NEW LOWER PRICE! CONSIDERING OTHER RECENT SALES OF THIS UNIT IN CLOSE TO THIS CONDITION. LAST ONE IN GOOD CONDITION SOLD $799.99 E-BAY SALES// THIS PIONEER IS ALSO RARE CONSIDERING HAVING ONLY ONE OWNER VERY HARD TO FIND IN THIS CONDITION. THIS IS ALMOST TOP TIER FOR VINTAGE PIONEER THE SX-3900 WAS TOP IN THIS SERIES. THE SX-3700'S FULLY SERVICED & TESTED IN MINT CONDITION ALSO INCLUDED A NEW PAIR OF 14/4 STRAIGHT WIRE MADE IN THE USA MUSICABLE OFC SPEAKER CABLES A THREE HUNDRED DOLLAR VALUE. THAT MAKES THIS A VERY GOOD DEAL. ALL THINGS CONSIDERED PLEASE BE FAIR WITH YOUR OFFERS. Speaker Wire Review Follows:
Verified
12/13/2022
Musicable speaker wires sound remarkable to me, so very much better than what I was using previously that even my less than sophisticated ears can hear the improvement. I know that Straight-wire has much more expensive and well received audiophile speaker cables, but the Musicable 2 wires suit me to a "T". I think it's a fortunate thing to have a company in the U.S. that makes very high-quality speaker and interconnect cables that employ the latest in audio science and materials. I'm not what y...
Jesse V.Verified
2/1/2024
High quality construction, definitely made a difference in sound quality, seems to brighten and opened up the sound stage. I highly recommend these cables and Aperion Audio kept me informed of status and shipped it efficiently.
Straight Wire Musicable Premium Cable $252.00 14/4 12' to 15' plus S&H Tax
Why are vintage Pioneer receivers so expensive?
Receivers
from the 70's to early 80's were extremely powerful in terms of
wattage, They were built very well with superior electronics compared to
the cheaper designs put out today. My Pioneer SX-1980 from 1979 weighs almost 80 pounds and cost almost $1200
Why do vintage receivers sound better?
Most vintage receivers used Class A/B amps, which were more efficient and ran cooler than their Class A counterparts.
Vintage receivers, like this Pioneer SX-3700 amazing sound quality is extremely clean and their beauty can't be denied. 90 watts total power. The power output on
vintage amps is nothing to scoff at. At less than half volume it fills room with music & detail of, you have to experience to understand.
Pioneer SX- 3700. The last of a generation or First of a new generation. FM has stupendous reception
A Fabulous amplifier interesting digital display with classic aesthetic and feel.
A Smooth operator capable with a clean sound.
Took
my SX-780 into the shop to have the DC offset adjusted and possibly a
recap. As I was waiting, saw a mint condition 3700 sitting on the shelf.
Although I liked my 780, I've been on the lookout for a serviceable
3700. I left one behind when our household goods were overweight coming
PCS back to states.
Sounds great running my Klipsch Hersey 1's.
I
highly recommend this receiver. Mine is 39 years old and still sounds
exceptional by any measure. I'd give it extra points if I could for
its futuristic Fluroscan display. The only downside is that the button
lamps don't last forever, and they are a pain to replace.
The
last of the truly great Pioneer receivers. When new, it was the bottom
of the top tier of this series. Priced within reach of most anyone
with a decent job and packing enough power that the neighbors could
listen along with you whether they wanted to or not. I bought mine used
and serviced about 8 months ago. This little baby really rocks. At
half volume it’ll drive me out of the room. Back when 45 WPC really was
45 WPC. The legendary Pioneer build quality is there, the legendary
Pioneer sound is there, with my Pioneer TT coupled to it and some
Pioneer speakers from the mid/late 80s I’m in mid-fi heaven.
Bought
mine new in 1980 (or maybe early '81) from the venerable Wisconsin
Discount Stereo (they were big advertisers in the old Stereo Review
magazine). In my opinion, this series of receivers (and this entire
series of components) was Pioneer at its pinnacle. The styling and the
feel was just as important as the sound quality, but never more
important. Hell, even the Pioneer logo was better back then! The 45
watts per channel rating always seemed conservative to me, because this
thing could play loud and clean all day long. Great tuner section
too...love the combination analog/digital display. Funny to think that I
could sell this today for more than I originally paid for it...but
that'll never happen. This is a great receiver. If you want a good
foundation for a mid-priced vintage audio system, you won't go wrong
with a 3700.
