I'm a college student trying to work with the equipment I have lying around my apartment. I have a 40" Hitachi LCD (Model #: L40A105A). I'm trying to run the audio out to an old Pioneer stereo I got from my dad (Model SX-636). I've got the audio out from the TV running to the aux input on the receiver. The audio comes through the speakers extremely soft with a lot of noise over it. I'm wondering if it's because the stereo is from the 70's and the TV is new, or if it is something else and if there's anyway to fix it. Thanks for the help.
Off hand, I'd say you're dealing with a near forty year old receiver. Parts go bad and wear out. There are a few shops which specialize in repairing units such as a 636 and there are people who think the sound of the old Pioneers is quite good. I'm not one of those people since I sold the Pioneers of that vintage and they were generally considered to be cheap products with subpar performance. During the period in which the 636 was designed and built, the Japanese manufacturers were in a race to see which company could produce the highest wattage for the lowest dollar amount. This, in my opinion and the opinion of others, led to cutting corners where corners shouldn't have been cut. As I've said, there is a group of people who would disgaree with that statement.
This is where you stand in my estimation; get the receiver rebuilt or sell the receiver and move on to a new product which has connectors for your more modern video system. The first option could be expensive as major components in the receiver will need to be replaced, cleaned and rebuilt. Noise on inputs suggests dirty switches and connectors - not at all surprising on the nickel plated parts of a forty year old inexpensive receiver. It's possible a good cleaning is all that is required but I would doubt that and, if the receiver has been in storage for any amount of time, the chances of just a cleaning getting this receiver up and running without further problems is remote. If you choose to have the receiver rebuilt, you could end up with a component which is relatively trouble free for many years or a component which suffers from its age that will have problems from now till the day you part with it. Rebuilding vintage anything; cars, audio, cameras, houses, etc. is a gamble you chose to take - or not.
You could also head to site such as Audiokarma where you are more likely to find a few folks who think the 636 is worth the effort. Sell the receiver or arrange for repairs through these folks. Or put "vintage receiver repair" in a search engine and find someone to do the work. Atlas Audio Repair is typically up for such work - at a cost including shipping.
Or you could scrap the Pioneer and move on to a more up to date receiver for less than you are probably going to put into the Pioneer.
I had a Pioneer SX-727.....a year earlier model...and 1 'up' the food chain. I had it back to the 'shop' 3 times for a drifting FM tuner section. It would just 'snap' off frequency and mute. Center of channel meter would be far left or right. I doubt they even tried to fix it.
I wouldn't put a nickel into your piece. I know the price was right, but you'd be better off with even the cheapest Insignia unit from Best.
You didn't say if you were using over the air (antenna) or cable or small dish. If either of the othe 2, they will have the red/white audio outputs to run to your new receiver, as well as HDMI to run to the TV....I has 3 such inputs.
Off air? a game changer. I don't know if the Hitachi has any kind of audio output...which is your only hope.