Pioneer SX-50 Vintage Stereo Receiver – 50 WPC, Silver Face - Image 1

Pioneer SX-50 Vintage Stereo Receiver – 50 WPC, Silver Face - Image 2

Pioneer SX-50 Vintage Stereo Receiver – 50 WPC, Silver Face

Pioneer SX-50 Vintage Stereo Receiver – 50 WPC, Silver Face

Name: Pioneer SX-50 Vintage Stereo Receiver – 50 WPC, Silver Face
Brand: Pioneer
SKU: 15132
Price: 295.00 CAD
Availability: InStock

$295.00

Consignment piece. We sell it on behalf of its owner, and it's covered exactly like everything else we sell: inspected and serviced as required, and backed by our Bumper-to-Bumper Warranty and Perpetual Trade-Back Program. The one difference: it isn't eligible for Cue It Up layaway.

Fifty watts a channel into 8 ohms at 0.007% distortion, and — unusually for a receiver this size — pre-out and main-in jacks on the back, so it can feed a subwoofer, take an equalizer in the loop, or hand off to a larger power amp. Introduced in 1983 with switchable CD and TV audio inputs, presets held by three AA cells, and the silver face of the decade that was ending. Graded Very Good.

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Description

Pioneer SX-50 — Silver Face, Pre-Outs, and the Year Hi-Fi Changed

A silver-face Pioneer built at the exact moment hi-fi changed over, with preamp outputs that make it far more flexible than most receivers of any era.

Pre-Outs — The Feature That Matters

Start with the feature that matters most. The SX-50 has pre-out and main-in RCA jacks on the back, and that single detail changes what this receiver can be. Add a subwoofer with a proper high-level feed rather than a compromise. Use the SX-50 as a preamplifier and run a larger power amplifier when you want more. Or insert an equalizer into the signal path between the two. Most receivers give you a fixed box; this one gives you a system that can grow. Pre-outs on a modest receiver were unusual then and are close to extinct now.

Specifications in Context

The specifications are better than the modest size suggests. Fifty watts per channel into 8 ohms, total harmonic distortion of 0.007%, and frequency response from 5 Hz to 100,000 Hz. That distortion figure is genuinely low and reflects where amplifier design had arrived by 1983 — this is a receiver from after the specification wars were settled, built to a standard rather than to a headline number.

Timing, and That Face

What makes it interesting is its timing, and its face. Inside, the SX-50 was designed as the compact disc arrived, with switchable inputs for CD and for television audio at a point when neither was standard. Station memory is held by three AA batteries so presets survive a power cut, there are two switched AC outlets for other components, and it drives two pairs of speakers. Outside, it still wears the silver face of the era that was ending. That combination — the look people collect, the engineering that came after — is genuinely uncommon, and it is why these have quietly become interesting.

Character — An Honest Note

Be straightforward about character. The SX-50 is described by owners as clean rather than warm. If you are chasing the thick, syrupy sound of a 1970s receiver, this is not that, and we would rather point you at one of those. What this does instead is get out of the way, which is exactly what you want when it is feeding a subwoofer or a separate power amplifier. The tuner is capable in areas with decent signal.

Connections

Speaker and antenna connections are terminal strips with clamp connectors, taking bare wire or pin connectors — our Radique Audio Gold Plated Pin Connectors are an ideal match and make connection considerably easier.

Condition

Cosmetically graded Very Good, and we don’t hand that rating out casually. Thoroughly inspected and tested in-house and working perfectly.

A capable and unusually flexible receiver from the year everything changed, and one that will still be useful long after most receivers of its age have been outgrown.

Pioneer SX-50 Specifications

Design: FM/AM computer controlled stereo receiver
Power output: 50 watts per channel into 8 ohms
Total harmonic distortion: 0.007%
Frequency response: 5Hz-100,000Hz
Signal to noise ratio: 80dB (magnetic phono), 95dB (line)
Input sensitivity: 2.5mV (magnetic phono), 150mV (line)
Pre-amplifier output / main amplifier input: RCA, switchable
Speaker outputs: Two pairs, terminal strip clamp connectors
Memory backup: Three AA batteries for station presets
Other: Two switched AC outlets, CD and TV audio inputs
Finish: Silver
Year of introduction: 1983
Dimensions: (Width x Height x Depth) 16.54 x 4.72 x 12.24 inches (420 x 120 x 311 mm)
Weight: 15.9 lbs (7.2 kg)

⚠️ Important Information for International Buyers

This unit is configured for North American 110/120V power. Buyers outside North America will require a step-down transformer and appropriate plug adapter.

✅ Buy With Confidence — The Radique Promise

Backed by Radique Audio’s Bumper-to-Bumper Warranty and our Perpetual Trade-Back Program. When you’re ready to move on, we’ll take it back. That’s the Radique difference.