I
absolutely love this receiver, it is very beautiful, I bought mine from
vintage audio dealer a little outside my city, I had my mine set on
something else, but when he recommended this receiver and played it for
me, I fell in love and my mind was made up, the owner of the store is an
Pioneer head, he has all kinds of Pioneer equipment, my receiver looks
brand stinking new and fully serviced
I
scored this beauty at Goodwill. It is in perfect
working order, except that one push button light is burned out. I have
cleaned it and used Deoxit D5 on the pots and switches. I love this
thing. Powerful, clear, present sound.
I
purchased a 3700 used from Ebay. Normally I just don't like to purchase
anything used, but my old Fisher 514 was wore out it just wasn't worth
fixing, and I just didn't like the black faced plastic that they have
been selling since the early 80's. Now the SX 3700 is one of the nicest
stereo receivers that I have ever listen too. It has two tape inputs,
one aux, and a phono input. It also has a digital readout on the tuner,
as was as an analog dial. This is the machine that started the
transition from real stereo receivers to the plastic junk sold today.
This machine also has A&B speaker connections, so that you could
connect up to 4 speakers. I only spent $118.00 including shopping, back
in the day ( 1980-1982) these sold for about $375 . It delivers 45 watts
per channel. This was the first of the upper tier receivers in the
flouroscan product line. Both the power meter and the FM meter are blue
fluorescent displays. This is also the first receiver in this line to
have a 2nd row of buttons, and it was the first receiver to use the
famous lever switches , although it still used a rotary switch for the
on-off. The biggest downfall to these receivers is that when the push
button lights go out, or when the rotary switches need cleaning, you
must remove the entire front interior and exterior face plate. This
machine is so nice cosmetically that you will just love the look, with
its nice shinny aluminum surfaces. I would recommend a dust cloth be
place over the top when not in use because the vent on this receiver
goes across the entire top center of the machine... and as we all know
dust is the worst enemy of electronics... so keep it clean and it will
last you for years....
I had the great honor of repairing one of these SX-3900 in 2019.
(Edit: I have realised it was a 3900 I repaired with extra switches on
the front, not a 3700) Although I am long ago retired from repairing
this kind of product the owner of it had head-hunted me and almost
begged me to help whatever the price. The regional Pioneer service
center where he was located couldn't repair it - and they frankly had
made it worse as I could see from black scorch marks smoke damage inside
and heavily damaged components, they didn't seem to be geared up for
the job. To make my job cheaper the owner had already sourced various
important spare parts. I responded to his efforts by treating the
situation with the respect it deserves, and certainly not just
connecting things up and switching on the power and hoping for the best.
The power supply of this amp can deliver nearly half a kilowatt and
one needs to ensure current limiting protective devices stay patched
into the circuit and stay in place until everything is properly
comissioned, and only then can they be removed. This amp is highly
strung. And then once I'd corrected the last of the errors of past
repair attempts I could move on and start repairing the original faults.
Luckily the owner isn't one for 'insist on a complete re-cap' which is
often complete and utter rubbish, perfectly good capacitors get replaced
with new that of course WILL need 're-capping' themselves because of
the poor quality wire seal bond caps have noways. The whole job went
really well and a great outcome. The Quartz Lock needed special
treatment because over the decades the crystal had drifted and it had
required slight trimming.
There was only one issue in the end that I was not happy with and
that was with the limiter / FM de-modulator/ tuning-aid section and how
it finally turned out. A special Pioneer IC had failed, a custom part
which we couldn't find at the time, so I had patched in specially-made
circuitry of my own design using recent parts, it was patched onto the
base of the circuit board as tacked on components. From that moment the
SX-3900 was switched on you could instantly hear what a difference the
Pioneer's RF and IF stages make, on the radio was piano music which
sounded extraordinarily 'clean'. Then the owner some months after had
found the original Pioneer replacement IC and we decided to remove the
temporary circuit and install the 'new' IC. From this moment on things
didn't quite pan out the way we'd expected. Although the IC installed
fine and everything went smoothly and surprisingly very little
adjustment was needed, gone was that 'clean' sound that hit me that
moment I heard the classic piano some months back. I wouldn't say it was
distorted at all, but just wasn't sounding as clean. Most definitely
everything else was fine around the IC. In the end it was a difficult
decision the owner had made, he in the end opted to keep the circuit the
original Pioneer even though it was not the clean sound. It is still a
bit of a mystery. A rough theory I have is the original Pioneer FM
detector being partly 'digital', that in the subsequent decades after
the Pioneer IC was fabricated many improvements had been made in logic
switching speed and accuracy which even today's cheap end market
products benefit from. Or maybe the original IC had degraded. It sounds
very mercenary of me to say (having at one time worked in a hifi shop)
people do sometimes hear with their eyes and wallet more than their
ears.
