New acquisitions: SA-9100 and TX-9100

A few years ago, my father picked up a couple of older components at a garage sale near his house. He put them in his shop building to use with a pair of older Infinity speakers. As the shop building has been an unusable mess for the past number of years, I've not ventured down there and hence hadn't really noted what the equipment was.

I agreed to help him clean out the shop over the past weekend, and realized that the 'shop stereo' was actually a nice-looking Pioneer integrated amp and tuner. I realized that this was worth saving from the dusty, unheated shop. I had a newer Kenwood receiver in storage at dad's house, so I swapped that out with the rationale that the Pioneer gear was too nice to waste in the shop and that he should take it up to the house. He has an Adcom/Klipsch 2ch main system and a decent HT setup, so no real place to use this. It ended up in the back of my car when I wasn't looking.

I brought it home and spent the morning cleaning them up, giving all of the switches/pots/connectors a good dose of DeOxit, etc. I was surprised by just how dust-free the insides of both units are--and how well-built they are. The amp in particular is really surprising. Looks like the build dates are 1974 on both pieces.

I dragged my Boston T830's upstairs from my HT setup and have them set up in the living room--it sounds very good and runs barely warm at more than half volume. All controls operate noise-free now, which is nice.

Unfortunately, I don't have a great place to use them in this house--they will likely be used to drive the in-wall speakers on the main floor for the time being.

Pics:

Photos:



Cosmetically, both units are in decent shape. I'm pretty surprised to note that all the dial/meter lights seem to work in the tuner.



Worst part is that the original owner placed stickers on the controls to more clearly mark how to make the radio work...and the adhesive has bonded itself to the faceplate. Attempts to remove it have met with limited success thus far.

those are very nice vintage units. Pioneer's sx- series receivers get more attention, but i think the sa- series integrated amps have a less colored and sweeter sound.

those are simply sweet. you scored big time...

I should pull the cover off the integrated amp and take a photo--it's really nicely laid out. I was surprised by the level of craftsmanship, especially for an amp that was effectively midpack in their lineup in 1974.

Congrats! I used to have a TX-8100 and the complete set of 800 series quad separates. I also had the CFT-9191 tape deck. Really nice sounding stuff, especially the quad amp. I wish I had the 9100 set like yours or I would have kept them all.

The sticker residue is easily removeable with naphta spirits also known as golf club grip solvent. It is also the same as lighter fluid. This stuff will safely dissolve sticker residue from faceplates, wood veneer, and clear plastic without leaving residue or discoloration. It really is magic!

Thanks for the tip on the lighter fluid! I tried Goo Gone, but no dice. This stuff is seriously hardened. They are the only blemishes on an otherwise very clean faceplate, so I very much want to remove them.

Next, I suppose I should think about having the SA-9100 recapped...and to check the DC offset and bias.

Naphta will dissolve the most yellowed and the hardest tape residue. I've removed dried duct tape from clear plastic without damage. You should have no problem making your wonderful amp perfect again.

BTW, others have posted that lighter fluid is the same but make sure it is labeled naphta spirits. I use golf cub grip solvent exclusively and my positive results and recommendation are based on that.

This post has been edited by socal sam on May 19, 2009 09:06 pm

if you are not interested in upgrading it then you would only need to replace any caps that have gone or show evidence of going bad.

Ah, okay. Just from an uneducated layperson's visual inspection of all the internals of the amp, everything seems to be in decent shape. My father purchased it from an elderly woman who said her husband had purchased it new--she didn't use it so she was selling it. I'm guessing they didn't see a whole lot of use.

Purchasing from an old lady is best case scenario. No trips to college, no extended stays in the garage, and probably minimal hours of play at minimal volume. You scored!

Must have felt like a step a back in time when you saw those. Great looks. Amp is 60wpc and was $450 msrp, tuner $350.

Wrong the 9100's were the TOTL for Pioneer separates in 1973-74 I have 4 SA-9100's and 3 TX-9100's the SA-9100 is considered to be one of the best sounding amps of this type from the Silver faced era. Once recapped and refreshed the sound is amazing. I have one completely redone by Rich in AZ and Aurthur is finishing up the second one as I type this.

The TX-9100 while not a super tuner it does rank very high in sound quality.

Be very easy to end up with much worse then a pair of 9100's