Is Vintage Audio Better for HIFI Performance - Pioneer SX-450 Review

For well over a year, when we review something on our channel viewers always comment that we should or need to check out vintage hifi gear, for its always “better”. Is vintage audio better for HIFI performance? While I’m not sure if vintage or used audiophile audio equipment is necessarily “better”, I can definitely see its appeal.

Pioneer Audio SX-450 Review

Kristi and I purchased a vintage Pioneer Audio SX-450 stereo receiver from a local record shop here in Austin, Texas. The unit, to the best of our knowledge, hadn’t been updated, but rather cleaned and checked out in order to ensure it was in proper working order. A lot of vintage hifi equipment is sold as-is, that is to say there is likely no warranty. This is just one of the potential risks or drawbacks to buying used audiophile gear. Thankfully our local shop, Breakaway Records, sells all their second hand gear with a 14-day return policy. This made it a no brainer when deciding to purchase the unit for our Pioneer Audio SX-450 Review.

Be sure to watch the video above to see my full review of the SX-450.

reviewing the vintage Pioneer Audio SX-450

SHOP FOR VINTAGE PIONEER AUDIO RECEIVERS

The original retail price of the SX-450 was $200 back in 1977 when it was manufactured. By Pioneer Audio’s own admission the SX-450 was an entry level, or cheap stereo receiver. Their ad campaigns even said so. A quick search on ebay reveals that current market value for a good condition SX-450 rests anywhere between FREE and about $175. We paid $150 for ours, which we felt was fair.

The SX-450 is a 15 Watt per channel stereo receiver that has a built-in phono preamp as well as AM/FM tuner. There is an auxillary input as well as a tape loop bringing the total input count to four. There are plenty of manual controls present on the SX-450, including tone controls for bass and treble -something you don’t find much on modern pieces of hifi gear. The build quality is very stout though costlier models even from that era do have even better build quality. Still, for a 40 plus year old piece our SX-450 looks better than a lot of new or modern gear I’ve seen.

Sound wise the SX-450 was surprising. It has a very nice, pleasing tone overall one that pairs well with a wide variety of loudspeakers. I wouldn’t say the SX-450 is neutral or revealing, as it does have some coloration and limitations at the extremes, but all-in-all it surprised both Kristi and I with just how good it sounded -not to mention how powerful.

While it may have only 15 Watts of total power on tap, the SX-450 drove our Polk Audio L800 tower speakers quite well, and even at higher volumes. While this is not a recommended pairing, it was still surprising to us just how well the tiny amplifier did. When paired with our Klipsch Heresy IV speakers, the SX-450 was a sonic match made in hifi heaven. it was this combo we loved most of all and why the SX-450 became one of our favorite amplifiers we have in house.

Is Vintage Audio Better for HIFI Performance? We test out the Pioneer SX450 receiver.

We were able to bring the Pioneer SX-450 into 2020 by adding an outboard DAC, which gave it digital inputs enabling us to connect it to our Hisense H8G 4K Android TV equipped smart TV. The first DAC we tried was a cheap DAC from Amazon. We upped the performance however by going with Schiit Audio’s Modi 3 DAC at a little over $100 retail. For fun we also paired the SX-450 with a Cambridge Audio Network Audio Streamer/DAC at over $1,000 retail in order to take advantage of TIDAL’s Master Quality Audio. It was a very nice system and a great showcase of how old components can be made “new” again with a little ingenuity.

Audiophiles Love to Recommend Vintage Audio

In the end I still maintain that not everyone is likely a candidate for buying vintage hifi gear, but there is no denying its affordability and charm. We know that audiophiles love to recommend vintage audio. If you want the latest and greatest the audiophile hobby has to offer, well, then you’re going to have to buy the latest and greatest. But if you’re looking to save, or add a bit of style and visual flare to your equipment rack and don’t mind having to put a little work in for things to sound their very best, well then maybe vintage is the way to go. I know we’re happy we purchased our little Pioneer SX-450. It’s a great stereo receiver from an era where sound, not features, was king.

Is Vintage Audio Better for HIFI Performance - Pioneer SX-450 Review