PIONEER GR-777 (Thank You, Stuwee...)

[MacGyver]

i was sniped recently on the bay out of my dream EQ, and the second to last piece of my dream A/V system, the 1988 PIONEER GR-777 electronic 10-band graphic equalizer. before i was even sniped, the stuwster must've had one of those feelings of his, because he decided to do some snooping around on the 777, and ended up finding one locally in tucson, AZ on their CL!! further, it was a FAR better deal than the one i was bid out of, being complete with remote, manual, box and patch cables!! for CHEAPER than the ebay example!! anyway, thank you so much, craig. i owe you one big time...


thank you, stuwster. i hope you don't mind my ugly mug...

http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll310/shaorin-chan/LA%20SYSTEM/DSCF1099.jpg


PIONEER GR-777 (1988)


http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll310/shaorin-chan/LA%20SYSTEM/GR-777STUWEE4.jpg

http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll310/shaorin-chan/LA%20SYSTEM/GR-777STUWEE5.jpg


http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll310/shaorin-chan/LA%20SYSTEM/GR-777STUWEE.jpg

http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll310/shaorin-chan/LA%20SYSTEM/GR-777STUWEE7.jpg

http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll310/shaorin-chan/LA%20SYSTEM/GR-777STUWEE8.jpg

http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll310/shaorin-chan/LA%20SYSTEM/GR-777STUWEE10.jpg

http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll310/shaorin-chan/LA%20SYSTEM/GR-777STUWEE9.jpg

http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll310/shaorin-chan/LA%20SYSTEM/GR-777STUWEE11.jpg

http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll310/shaorin-chan/PIONEER/PioneerGR-777001.jpg

http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll310/shaorin-chan/PIONEER/PioneerGR-777002.jpg

http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll310/shaorin-chan/PIONEER/PioneerGR-777003.jpg

http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll310/shaorin-chan/PIONEER/PioneerGR-777004.jpg



this piece is immaculate. the only problem was a gouge in the "I" and "O" in the pewter PIONEER badge. i happened to have a pristine badge in my spares store, and so i was able to fix that perfectly. one other detail; i replaced the black, unfinished PIONEER insulators (feet) with a pristine set of standard chrome ones. this pic illustrates the difference;

http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll310/shaorin-chan/LA%20SYSTEM/GR-777STUWEE6.jpg

AGAIN, THANK YOU, DUDE...*Hi5*:-)<-o-o:-)o-o:-)o-o:-)o-o:-)

[stuwee]

Your welcome!! I take it it's working, all I did was power it up, It scared me to touch it. Ha! You got it nekkid already and swapped the feet and the badge (I didn't notice that)?!?

Glad it got there safe *Hi5*, btw the lighter colored footers look Way better!

stuwster

[MacGyver]

Your welcome!! I take it it's working, all I did was power it up, It scared me to touch it. Ha! You got it nekkid already and swapped the feet and the badge (I didn't notice that)?!?

Glad it got there safe *Hi5*, btw the lighter colored footers look Way better!

stuwster


fully functional!! i'll post a pic of it in action as soon as the room is clean and presentable again!! been a BUSY day. anyway, i actually happened to find another CU-GR001 remote at that value village the same day that i found the nak! and it's actually in better shape than the CU-GR001 that was included with the EQ! sure has worked out swell!!!!o-o:-)

[MacGyver]

as promised, (better late than never!) a pic of the GR-777 in action! driven by the MA-XG no less...





http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll310/shaorin-chan/LA%20SYSTEM/GR-777St.jpg

[braxus]

Anyone ever hear the sound from one of these babies? Another EQ I was looking at was a JVC SEA-M770 which is only a 7 band unit.

[JaeTee]

Nice score on the EQ, That's wicked that it has a remote! Looks great, too.

Craigslist has been good to me this last week. I scored a really sweet deal on a lot of six pieces of Sansui gear from this one seller. The lot included two tape decks (one of which doesn't work); an integrated amp (broken, getting repaired now); an EQ, Tuner and Reverb (which all three do work)...

I'm happiest about the EQ, its a black SE-8X 10-band model with a spectrum analyzer. Not only does it look killer, but it sounds great, too!

[jbeckva]

Anyone ever hear the sound from one of these babies? Another EQ I was looking at was a JVC SEA-M770 which is only a 7 band unit.

I have one that I purchased new in 92. Not sure if it's just my unit and a cap or two going bad, but it does roll off the high end. Probably an easy fix, but need to get ahold of the manual before I attempt it.

