Hi! I recently purchased a Pioneer SX-680. When I purchased it the stereo light worked when we jumped from FM station to another (if it came thru well), well at least that’s what I thought. When I got home, the light no longer works even if the FM station comes in clear. Also I can’t tell whether the stereo functionality is working properly, like when certain notes comes out of one speaker and not the other. To me right now both speakers sound the same. What am I doing wrong? Any input would be appreciated. Thank you!
Look for the mode/FM muting switch that may be set wrong.
The mode button at the center of the front panel should be OUT, and not pushed in.
This button will switch ALL sources to MONO (including FM) if depressed.
Try a better antenna if all else fails.
The mode button at the center of the front panel should be OUT, and not pushed in.
This button will switch ALL sources to MONO (including FM) if depressed.
Try a better antenna if all else fails.
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Okay I will double check on this. Thanks! One more question, does that light only refer to radio stations then? So if my CD player is plugged in, the stereo light shouldn’t turn on red, correct?
It is specifically detecting the 19kHz stereo pilot tone on FM broadcast stations. This is present for stereo FM transmissions.
You have some replies where you asked in another thread 🙂
https://www.diyaudio.com/community/threads/pioneer-sx-680-fm-issue.386372/post-7655499
https://www.diyaudio.com/community/threads/pioneer-sx-680-fm-issue.386372/post-7655499
Thank you everyone for the feedback. If it’s just an indicator about the FM station and not the mode of the sound on speakers to be stereo then I’m not going to worry about it then. Thanks again!!
Did you try the mono button in the "out" position, to see if you can then get stereo?
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FM can be transmitted in mono or stereo...the light is there to tell you when the 19kHz pilot signal is present, which indicates good stereo reception...but there are signal strength thresholds the must be met before a stereo signal can be decoded, so it is possible that one could tune to a stereo broadcast with a signal too weak to be decoded into stereo. This obviously has no effect on any other source, just FM.
Mike
Mike
@rayma It worked! You were right! All it was, was the mono button was pressed down. Now I know how it works. Thank you so much!
