Purchased from the estate of an older gentleman who took good care of the unit. I ran it for an hour with no issues, as well as cycled through all of the menu items. No Remote. This unit was the flagship model for Technics when it was released, and was a refreshing new design, getting away from the cheap Black plastic of earlier models.
As the companies flagship Receiver The DX1040 demonstrated a return to form for Technic's; emphasizing the companies original design philosophy of offering components that not only offering competitive specs but attractive styling at a lower cost than the competition and boy did they hit the ground running. After quite a few years of releasing competent but at times pedestrian looking receivers Technics swung for the fences and hit a home run with the top end DX receivers (the 1040 in particular).
Gone are the cheap plastic faces with rows for flimsy plastic buttons. In their stead is a very attractive and minimalist face (available in both black and silver). All the source buttons have been replaced by a solid feeling digital knob with positive detent's which displays each source on the main display located in the lower half on the face. Flanked by the Tone Controls and and tuning controls. The large volume knob has been moved front and center and is motorized and is an digital pot (though it still feels a bit cheaper than the source knob as well as the volume knobs on some of it's more costly contemporaries). All the remaining buttons feel solid and give a very positive click when pressed.
Features optical inputs (three of them) for CD, DVD, and TV as well as the standard inputs for Phono, TV, A VCR Loop, Second VCR/LD input, Tape Loop, and analog multi-channel input for a DVD player. There is no shortage of options for hooking up any kind of source you could imagine, you can also double up on inputs that feature digital options. So you can have a CD player on the analog inputs and a Mini Disc player on the optical and just toggle between analog and digital. The phono stage in the receiver is wonderful.
Spec wise the DX1040 is quite the performer at 100 wpc over all 5 channels at 8 ohms and a very impressive THD rating of .09%. It also features a Bi-Wire mode that bridges the front and rear channels (something that even the more high dollar receivers at the time don't feature), which allows you to bi-amp compatible speakers with 100 watts available for both the highs and lows. It also features a High Impedance mode for speakers rated at 6 or 4 ohms; power bumps slightly to 105 for 6 and 4 ohms. It also has a VGCA button which bypasses the tone controls and disables the display in an attempt to eliminate any potential noise that these circuits could inject. Features an active cooling system (a 80 MM fan bolted to the outside of the case.