The Pioneer is face-plate is near mint. The wood housing has two small areas on the edges where the veneer has been damaged but I think it can be repaired enough to look decent. Unfortunately the left channel appears to be shorted out or something. The left channel needle maxes out when powered up, and when I connected my speakers up, it immediately fried them (yeah...I was not happy to lose a $200 pair of speakers. Hard lesson to learn that when testing equipment it's best to hook them up to some cheap cannon fodder first).
I'm comfortable around electronics, and smart enough to know how not to electrocute myself, but I'm no technician. I can change out capacitors just fine when there is an obvious bulge or leak and I know what I'm looking for. For the Toshiba...I'll probably just list it on Craigslist and see what I can get for it. The Pioneer is too nice looking not to try and fix it up and possibly keep it. I'd be curious to know if any members have experience with the SX-680 model, with a channel shorting out and blowing speakers, and if it's a home repair remedy or if I'd be best to drop it off with a technician.
I will look to add photos of all three units tonight.
I now of two teenage boys of my own who are into music, but all they've ever known is what comes out of an iPod. I want them to experience what music was meant to sound like. But since my wife would have strong words with me if I went out and dropped $1000 on some decent audio equipment, I decided to be patient and see what I might come up with from Craigslist, Goodwill, yard sales, etc. and the wait was worth it. For under $150 i picked up a beautiful Marantz 2216B (works flawlessly), a Toshiba SA-304 (that needs LOTS of work), and a Pioneer SX-680 in near perfect cosmetic condition but with a shorted left channel.
The Marantz needed replacement bulbs, but otherwise was fully operational when I got it home. Goodwill was selling it as "non-working, for parts only", but all that was wrong is they had the tape monitor button pushed in so couldn't hear the radio play.
The Toshiba had something spilled on it/inside of it and really did a number on some of the circuitry. It's a 4-channel unit that is in fairly good condition minus the deep half-inch scratch on the face-plate. It does operate but only has sound from one of the four channels.
The Pioneer is face-plate is near mint. The wood housing has two small areas on the edges where the veneer has been damaged but I think it can be repaired enough to look decent. Unfortunately the left channel appears to be shorted out or something. The left channel needle maxes out when powered up, and when I connected my speakers up, it immediately fried them (yeah...I was not happy to lose a $200 pair of speakers. Hard lesson to learn that when testing equipment it's best to hook them up to some cheap cannon fodder first).
I'm comfortable around electronics, and smart enough to know how not to electrocute myself, but I'm no technician. I can change out capacitors just fine when there is an obvious bulge or leak and I know what I'm looking for. For the Toshiba...I'll probably just list it on Craigslist and see what I can get for it. The Pioneer is too nice looking not to try and fix it up and possibly keep it. I'd be curious to know if any members have experience with the SX-680 model, with a channel shorting out and blowing speakers, and if it's a home repair remedy or if I'd be best to drop it off with a technician.
I will look to add photos of all three units tonight.
