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Pioneer SA9100 & TX9100 repair near McLean VA? (Worth it?)

Hi, my neighbor's husband recently passed away and left her with a number of interesting pieces of vintage gear. Included are the following: Pioneer SA-9100 amp (a beauty) and Pioneer TX-9100. I smoke tested both, but stopped because the amp failed to output anything other than background noise and an exceedingly weak signal to my sacrificial speakers (known to be good).

I'd like to get an estimate for repair of both (also looking at re-capping/mods), preferably local to avoid shipping. In my opinion, both of these have a very nice look and feel, and some great features. I just don;t know what they sound like "fixed" or "modded".

Do you think these are worthwhile repairing? 

Do you have a suggestion for a repair person who is familiar with these?

Thanks!


128x128vicweast
marktomaras
535 posts
 
Depends on what your intentions are or how much is worth it.  These are 40+ years old and not particularly of audiophile quality.  While they may be of interest to vintage audio enthusiasts who are not into the audiophile thing, and may well sell, I don't see them fetching much money.  I saw a one that sold on eBay for $150.  If you have to invest in repairs, plus the fees to sell, the rreturns are going to be super minimal, and perhaps not worth the effort.

perhaps the better approach is to see if there are any music lovers in the family that can see that their relative's gear lives on and keeps playing music?

There is a guy in Florida, Larry at Hollywood Sound who may have an opinion and/or repair options for you.
paraneer's avatar
paraneer
818 posts
 
I'd like to get an estimate for repair of both (also looking at re-capping/mods), preferably local to avoid shipping. In my opinion, both of these have a very nice look and feel, and some great features. I just don;t know what they sound like "fixed" or "modded".

Do you think these are worthwhile repairing?

Vintage is fine if your technically inclined. 

So if you can do the repairs yourself, these are nice vintages pieces from the Pioneer "silver" era and are sought after by vintage enthusiasts.  But if you have to pay of shop to bring them back to factory spec, you have exceeded the value of a fully functioning one and maybe a comparable new amp.  Most likely you will lose money if your intention is not to keep it for nostalgia reasons.

vicweast's avatar
vicweast OP
148 posts
 
Thank you for the comments, they make perfect sense and I thought that this might be the case. 

mechans
2,999 posts
 


There are other forums around the net that are devoted to  Vintage =older gear like this "Silver Period Pioneer". You may want to investigate a couple of these forums and search for that specific piece of equipment.

I agree, that fixing and refurbishing this gear is most likely going to be more expensive than the equipment is worth.  However you can try to help by posting a "for repair or parts only" auction.

jl35
2,244 posts
 
Recapping will improve the sound considerably. Not really worth if financially/sonically, but if you like the unit....I had my old Yamaha integrated recapped and still enjoy using it 40 years later...
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