1977 QX-949A Original RRP: $750.00USD
2014 Inflation Adjusted RRP: $2,908.00
I currently have one of these beauties in my workshop. Will share the process of it’s restoration shortly! Check back soon 🙂
This is it! Pioneers TOTL Quadraphonic Receiver in its most advanced incarnation, a full featured Quadraphonic amplifier supporting all Quad formats! I have to admit vintage Pioneer is my favorite gear, and this unit demonstrates so many of reasons why.
Many Quad Amps and Receiver’s suffered from a common problem, lack of power. Not so with the QX-949A, one of the most powerful Quadraphonic Receivers ever made featuring 40 Watts RMS Per Channel @ 8 ohms (40×4) in Quad Mode or 60 Watts RMS Per Channel @ 8 ohms in Stereo Mode.
The dual power +/- supply is very beefy consisting of a heavy transformer and 40,000uf worth of capacitance for dynamic power. This fuels an All-Stage Direct Coupled OCL Power Output Circuit and a 3-Stage Direct-Coupled Equaliser Circuit.
Aesthetically the first thing that hit me about this unit was its size, it was a lot bigger than I expected it to be when I first laid eyes on it. It measures 55cm Wide 44cm Deep and 16cm High. It also has one of the most attractive controls and front panel displays Pioneer ever developed, IMHO of course!
Its styling is a cross between NASA’s Apollo Program meets the Marlboro Man with its shining brushed aluminium, plentiful array of important looking knobs and buttons, a battery of lights surrounding the glowing blue tuner dial that are so distinctly mid 1970s Pioneer. The scope display can also be used to program Inter-Continental-Ballistic-Missiles upon multiple targets and also interfaces with the Star Wars Defense Initiative…. well that last one may be stretching the imagination a little too far 🙂
What it does have is the upgraded CD-4 and SQ Matrix decoder units which were a great improvement over the earlier QX-949, along with a regular Matrix decoder as well. Other features include separate Bass and Treble Tone Controls for the Front and Rear channels, Low and High filters, Front and Rear CD-4 Separation Controls, 3 Tape Inputs including 2x 4-Channel and 1x 2-Channel, and an option to add a Dolby Noise Reduction Processor.
One of my favourite features is the input for two turntables, thus allowing you to enjoy different setups and makes for easy DJ’ing at parties!
The Specs:
- 60 Watts RMS 2 Channel
- 40 Watts RMS 4 Channel
- T.H.D 0.3%
- Weight: 49lbs (22.4kg)
- 2 x Phono Inputs
- 1 x Aux Input
- 1 x 2Ch Tape Input
- 2 x 4CH Tape Input
- Dolby NR Adapter
- Low & High Filters
- Provision for up to 8 Speakers
Posted In: Coming Soon, Quadraphonic, Receivers
Frank
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Hi, I just purchased a Pioneer 949 and also a pair of Pioneer Quad headphones. Can’t wait for
it to be delivered. But I have a question and you seem knowledgeable on the subject. If I wanted
to hook-up a CD player to the back of this unit, which ports would I use? There’s quite a few in the
back from the picture I saw on EBAY. Should I look for an “AUX” port of some kind?
Frank
admin Author
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Hi Frank,
Congratulations on your eBay purchase, it’s a lovely unit and a great bit of eye-candy! I hope you have it by now 🙂 Yes the AUX port would be your best bet, however you could pretty much plug it into any of the other inputs except the PHONO inputs. FYI sometimes the different inputs can have different frequency responses and this is usually mentioned in the brochures technical sections.
Cheers!
Frank
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Thanks for the info. It’s always better to get the info you need before you try something
new on an old piece of equipment.
Raymond K. Wardrop
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I would be interested in the 949A. Let me know when you are done with it. 814 786 3300. I travel the road alot, so please leave a message. Girlfriend will notify me. thanx, Raymond K. Wardrop…..it wouldn’t let me post before the comment
Al Coffman
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I also have a pioneer qx-949 and I NEED TO KNOW HOW TO CHANGE THE LIGHTS ON THE RECEIVERS ! THANKS !
Ron Young
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I purchased a Pioneer Qx949 while I was stationed in Rota, Spain in the early 70’s. I used it to drive 4 JBL 4311wx speakers and it was quite a setup. I also had a Dual turntable with the Cartridge to read the CD4 signal imposed over the regular 2 channel grooving and it all worked exquisitely well; well enough to record discrete 4 channel onto my Teac 4 channel tape deck. Amazing quality! This was one of the highlights of my life to have this setup. Never could have done it if I had to pay Stateside Prices, although I still had several thousand dollars invested which was fairly big money in the 70’s; however, I bought it a little at a time and it took months for some of the stuff to arrive. I would do it again. It was a dream come true. I just wanted to share this as maybe someone else maybe have had a similar dream. I still have the entire system, but haven’t tried to use it for 10 years or so. I am thinking of trying to set it up again after seeing this web site. The last time I had some trouble with the 949 cutting out after it warmed up. Maybe something simple. Maybe not! Will see anyway. Thanks for reading my story.
Ron Young – Retired Boeing Industrial Engineer and Chief Cryptologic Technician, USNR Retired
Bunker Hill, I’ll
David
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Very Nice quad receiver
Jerry Arko
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Of all the Quadraphonic receivers I’ve owned, this one have been the best! Even though my family and I have been Matsushita brand fans, this particular PIONEER model out does all of them! The power and sound are some of the best in the vintage Quad receivers industry!
Aaron N
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I just picked up a Qx-949a for free from a guy who said it worked the last time he used it but couldn’t pass it up for the price. Are there any known problems on these units