Pioneer SX-880 stereo receiver in a cherry wood cabinet, brushed silver faceplate with wide tuning dial, meters, rotary knobs and lever switches

Pioneer SX-880 stereo receiver from the front left, showing the grain of the cherry wood cabinet side and the silver faceplate with its big tuning knob

Pioneer

Pioneer SX-880 Vintage Stereo Receiver – 60 WPC, Cherry Cabinet

Name: Pioneer SX-880 Vintage Stereo Receiver – 60 WPC, Cherry Cabinet
Brand: Pioneer
SKU: 14050
Price: 1695.00 CAD
Availability: InStock

$1,695.00

A 1978 Pioneer SX-880, 60 watts per channel, in its own cabinet refinished in Ottawa Valley cherry, freshly re-lamped in Pioneer's original warm amber.

✔️ Serviced on our bench to our Level 1 standard
✔️ Dial and meters re-lamped in warm amber
✔️ Very good condition
✔️ Covered by Radique Warranty
✔️ Includes Perpetual Trade-Back Program eligibility
✔️ Expertly packed for safe shipping

1 in stock

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Categories: Used/Vintage, Amps / Preamps, Stereo Receivers Tags: 1970s hi-fi, 60 wpc stereo receiver, custom cherry cabinet, Made in Japan, Ottawa Valley cherry wood, Pioneer, Pioneer receiver, Pioneer SX-880, Radique Audio, refurbished stereo, serviced stereo receiver, silver face receiver, vintage stereo receiver

Description

A Pioneer SX-880 stereo receiver from 1978, made in Japan and rated at 60 watts per channel, in its own cabinet refinished in our shop in Ottawa Valley cherry veneer. It has been serviced on our bench, freshly re-lamped in Pioneer’s original warm amber, and is in very good condition.

What it is

The SX-880 sits in the middle of Pioneer’s silver-face x80 series of 1978, the receivers most people picture when they think of a vintage Pioneer. It has clearly more authority than the SX-780 below it while keeping the same clean, lively, highly musical character, and it is built the way Pioneer built everything in those years: brushed aluminum, a long glass dial, and controls with real weight to them.

The lights are a big part of that picture. We have just re-lamped the dial and meters, and we chose the warm amber glow Pioneer gave them in 1978. It is what you see in the photographs.

There is a lot to use. Twin power meters sit alongside signal and tuning meters on the dial. Two tape loops come with a tape monitor and a duplicate switch for copying from one deck to the other, and there is a moving-magnet phono stage, an auxiliary input, A and B speaker outputs, bass and treble, a low filter, FM muting and loudness. On the back are two AC outlets, one switched and one unswitched.

Its speaker terminals are the spring-clip type, which take bare wire or pin connectors. Our own gold-plated pin connectors are made for them, and our Custom Speaker Cable Builder will make you a pair terminated with pins. For FM, a proper antenna makes all the difference, and our indoor FM dipole antenna is a simple way to get it.

Add our RA-Twin II Bluetooth streamer and it plays from your phone, tablet or laptop as easily as from the dial. The switched outlet on the back is a handy home for our RA-USB charger to keep the RA-Twin II topped up.

The cherry cabinet

Pioneer wrapped the SX-880’s cabinet in a wood-grain vinyl. We lifted this one out of its factory vinyl wrap and re-veneered the top and sides in genuine Ottawa Valley cherry, here in our own shop. It is real wood, hand-finished in oil and beeswax to bring out cherry’s warm reds and tight grain figure, and no two of our cherry cabinets are exactly alike.

Cherry darkens and deepens with age and light into a rich reddish-amber, so this cabinet will only grow more striking over the years. Next to the brushed-silver faceplate and the warm amber glow of the dial, it gives the SX-880 a furniture-grade presence that sits as well beside vintage speakers and a turntable as it does with traditional furniture, and it really has to be seen in person to be fully appreciated.

If you want the smaller sibling, our Pioneer SX-780 is on the shelf as well.

The service it has had

Serviced on our bench to our Level 1 standard:

And, for this receiver:

– Dial and meter lamps replaced throughout, in Pioneer’s original warm amber

Condition

Very good, and free of significant marks. The cherry cabinet was refinished in our own shop.

Available for pickup in Kanata, or shipped across Canada and internationally — we have sent equipment to fifteen countries in the past year, each piece packed in-house in 275 lb test double-wall boxes. Live shipping rates for your address are calculated at checkout. Backed by Radique Audio’s Bumper-to-Bumper Warranty and our Perpetual Trade-Back Program. Available for audition by appointment in Kanata.

Pioneer SX-880 Vintage Stereo Receiver Specifications

Thorough testing of all inputs, outputs, and controls
Deep cleaning and deoxidation of all pots and switches
Blown indicator lamps replaced
Power supply wiring checked and cleaned
Post-service burn-in and sign-off testing
Type: AM/FM stereo receiver
Service: Radique Level 1, re-lamped in warm amber
Power output: 60 watts per channel into 8 ohms
Total harmonic distortion: 0.05%
Frequency response: 5 Hz–80 kHz
Damping factor: 30
Input sensitivity: 2.5 mV (MM phono), 150 mV (line)
Signal-to-noise ratio: 76 dB (MM phono), 95 dB (line)
Speaker load impedance: 4 ohms minimum
FM sensitivity: 1.8 µV
Inputs: MM phono, auxiliary, two tape loops with tape monitor and duplicate switch
Speaker outputs: A and B, spring-clip terminals
Meters: twin power meters, signal and tuning meters
AC outlets: one switched, one unswitched
Cabinet: Pioneer’s original cabinet, refinished in Ottawa Valley cherry veneer in our shop
Voltage: 120 V, 60 Hz
Made in Japan, 1978
Dimensions: (Width x Height x Depth) 18.9 x 5.5 x 12.6 inches (480 x 140 x 320 mm)
Weight: approx. 26.9 lbs (12.2 kg)
The x80 Pioneer the way it looked in 1978: silver face, warm amber dial, and real wood around it.

🔌 Speaker Cable and the Right Connector

The speaker terminals here are spring clips rather than binding posts, so banana plugs and spades will not fit — our own gold-plated pin connectors are the right answer, and they make connecting and disconnecting far easier than stripping bare wire every time. We also hand-build speaker cable here in any length you need, terminated to suit, on our Custom Speaker Cable Builder. 👉

⚠️ 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.

🌳 Caring for Your Cherrywood Cabinet

Each custom cherry cabinet is sanded to a silky 320-grit smoothness and hand-finished with boiled linseed oil and a final beeswax polish — no stains, no polyurethane, no synthetics. For tips on keeping it looking its best for decades — safe cleaners, what to avoid, sunlight management — see our Cherrywood Cabinet Care Guide. 👉

✅ 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.

$1,695.00

Additional information

Weight	28.9 lbs
Dimensions	16.6 × 22.9 × 9.5 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.