After owning a couple of sx1280s, I had a bad itch for a 1250 to compare. It was an itch I just had to scratch. I found one locally for 500.00 that had cosmetic and functional issues. So it only required about 8.00 in parts(recapping protection board, couple diodes and transistors on one of the amp boards). The faceplate had a deep nick though small it was very noticeable because of how deep it was. So I had decided from the very beginning this wasn't going to be a keeper(I've evolved to the point of my vintage gear being mint cosmetically). But I just had to scratch that 1250 itch. I think it's one vintage receiver every vintage lover should try once.
The wood case had quiet a few deep scratches and some chips around the edges. I knew I would be taking a chance of not recouping my money on ebay given the cosmetic issues. But it ended up cleaning up nicely considering. Here's a
couple of pics
.
Although repaired, I definitely wouldn't called this restored. But I was fortunate enough to clear around 625.00 after shipping, ebay and paypal fees. So I guess all of the work I put in it was worth 125.00
. I wish I had the before pics. The top edge of the faceplate really was horrible. I sanded it with a 225 grit 3m sanding block to sand through all of the scratches, afterwards I used 600 grit sand paper to get the finish fine and finished it with applying brasso to some steel wool to give it a mirror finish.
Now on to the sound. This unrestored 1250 flat out beat the restored 1280 I had. The sound was just slightly warmer, but the sound stage was just huge. It has better transparency, better grip on bass, and the mids were just buttery smooth. It aslo took the edge when it came to resolution and micro details. The noise floor is also lower. Where my w3000 hissed and humed loudly(even with the restored one), they hissed only a little with the 1250. In all honestly, this is a non issue. That can be easily fixed by swapping in some higher ohm resistors. But the lower treble etch which the 1280 had(the restored one to a much lesser degree) is completely gone. Now they both still sound very similar and the differences aren't drastic. But they are still there. This can be why the 1250 are starting to fetch near 1280 type money. Maybe all of the threads of 1280 vs 1250 are being more noticed. And in most(if not all) most seem to prefer the 1250, and now I'm one of them.
The 1280 still wins when it comes to looks imo. But I enjoyed the 1250 so much, I could really see myself owning it one day if one cosmetically mint fell in my lap at a great price. But I'm not going to search for one because as great as it is, it still couldn't beat out any of my mcintosh amps or the 500c. It's close to the 6200, albeit not as warm. But the 6200 beats it handily when it comes to musicality, and organic richness while the 1250 just narrowly beat it out when it comes to technicalities.
Oh, and the internal pic shown was before I recapped the protection board. I took those after I did the cosmetic work.