They're nice to look at, tho... *hypnot*

[braxus]

Here are some comments on the GR777 unit in the top poster. This is from Lady Ayeka/ MacGyver himself as he comments on the unit he got here. He says:

" it is a GRAPHIC EQ and AUDIO SPECTRUM ANALYZER in one unit. it has a pair of dual-function spectral displays that display the frequency levels and overall output level of each of the two stereo channels of whatever might be running through it, as well as switching to an EQ display for about five seconds or so while you're tinkering with any of the ten frequency bands per channel. a pic of the unit in action:

http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll310/shaorin-chan/Johns%20System%201-21-09/DSCF0831.jpg

and a shot inside the chassis:

http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll310/shaorin-chan/LA%20SYSTEM/GR-777STUWEE5.jpg

shot with accessories:

http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll310/shaorin-chan/LA%20SYSTEM/GR-777STUWEE4.jpg


it also has five factory preset EQ curves and programmable memory for storing another five user-created curves. it also includes a remote control that allows ON/OFF switching of the EQ mode, plus/minus for every frequency band, and memory call for any of the curve memories. this EQ has the kitchen sink, everything one could want, all except for it's disappointing 8lb. physical weight. nevertheless, it's built sturdy enough, and upgradeable with ample room for a large ferrite bead to be placed around the AC inlet inside the chassis, and replacement of the stock, poorly padded black isolator feet with the large, heavily padded ones PIONEER used on all their 1980's ELITE gear and several other models such as the CT-W900R/910R, VSX-D1S, VSX-9900S and the like, is highly recommended as well. in sum, this is one of the very best digital EQs you can possibly get."

[jbeckva]

and a shot inside the chassis:

http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll310/shaorin-chan/LA%20SYSTEM/GR-777STUWEE5.jpg


Ah, cool. Saves me the trouble of opening it up (one of these days...). Oddly enough, I had the same problem with the VSX-D1S (very weak high end). But with that I was able to find the two main buffer amps and replace them with LM4562's (seriously hifi, with awesome specs). Also the 1 and 10 uF caps around them.

That mod made a serious world of difference with the D1S. Since both the D1S and GR-777 are of the same era/time period, I may have the same luck - with or without the schematic.

Saving it for the weekend project tho... I think I'll turn it "Marantz Blue" like the D1S in the process.

[braxus]

That mod made a serious world of difference...Saving it for the weekend project tho...

Let us know how it turns out. I'm debating to pick up one of these EQs off Ebay. Does it degrade the sound too much (other then your high end issue)?

[jbeckva]

Let us know how it turns out. I'm debating to pick up one of these EQs off Ebay. Does it degrade the sound too much (other then your high end issue)?

Hmmm, that's a tough question. I like my highs crisp and clear, so in that respect - maybe. All depends on your tastes.

I'll make a deal with ya - If you want to just pay shipping, you can audition it before deciding. OR - wait until I do the mod and if successful, then throw me a cool metal or two for a trade even-steven. I do like to put it in the stack every now and then, but not enough to not let go of it.

[braxus]

Hmmm, that's a tough question. I like my highs crisp and clear, so in that respect - maybe. All depends on your tastes.

I'll make a deal with ya - If you want to just pay shipping, you can audition it before deciding. OR - wait until I do the mod and if successful, then throw me a cool metal or two for a trade even-steven. I do like to put it in the stack every now and then, but not enough to not let go of it.

The cost of shipping around the US from here and back wouldn't make it worth it. I don't think these things go for more then $50-60 bucks. I'd like to hear if your mod is successful and if so- just get someone up here to do the same thing to my unit.

[jbeckva]

The cost of shipping around the US from here and back wouldn't make it worth it. I don't think these things go for more then $50-60 bucks. I'd like to hear if your mod is successful and if so- just get someone up here to do the same thing to my unit.

Ah crap yeah... didn't notice you were "up there" *footmouth*

Sounds good. First I have to go eyeball it for awhile to see what I can recognize as the op amps, then go from there... I'll let you know.

[braxus]

First I have to go eyeball it for awhile to see what I can recognize as the op amps, then go from there... I'll let you know.

Yes let me know. Thanks

[jbeckva]

Yes let me know. Thanks

Well I took a look and there are 3 op-amps in there that I can swap for LM4562's. I'm thinking it's one on the input, one on the output, and another for the tape loop. If I can put on my thinking cap, I may also think about figuring out what the associated caps are for the higher freq bands - but I'll start with these.

Thing is - Seems I have bigger fish to fry now. Just when I was singing the praises of the Sansui 3300, I did a dumb thing and accidentally grounded out the tape out on the right channel. Fried a FET, I believe (hope). Got parts for it, a few caps and diodes for a Nakamichi with a noise problem, and the LM4562's coming from Digikey - guess which is the priority? (hint, ends with something that went "bloeey" ... *eyepop*).

Maybe that's the Yamaha god, angry at me for selling the M-70? *headache*Ah well... I can live with these Onkyo/Kenwood separates until I get the 3300 back up and running. Maybe the Nakamichi .. hmmm..