Well I bought this for my dad when it was brand new and after he used it for a number of years. The selector knob for auxiliary FM and so on became a little noisy. So we wrapped it up in plastic and put it away and it's been sitting on a shelf for more than three-quarters of its life. I decided today1/25/19 to get it out clean it up and see how it worked and to my amazement it sounded just like it did when we put it away. I was surprised how good the tuner worked and how good this little receiver sounded. If it only had about another 15 watts per Channel which would total 30 it would be fantastic. With some small efficient speakers it would be a nice tuner for a small room or a kitchen.

The only real weakness with this stereo tuner is just the fact that it's only 15 watts per channel but like I said for a small room with some nice efficient speakers it would be fine for a small room or kitchen. It brought back a lot of pleasant memories to see and hear this little pioneer 434 stereo receiver.

I got my sx434 at The Wiz in downtown Brooklyn in 1975. I matched it with a B.I.C. 920 TT and KLH model 31 speakers bought at Uncle Steves on Canal St. NYC. Then added a Pioneer ctf2121 tape deck. Man did my little apartment ROCK. As years passed I traded up a lot but three years ago found a sx434 being tossed out at work. Took it to my fixit guy and for $40.00 he brought it back to life. It now lives in my kitchen and powers a Nakamichi BX1 tape deck and Boston Acoustic A40 speakers. I will NEVER trade or sell my sx434. Baby finally came home. Oh yeah, I paid $127.00 for the sx434 in 1975, and $60.00 each for the BIC and KLH's

1975 Pioneer SX-434
I bought one of these at a car boot sale for £2 ($3), It's virtually mint cosmetically and still works very well, although there's a touch of graininess in the sound when on AM. It is well built with a copper plated chassis, good quality transformer and decent capacitors etc. I have several tuners/amps/receivers from the 1970-1980s and this is one of the better sounding amps although with 15 watts per channel it's not very powerful, but teamed up with a pair of bookshelf loudspeakers it will play quite loud without distortion. It's FM sound is excellent and background hiss is minimal, AM performance is adequate.
This receiver was built in the mid 1970s, the first character of the serial number will be found to be a 'U' (1974) or a 'V' (1975), and it's a nice piece of working nostalgia with build quality rarely found these days.

Strengths:
Excellent build quality and a pleasing 1970s design. Good sound quality.

Weaknesses:
AM performance only adequate.

sound great!

Does anyone have the specifications on this unit. This sx-434 is from the 70's-early80's...any info would be great. Please e-mail me at scotthutch3@hotmail.com Thanks scott

Similar Products Used:

G-7000 Sansui 1976-1978 model

VERY good sound values. A VERY powerful amplifier. REALLY nice-looking design. EASY-TO-USE

The only weakness this receiver has, is that it has got no remote. But I don''t care... I''m not that lazy either..

***PIONEER SX-434*** This was my very first receiver, and I got to tell you, it is one of the absolutely best amplifiers I have ever laid my eyes on. Even though it''s an old, out-worn thing, it has got GREAT sound values and it is a very powerful amplifier. I would rather buy an old SX-434 than a brand new SONY receiver.

Similar Products Used:

none

Indestructible. Good sound.

No remote. No longer flawless after 30 years.

This is a review of my parent's old receiver, which they let me use for a few years.
After the throwaway unreliable crap that most people buy these days, the quality of this old timer is very refreshing. My folks bought it in 1971, and it's only been in the shop once, for cleaning. And they have not been easy years either, from my parents hippie college days, to all the abuse me and my siblings heaped upon it as children. We poked out the speakers with pencils, and my psychotic foster brother did away with the turntable, but this part of the system just keeps on going, although it's once-attractive walnut/aluminium case is a bit battered looking.
Its only rated IIRc at 25 watts per channel, but its plenty powerful unless your looking to shatter eardrums. The sound has always been good, and warmer than newer receivers. A slight static became noticeable as the years went by, and it really started to crackle when you changed the volume- this was due to accumulated dirt. I had it cleaned, and it improved if not entirely eliminated the problem. Also, when you listen to the phono you can faintly hear radio broadcasts in the background. But hey, its 30 years old.
Anyway, I loved it, and now that my folks have decided they want it back, I've decided to buy my own antique Pioneer rather than pay more for a new receiver that will probably not last me as long nor sound as good. I'm going to get a higher-end one though, like an 850 or a 1050.

Absolutely pure rich sound.

No Remote. Not many inputs our outputs. No digital surround sound. What do you expect from something built in 1979.

My parents also got this receiver in 1979 or 78. I didn't know how good this receiver was - Not until I hooked it up to my Acoustic Research speakers. I turned the volume at 50% on the receiver and could only hear very little hiss from the tweeters at 1 inch away - at 1 foot I could hear none. Normal (not party) listening volume in a 10x20 room is about 25% total volume. At 33% total volume it really fulfills the room with some db. This receiver is outstanding. Other than the lack of new technology - if your just looking for good sound quality (a rich sound) this receiver will trample anything out there that is <$1500 and it’s over 20 years old. I admit I had to take it apart one time because the radio turner got off track. I was able to fix it. Other than that it has been flawless in operation.