📦 Watch how we protect your gear — our unboxing video.

📺 Curious about our business? Check out our YouTube channel for behind-the-scenes videos and more!

📞 Questions? Use the Ask a Question button above, or call us at 613-416-9995.

$295.00

Additional information

Weight	18 lbs
Dimensions	16.24 × 20.54 × 8.72 in

About brand

Pioneer at Radique

We service Pioneer, too. Bring us your own Pioneer receivers, amplifiers, tuners, turntables, cassette decks and CD players for repair, servicing or restoration (not reel-to-reel decks), with a 90-day warranty on the work. See our Audio Service page

Pioneer began in Tokyo in January 1938, when Nozomu Matsumoto set up shop around the A-8 speaker he had built the year before. By the late 1970s its SX receivers were at the heart of the hi-fi power race. We carry Pioneer stereo receivers and AV receivers, CD players, cassette decks, tuners and equalizers. We've had more than 240 Pioneer listings so far, covering 140 different models. Every used Pioneer here is inspected, tested and serviced as required, then photographed in-house and covered by our Bumper-to-Bumper Warranty and Perpetual Trade-Back Program. Don't see the model you want? Tell us on First Dibs and we'll email you when one arrives.

Pioneer is one of our two top-selling brands of vintage amps and receivers, along with Marantz. Our five best-selling Pioneer models so far: the SX-650, SX-750, SX-580, SX-780 and SX-680, all vintage stereo receivers from the 1976 and 1978 SX families. We also offer our custom cherry cabinets for these vintage Pioneers, hand-made from all-natural Ottawa Valley cherry, and we've upgraded dozens of Pioneers with them so far.

The Pioneer story, 1938 to today

Nozomu Matsumoto developed the A-8 speaker in 1937, and in January 1938 he set up Fukuin Shokai Denki Seisakusho in Tokyo. "Pioneer" was first the name of that speaker. Some histories give 1936 in Osaka as the start, but Pioneer dates itself to January 1938 in Tokyo. The company was incorporated in 1947 and renamed Pioneer Electronic Corporation in 1961.

Stereo and the US. In 1962 Pioneer introduced the PSC-5A, which it calls the first stereo with separate speaker cabinets, and its first PL turntables. Pioneer Electronics U.S.A. was founded in New York in 1966.

The power race. After a 1974 US Federal Trade Commission rule tightened how amplifier power was rated, receiver makers competed on watts. Pioneer's SX-1250 of 1976 was rated at 160 watts per channel, and the SX-1980 of 1978 to 1980 at 270.

CD and Elite. The P-D1 of 1982 was Pioneer's first CD player, and Elite-branded components were on sale by 1985.

Today. Pioneer sold its home audio business to Onkyo in 2015, keeping its car and DJ businesses, and Pioneer-branded home theatre gear was later made under licence. In December 2025 CarUX, part of Taiwan's Innolux, completed its purchase of Pioneer Corporation, which now focuses on in-car products.

Which Pioneer is which?

Early-1970s SX receivers: models such as the SX-424 to SX-828, rated at about 15 to 50 watts per channel.

The 1976 "x50" SX receivers: from the SX-450 at 15 watts per channel up to the SX-1250 at 160. Our best-selling SX-650 and SX-750 come from this family.

The 1978 "x80" SX receivers: including the SX-580, SX-680 and SX-780 we sell most, up to the SX-1980 flagship with quartz-lock tuning, which weighs more than 35 kg.

Spec and Exclusive separates: higher-end amplifiers such as the Spec-1 preamplifier (1976 to 1980) and the Exclusive C3/M3 pair (1974).

Elite: Pioneer's upper line from the mid-1980s, for example the PD-9010X CD player.

PL turntables, CT cassette decks and CD players: PL turntables from 1962, such as the PL-12 and the linear-tracking PL-L1; CT decks such as the three-head CT-F1000; and CD players from the 1982 P-D1 to magazine-loading changers such as the PD-M6.

Buying used Pioneer: what to check

Controls and switches. Crackle when you turn a control or work a switch usually means dirt, and restorers clean every pot and switch.

Capacitors. Electrolytic capacitors in 1970s receivers are often past their best, and full restorations replace them.

Big SX models. Owners and restorers report heat stress on the power-supply board of large receivers such as the SX-1250. Ask what has been done.

Relay, lamps and bias. The protection relay is a common replacement, dial lamps burn out and are often converted to LED, and restorers set the bias and DC offset.

Cassette decks. Check the heads, fast-forward and rewind, Dolby and every button. Belts age even when the deck looks perfect.

Everything we list is inspected, tested and serviced as required here, and comes with our warranty.