Questions About Sony STR-VX6 Receiver

Ozz{LpZ} · May 12, 2017

Hey All,

Am having a hell of time trying to find information about a Sony STR-VX6 receiver that I bought earlier today from Goodwill. $20, including speakers. WOOT! Anyways, I'm not an Audiophile, nor am not looking to become one heavily. Just wanted a nice receiver from yesteryear to hook up my cassette player to; listen to FM while working; and possibly add a turntable in the future. I know there are newer equipment out there, that may sound tons better but cost tons too. I just wanted something at a fair price, good quality and sound. That's why I was pretty stoked to find this gem, and in good condition to. Aside from dust. Anywho, being pretty tech savvy. I was able to figure out the majority of its features and the various functions/operations. However, despite my vigorous google search. I was unable to find a User Manual or any info pertaining to the bits of the receiver that I don't know about, or couldn't figure out. I've included some photos, in hopes that someone can better help me out. So here are my following questions.

Front

What is SUBSONIC? What does it do?
What is LOUDNESS? What does it do?
What is MM LOAD? What does it do?

Back

What is that black boomstick looking thing? What does it do?
What antenna can I use? Right now the previous owner attached regular speaker wire for the antenna.
What is that rake looking symbol located in the antenna area mean? I'm guessing Ground?...
What is PRE/POWER? What does it do? And why is there jumpers connecting them?
What does the descriptions mean for the AC OUTLET? (Switched 80W MAX, Unswitched 300W MAX)

Thanks again for any help/info

slavikcc · May 15, 2017

I can provide some details:

Front:

1) The subsonic filter is used to filter very low frequency bass on vinyl LP playback if the record is warped, feedback/resonance from the speakers to the turntable base and cartridge, and also protect the speaker drivers from damage due to super low frequencies.

2) Loudness boosts the bass and treble.

3) This is related to your turntable's moving magnet cartridge capacitance load, measured in picofarads. Use this whatever sounds best to you.

Back:

1) It's a AM radio antenna.

2) An indoor dipole FM antenna should work. Otherwise, the speaker wires on the radio won't do anything without maybe connecting to an outdoor antenna?

3) Correct.

4) It's used to connect to an external power amplifier (especially a much powerful one rated at 100W or more), bypassing the receiver's built-in power amplifier. The plugs are probably used to prevent a user from accidentally connection of another device, which may destroy it? Not 100% exactly.

5) Switched - A device plugged into that will turn on when the receiver is on. An unswitched is the opposite, so it will always be on. Not all that useful these days if you have a very good power bar with surge protection/UPS device already.

Ozz{LpZ} · May 15, 2017

4 hours ago, slavikcc said:

I can provide some details:

Front:

1) The subsonic filter is used to filter very low frequency bass on vinyl LP playback if the record is warped, feedback/resonance from the speakers to the turntable base and cartridge, and also protect the speaker drivers from damage due to super low frequencies.

2) Loudness boosts the bass and treble.

3) This is related to your turntable's moving magnet cartridge capacitance load, measured in picofarads. Use this whatever sounds best to you.

Back:

1) It's a AM radio antenna.

2) An indoor dipole FM antenna should work. Otherwise, the speaker wires on the radio won't do anything without maybe connecting to an outdoor antenna?

3) Correct.

4) It's used to connect to an external power amplifier (especially a much powerful one rated at 100W or more), bypassing the receiver's built-in power amplifier. The plugs are probably used to prevent a user from accidentally connection of another device, which may destroy it? Not 100% exactly.

5) Switched - A device plugged into that will turn on when the receiver is on. An unswitched is the opposite, so it will always be on. Not all that useful these days if you have a very good power bar with surge protection/UPS device already.

Thank You! Not sure why I couldn't find information about this unit and features for the past couple days. Probably because this tech is no longer relevant or something. I don't know.

slavikcc · May 15, 2017

It's actually a very decent receiver back in 1980/1981 when it came out and is still a very good one in context of today's era. Apparently, the Sony STR-VX6 is not listed on www.hifiengine.com, which is a great website cataloguing receivers, amplifiers, tape decks, CD players, etc. with scanned service and instruction manuals for everyone to use. If you're planning to get a turntable, please let me know as I can definitely you with what to look for. The same goes for everyone on this forum who is interested.