This little Pioneer SX-580 was the bottom of the line from Pioneer around 1979. It only produces 20 watts per channel and has minimal features. Still, it’s a good little receiver for an entry level unit. It’s not going to be enough to power large speakers but for a garage or small room it could work well. I believe they retailed for about $250 when new.
As you can see they have the stereotypical look of late 70’s Pioneer receivers with the silver face and white dial. Pioneer also produced the SX-590 which was essentially the same receiver only with a black dial face.
The SX-580is fairly small at 17.5″ x 12.5″ x 5.25″ and weighs in at just over 18 pounds. If you need a service manual you can find it at HiFiEngine.
Looks good with the lights off and the dial lit doesn’t it? The white dial face and amber lighting give it a sophisticated look.
The Pioneer SX-580 came out just near the end of the hi fi boom in the late 1970’s. The build quality for these units was still good and their performance excellent. During the following years cost cutting measures resulted in lesser quality units.
Purchasing an SX-580 isn’t going to break the bank. A lot of them were made and collectors tend to avoid entry level units so prices are pretty reasonable. If you just need a small receiver with a little power then the SX-580 might work for you. A nice and clean,m serviced unit will run about $150 with average working units running about $100.
You’re absolutely right I purchased one of these receivers in February 1980 and it just came out about 6 months earlier it was $245 taxes included I bought it in London Ontario Canada and I was 16 years old I absolutely loved it had a sophistication about it and gave fantastic sound and a beautiful tactile feel to the buttons knobs and especially when you spun the tuner dial nice heavy weighted..!!
The SX-580 is not a “bottom of the line” Pioneer receiver. The SX series was a quality line of receivers using quality parts. The Pioneer SX-580 supplied the speakers with 20 watts per channel. The reviewer states “only” 20 wpc. If used in a bedroom smaller living room those 20 wpc from that Pioneer will blow you away. And probable with volume knob on the 5 setting. In a dorm the neighbor would complain.
Absolutely true. 20 watts is quite a bit of power and bigger speakers do not “Need” more power. Most listening is under 2-3 watts most of the time, and loud is around maybe 6-10 watts.
that is so true, Ray
Just picked one of these up and I agree with David Johnson. This is a great piece of Audio History. While it may not be in the same class as the high powered models, it’s still a wonderful sounding receiver that will continue to provide delight for many years to come.
totally agree… real 20 W per channel RMS will rock any living room
Thank you Mark and David on the comments above,I just bought this receiver,its being sent to me all the way from Tijuana to Mexico City,paid $120 dollars,to me it looked great but aside from the looks I kind of knew that being a Pioneer from the 70´s would sound great too,by reading your comments I think I made the right decision,I´m stock cant wait to hear some good tunes and enjoy the radio looking at those UV´s moving along to the rhythm :)
I got an SX-590 last summer on Ebay and love it! Paid $99 plus shipping for it. Sounds great paired with some Bose 201s (also found on Ebay).
I recently found one for $2 at a garage sale, and it needed much cleaning. At first it had all the signs of needing lots of deox, but minimal effort brought it back to life, and all the lights still work! Will enjoy on my combination work bench / kitchen table for awhile, then it’s off to EBay!
My first stereo!!! Absolutely loved it. Great FM reception & sound. I remember cranking The Who’s “Who Are You” and AC/DC’s “Highway To Hell” on it with my Technics SL-Q303 turntable. Oh the memories…
I have an SX-580 that I bought in 1980 as a 17 year old with his first summer job paycheck. It was $250.00 at the time from Tech Hifi and I still have it today. it is playing through a Bluetooth adapter hooked in to the Aux as I type this. while it needs a Deox cleaning it is still a great receiver for an average sized room if paired with good speakers. for 20 years I paired it with a pair of Bose 301’s that are up in the attic now and it currently uses a pair of Technics small bookshelf speakers in my office. I am currently looking for a SX-780 or 880 to add to the Den with the 301’s. Vintage is where its at!
Hi Bob- Which Bluetooth adapter are you using? My dad has kept this stereo from his teenage years and it still works great. I am hoping to make it wireless for him to listen around the house with Bluetooth speakers and am researching adapters. I am not an expert on audio devices in any way and would love your advice!
I know this post is four years old, but I am about to buy an SX 580. I have a set of Bose 301’s V’s. I think this could be a good pairing. And with a blue tooth adapter my jazz music dreams may be satisfied. What do you think. Also have a set of Klipsch 800’s supposed to be 98,% efficiency. But they are huge.
I purchased mine around 1979 from Best Products in Rockville MD, as my friend was the stereo manager. The unit I purchased was a refurbish unit and I got for about 100 dollars, I believe. I was replaced later in 1987 by a “better” Pioneer Receiver. A VSX-5000. The SX-580 is now in the finished basement that I will use, when I am on my Exercise bike. Both receiver are still working just fine, in the year of 2020.
