Had the old problem with scratchy switches with my old Pioneer SX1250. It got so bad I couldn't even use it for fear of damaging my speakers so I didn't use it for a month. Got tired of nothing to play so I had to take matters into my own hands.I know from experience that scratchy switches are almost always in need of cleaning so this is what I proceded to do.
There is a person on Ebay that does complete restorations for $359.95 plus $80.00 to ship to him and another $80.00 for return shipping. Needless to say I was too cheap to pay that amount and it would have been hard for me to transport it to UPS for delivery so I attempted to do it myself.
After an hour or so to get up the courage to take this thing apart I started to unscrew things to get at the switches. There are 4 horizontal circuit board's on top that if you remove the plugs from them they will pop out completely and after removing the plugs I remove these boards.I noticed that the prongs on all of these plugs were black from discoloration and used 0000 stel wool to clean them off making sure that no strands were left on these prongs that would cause a short later. I then sprayed each plug with tuner cleaner and reinstalled these four boards.
I then took the bottom cover off this unit and retightened every screw I could find. I also checked the boards for needs of resoldering but after checking for an hour came to the conclusion that I didn't need that.
I now went after the switches the volume level and the balance control's specifically. I had to remove a total of about 15 screws just to get to the switches and after doing so sprayed each with a generous amount of tuner cleaner and worked each switch back and forth for about one half hour. I sprayed every switch on the front panel giving priority to both the volume and balance switches. I then cleaned the front panel with a soft cloth and gave the face plate a bath of sorts.
I then put everything back together and hoped for the best. I can honestly say now it sounds better than ever before. I truly love this great receiver and the power it delivers will drive the best of speakers. I have my 250ti's on the front and my L96's in the rear and it is pure pleasure.This receiver drives these 4 speakers with ease and the JBL'S sound better than ever.What a combination!
I know there are a few here that do not like receivers but I would match this receiver to any thing you have. This receiver is truly a classic monster with more power than you could possibly use.
To check out my work I played a little floyd and zeppelin and when I played "stairway to heaven" I decided to turn it up. I had it quite loud and drew the attention of the kid next door who always mow's my lawn. he fell in love with my setup and I proceeded to educate him on JBL. He was hooked as I could see it in his eyes. He told me that he never heard something sound so good. He is now a new JBL fan.
I have included some pictures of my beast and this thing is mint and on a scale of 1-10 this is a 10. If you look at the heat sinks you will see that the paint ain't even chipped anywhere. I truly have a perfect match with this receiver and my JBL'S.
It's amazing what you can accomplish with just a little tuner spray and the willingness to do the job. I'm glad I decided to take this on. Tuner spray was only $10.00 at Radio Shack.