Pioneer SX-737 35WPC Black Face Channel Receiver from 1974

Pioneer SX-737 35WPC receiver from 1974. Church sale find, $100. Low hours and cared for.

I wasn’t sure initially what to do when I saw this. I’m in the market for a black face Pioneer 2 channel and really wanted a 939 or the 1010, as folklore states the first 100 WPC channel solid state receiver.

I have a Pioneer SX-747 quad which is of excellent quality and from the same era.

Then I did an eBay search and realized that even the middle of the line receivers from this era fetch quite a price. Bought it blindly for $100 and there was no outlet to test for the protection circuit relay.

Took it home, and the video will do a little bit of overview of what I did to clean it up.

I did not record the amp DC offset and idle current adjustments, however it’s mentioned in the video. They were just slightly off, which usually indicates low hours based on my experience.

Also at the last minute I replaced the dial pointer bulb which was not necessarily easy, but now I’ve done it once after watching someone else’s YouTube video.

It’s been playing this week and today for about three hours with no issues.

1970s watts are a lot different, this is only 35, it’s not too much but also not too little. It’s in the Goldilocks zone and it’s just right powering Pioneer HPM 60s.

Welcome to summer everyone!