I have an SX-580. Bought it in late summer of 1980 after making money from my first job as a lifeguard. The unit is great. With good speakers, you can play it very loud on level 5-6. If I played it on 8 or more, my neighbours could hear it in their yards as well as in their home. Now being retired I am still a huge music fan, but cannot take the albums with me when travelling so it is finding a new home. The unit itself was not a starter unit but rather the entry model of an entire line of high quality products from Pioneer. Well worth the money and still can outplay a lot of new units, plus it can play albums through the phono jack which is really important for hardcore music listeners. I will miss it but like kids things do move out, although I think kids today live at home forever.
I just scored one of these SX-580’s. I spent hours cleaning off apparent years of tobacco resin, as well as de-oxing. After doing some trouble shooting, I figured out that one of the “Darlington” power packs went out. I know that the ones I have ordered might not be an OEM part, but it was all I could find so I will see how it works out. She looks great! just awaiting parts.
I have a SX 580 pioneer receiver
Just bought a new Sony
Would like to sell the pioneer
It has been in the original cabinet since the
80s not sure what is wrong with it
Possibly left or right channel going out
It seems to come and go
I would giggle the volume and it would go away Anyone interested call or text to 505 453 1961
The review says the SX580 would work well in a small room. I must comment on this. As a young man who used to DJ a lot of parties back in the 80’s. The SX580 was my receiver of choice. I had 2 Pioneer HPM 40’s and I would always get 2 more any brand speakers to go along with them. I worked this receiver so hard. Our frat house was a LARGE house approx 3000 sq ft house. I played this receiver loud for 6 hours a night, at least 2 nites a week. I played hard driving R&B Funk (EX: Vaughn Mason- Bounce, Rock, skate roll). The receiver to a lot of punishment. I played in clubs, large party rooms and GYMNASIUMS !! I never felt like I needed more volume. Looking back now….I wish I would have been more gentle with it. After years of abuse my receiver and my speakers were not worth repairing. Today I have the Pioneer SX680 and a pair of HPM 100’s.
I asked for a receiver on freecyle and someone dropped one of these off at my house!
Problem is, I have a cd player in addition to a turntable and tape player, so I don’t think I can use it.
Unless there is a workaround?
Barbara Boylan–run it thru the tape or Auxiliary
I bought my sx-580 while enrolled in college, counting my pennies.
I’ve used it through the 42 years so far. Works the same now, as it did out-of-the-box!
For the last 12 years it has been in a 3000′ shop using two pairs of large speakers (dual 12″ woofers).
I can’t play it past the “3” setting else the neighbors 200′ away will complain!
SX-580 was my childhood receiver. What was the equivalent tape deck from Pioneer that “went” with it?
I had the Pioneer CT-4 with my SX-580. Also, I agree with many of the posts on here. My 580 is in excellent shape and still puts out enough sound to annoy the neighbors, which I try to do frequently!
Hey John,
I have the Pioneer CT-F550 cassette deck which matches nicely with the receiver. I’m currently looking for new belts to get it going again along with the PL-100 turntable.
I got this receiver from ebay seller. Paid approx. 3 bills, (can’t recall). Best purchase of my life. The 580 is crazy good. Running Polk towers through it. Amazing at low volume and impressive at higher levels. It’s very well built and plays cleanly without breaking up at loud levels. A sweet little giant.
I saw an ad for a pioneer sx 580 last month, and bought it as a device that hasn’t worked for a long time. After the necessary maintenance was done and the outer coating was covered with walnut wood, it returned to its old days. At the moment it offers us a very nice and sufficient level of musical enjoyment in the center of our living room. It is also a great experience to listen to lossless music videos on youtube on my phone via the aux input, apart from the deck turntable.
I’ve had a Pioneer SX 580 since they were new, have liked it a lot, and see no reason to replace it. Now though, I have a a pair of Mackie Powered speakers and would like to output my SX 580 through them, which I am told I can only do if the SX 580 outputs are at line level. Does anyone know if the SX 580 RCA outputs are at line level? Does anyone know if it would be okay to output them through my powered speakers? I would use a small mixing board’s RCA inputs as an interface. Thanks. Shea in Minneapolis
I purchased an SX580 in 1980 for a little under $200 in college. Obviously, I’ve upgraded a few times since, but the SX580 is still working and still used the in the basement workshop in 2024. Back in the 80s, it was nicely paired with a set of Realistic Minimus 7 speakers, and served me well. My son has since run off with the speakers. :(.
My first receiver was an SX-580, bought new for about $250 in 1979 when I was 16. It had more than enough power for my purposes. 20 WPC was ideal for my basement bedroom. I bought an Akai cassette deck at the same time. I sold them both to a friend in the mid-80s. I now have a 1979 Sanyo JCX 2300K (26 WPC), and it’s also a pretty good bit of hardware, although I rarely use it.