Customer Reviews!Pioneer SX-3700
Reviews for the Pioneer SX-3700 FM Quartz Locked Stereo Receiver & Specifications. Any Questions Please Ask. Thanks for viewing our ad.
Myron R.
Nice receiver!
Verified Purchase
The
45wpc is plenty of power for even higher volume listening. I love the
digital/analog tuner combo and the LED power meter. All in all, a very
nice receiver for the price!
My 1980 Pioneer SX-3700. I have been
using "vintage" receivers for my home office system for years now. I
have never been impressed with modern mid-level 2 channel receivers
(can't afford the high end). I stuck with the vintage receivers mostly
for the phono input since I mostly listen to vinyl. Modern receivers
either dropped the phono input or have dismal sound quality. It's all
about the surround sound. Which is fine, I have that part covered for
the living room. But I wanted a quality 2 channel receiver for my home
office. This is where I listen to most of my music (vinyl, CD, DVD, MP3)
So after much research with a tight budget.
Let's start with the good
stuff first. First off, the amp is excellent. Very clean with excellent
detail. The highs are crisp but not brittle or fatiguing. Plenty of
power for the low end without getting boomy or muddy. I am hearing
detail in music that stands out with the pioneer sx- 3700. The phono input is
on the SX-3700 is on par which is saying a lot.
This receiver is really an audio unit, not video. If that is a concern, you would be better served with a true surround
sound system with HDMI connections. However, if you want hi-fidelity
stereo with your shows and movies, connect your cable/converter box and
DVD player to the receiver and you are good to go.
If you are
looking for a 2 (or 2.1, 2.2) channel stereo receiver dedicated for
music, this is a very competent unit!
Punchy bass and great mid-ranges for a 45 WPC tuner.
I owned one of these 20 years ago, and I liked it so much, I bought another one. Pioneer's Flouroscan line produced some of the most unique and durable stereo tuners that were available on the market for that time period. Proper pricing for one of these units in good shape should run around $600 to $700 ++ plus shipping.
I bought an SX-3700 to refurbish/recap for a friend.
Breaking down the amp to get at the boards is a pain, but well worth it.
Now recapped, the amp has a phenomenal tuner and is putting out its rated watts.
Now with LED inicators, it looks great.
The SX-3700 is the final word for the heart of a home stereo system. If your listening material runs no more than 45 watts, this receiver brings all you will ever need.
Verified purchase:Yes| Condition:Pre-Owned| Sold by:thegovtmule
From that slightly awkward time that lies between the fully analog and fully digital eras come the Pioneer SX-3700.
It was 1980 and digital displays were just catching on and Pioneer
sought to capitalize on the movement with its FluoroScan technology. The
SX-3700 produces 45 watts per channel and incorporates a direct coupled
amplifier design.
There is a variant of the SX-3700 labelled the SX-820. Apparently, it
is a European version but has a black dial face and white FluoroScan. A
couple other SX-3000 series receivers also had European variants in the
SX-620, SX-720.
The FluoroScan display shows the tuning for the AM or FM bands
depending upon AM or FM selector button is pushed. The analog dial shows
both FM and AM tuning as well. The power output meter is also a
FluoroScan display. Pioneer utilized a 3 gang FM tuning capacitor and
quartz servo lock technology to create a very good FM tuner section. The
FluoroScan FM display is backed up by a quartz crystal oscillator that
provides a stable time base so that the correct numbers will always be
displayed for a given frequency selection. The display is also 5 digits
as opposed to many other manufacturers that used only four digits.
Pioneer referred to all of this as their P.D.Q. or Pioneer
Digital/Quartz tuning technology.
The SX-3700 was a mid-range receiver and had bigger brothers in the
SX-3800 and the SX-3900. But those receivers had more complicated
designs and are more difficult to work on than the SX-3700.
If you like the FluoroScan display then the SX-3700 (or SX-3800,
SX-3900 depending upon your budget) might be the way to go. They do look
very nice in the dark and are a good representation of the
technological shift from analog to digital. They are also very good
performers and can be found for a price that is within most budge
PIONEER SX-3700 STEREO RECEIVER * HIGHLY MUSICAL
Till this day, Pioneer SX-3700 remains one of the best sounding and
stereo receivers ever made. At low to moderate power levels with the
right speakers it produces a very convincing reproduction of actual
musical event - the singer is right in front of you.
