Pioneer SX-353 - help: no sound in the right channel :-(

[Brawling Attorney]

Hi. I'm new here, so I feel a little lame asking for help immediately, but a gave the forum a search and didn't find anything on point, so here I go:

I just picked up a Pioneer SX-353 receiver for a decent, albeit not a steal price ($60). But, I'm in Seattle, and there's definitely a market vintage stereo equipment, so that's actually not bad. The metal front and wood case are actually pretty pristine, plus the LEDs and meters (the needle style work).

Anyways, I'm getting ZERO sound out of the right channel. Not on phono, FM or Aux. Left channel actually sounds really good, nice and crisp. My speakers are brand new, and switched them to double check that they're both functioning. I'm using brand new speaker wire (amazon basics) and what seem like good quality RCA cables (monoprice, they're thick and shielded). After doing some online research, it seemed like cleaning out the dust and deoxing the knobs was the place to start. Which I did, no problems there. Actually it wasn't that dusty, so it had definitely been well loved previously. Looking at the connectors for the right channel speakers inside, there was no obvious issue compared to the left channel.

Does anyone have any guidance on troubleshooting this? Or experience with this or similar receivers?

I did contact the previous owner, and he said he hasn't this problem. Is there some simple boneheaded mistake I'm making in the setup that's causing this?

[struth]

check for a channel line fuse. balance control fault.. speaker front switch fault.. speaker ear wiring fault.... obviously take precautions not to electrocute yourself.... thats the obvious starters.

[Brawling Attorney]

check for a channel line fuse. balance control fault.. speaker front switch fault.. speaker ear wiring fault.... obviously take precautions not to electrocute yourself.... thats the obvious starters.

When you say "check" what are we talking about?

[Virtual-Symmetry]

The New Acoustic Dimension '160a' was a great, best looking 70's receiver eva imho, but rare in the USA

[struth]

When you say "check" what are we talking about?

Well unless your ok with electrics best not touching anything inside until unplugged. Also allow time for any big capacitors to discharge Have a look and see if there are any fuses in the output stage of each channel

As for switches etc clean and wiggle check for broken wires etc. I've got an old leak that was only working on one and it was the bad switches. A good clean sorted it
If your not sure what your at I would advise getting help from someone. Better safe than dead electricity doesn't take prisoners

[Brawling Attorney]

Well unless your ok with electrics best not touching anything inside until unplugged. Also allow time for any big capacitors to discharge Have a look and see if there are any fuses in the output stage of each channel

As for switches etc clean and wiggle check for broken wires etc. I've got an old leak that was only working on one and it was the bad switches. A good clean sorted it
If your not sure what your at I would advise getting help from someone. Better safe than dead electricity doesn't take prisoners

I've already cleaned the switches. They look connected and functioning. But, I didn't really look at the fuses (saw them though). I'll pop it open today and take a look. Thanks struth!

[struth]

If you have a meter you can pop the fuses and check them if one is badly blown the expect youve likely got a short in the o/p stage.. if the unit has been off all night it should be safe to work on visual checks can on occasion not tell the truth lol. I had to clean my balance, volume amd all the selector switches several times before the channel came back properly. old amps, that have sat unused often suffer from this.

good hunting

[Firebottle]

Have you tried using the 'Speaker B' outputs and selecting B on the front?

[Brawling Attorney]

Have you tried using the 'Speaker B' outputs and selecting B on the front?

Yeah, no go.

[Brawling Attorney]

Actually, I went ahead and double checked (it wouldn't surprise me if I had overlooked trying that the first time). Unfortunately no right channel on the Speaker-B inputs either.

I did call a friend's Dad, who's pretty handy. He suggested I plug in some headphones and see if I'm any right channel through them. But, I don't have any headphones with a 1/4 inch jack, so I ordered an adapter off Amazon. Tomorrow after it comes, I guess I'll have one more bit of information to share about what's going on in there!

Upside: my lady friend is coming over tonight, and I dug out a couple mono records. Paul Anka singing "Put Your Head on My Shoulder" sounds halfway decent, or at least has a pleasant character :-)