Most audiophiles agree that SX-3700 sounds better than SX-780 / SX-750.
The simple fact is that in the last 5 years the prices for SX-780 and
SX-3700 have doubled! This is due to abysmal musicality of new plastic
receivers and the limited supply of vintage receivers in decent shape.
* Same power as SX-780, but much lower distortion (0.02%), more beautiful sound and very nice looks
* Made in Japan
* 10 - 100000 Hz
* 90 WPC RMS / 4 Ohms
* 45 WPC RMS / 8 Ohms
* FM, AM, Aux, Tape 1, Tape2, Phono
* All inputs except Phono can be used with PC, iPod, CD player, etc...
* FM muting
* Low filter
* Loudness
* Speakers A OR B (on/off) / BOTH
* Headphones jack
* 48 x 15 x 37 cm at 12 Kg
I owned one of these 20 years ago, and I liked it so much, I bought another one. Pioneer's Flouroscan line produced some of the most unique and durable stereo tuners that were available on the market for that time period. Proper pricing for one of these units in good shape should run around $600 plus shipping.
I bought an SX-3700 to refurbish/recap for a friend.
Breaking down the amp to get at the boards is a pain, but well worth it.
Now recapped, the amp has a phenomenal tuner and is putting out its rated watts.
Now with LED inicators, it looks great.
The SX-3700 is the final word for the heart of a home stereo system. If your listening material runs no more than 30 watts, this receiver brings all you will ever need.
Verified purchase:Yes| Condition:Pre-Owned| Sold by:thegovtmule
re: SX-3700
I had the great honor of repairing one of these SX-3900 in 2019. (Edit: I have realised it was a 3900 I repaired with extra switches on the front, not a 3700) Although I am long ago retired from repairing this kind of product the owner of it had head-hunted me and almost begged me to help whatever the price. The regional Pioneer service center where he was located couldn't repair it - and they frankly had made it worse as I could see from black scorch marks smoke damage inside and heavily damaged components, they didn't seem to be geared up for the job. To make my job cheaper the owner had already sourced various important spare parts. I responded to his efforts by treating the situation with the respect it deserves, and certainly not just connecting things up and switching on the power and hoping for the best. The power supply of this amp can deliver nearly half a kilowatt and one needs to ensure current limiting protective devices stay patched into the circuit and stay in place until everything is properly comissioned, and only then can they be removed. This amp is highly strung. And then once I'd corrected the last of the errors of past repair attempts I could move on and start repairing the original faults. Luckily the owner isn't one for 'insist on a complete re-cap' which is often complete and utter rubbish, perfectly good capacitors get replaced with new that of course WILL need 're-capping' themselves because of the poor quality wire seal bond caps have noways. The whole job went really well and a great outcome. The Quartz Lock needed special treatment because over the decades the crystal had drifted and it had required slight trimming.
There was only one issue in the end that I was not happy with and that was with the limiter / FM de-modulator/ tuning-aid section and how it finally turned out. A special Pioneer IC had failed, a custom part which we couldn't find at the time, so I had patched in specially-made circuitry of my own design using recent parts, it was patched onto the base of the circuit board as tacked on components. From that moment the SX-3900 was switched on you could instantly hear what a difference the Pioneer's RF and IF stages make, on the radio was piano music which sounded extraordinarily 'clean'. Then the owner some months after had found the original Pioneer replacement IC and we decided to remove the temporary circuit and install the 'new' IC. From this moment on things didn't quite pan out the way we'd expected. Although the IC installed fine and everything went smoothly and surprisingly very little adjustment was needed, gone was that 'clean' sound that hit me that moment I heard the classic piano some months back. I wouldn't say it was distorted at all, but just wasn't sounding as clean. Most definitely everything else was fine around the IC. In the end it was a difficult decision the owner had made, he in the end opted to keep the circuit the original Pioneer even though it was not the clean sound. It is still a bit of a mystery. A rough theory I have is the original Pioneer FM detector being partly 'digital', that in the subsequent decades after the Pioneer IC was fabricated many improvements had been made in logic switching speed and accuracy which even today's cheap end market products benefit from. Or maybe the original IC had degraded. It sounds very mercenary of me to say (having at one time worked in a hifi shop) people do sometimes hear with their eyes and wallet more than their ears.