king ubu Posted April 30, 2007 Report Share Posted April 30, 2007 I am clueless as far as hifi stuff goes, but I might have a chance to get this one used (in superb condition) for roughly 60 or 65 euro. Good deal? I have no especially great speakers, nor do I have a good CD player... I have some Denon midi thing that always was alright for me, but the CD player broke down (too old to replace or fix...) and now I assume it might be smarter to start anew... not that I need to do that right now, but I thought I'd ask for opinions here to see what people think of this, to check if this might indeed be a great opportunity or not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Claude Posted April 30, 2007 Report Share Posted April 30, 2007 (edited) Hi Flurin, I don't know how old this amp is and how much it cost new, nor have I heard one. But given the excellent condition of the amp, the price seems good. I've checked a couple of ebay auctions with the same amp, one with a winning bid of 55 Euro (but worse condition), and a couple unsold ones from shops with much higher starting bids (80 Euro and more). It's not the type of amp that I would buy (I prefer more purist amps, like Rotel or other UK brands), but at that price there is not much choice, including on the second hand market. It even has a phono input, so you're ready for vinyl as well. When you check if it works ok, try all the inputs and settings, put on a CD with mono recording and see if there are channel imbalance, humming or other noise. Edited April 30, 2007 by Claude Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
(BB) Posted April 30, 2007 Report Share Posted April 30, 2007 (edited) I too am not familiar with this specific amp, but I have played around with a few Japanese amps from the 70's 80's and now 90's as I just picked up an ONYKO a-809. I am a big fan of the Sony PSX-5/6/7's turntables from the late 70's early 80's. I am sure there are better pieces of equipment out there, but when you think about how much more you would have to pay to move up to that next level it is hard to say no. edit to add - I would consider it a big plus if you know the previous owner and they claim it to be in good working order and most importantly it has not been stored in a damp environment for any period of time. Bill Edited April 30, 2007 by (BB) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
king ubu Posted April 30, 2007 Author Report Share Posted April 30, 2007 Thanks for your input! I'll ask the seller a couple of questions then, Bill... I don't know the seller but it's offered inside the company I'm working at, I assume people don't rip-off others too badly there... Anyway, I'm almost sold! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeweil Posted April 30, 2007 Report Share Posted April 30, 2007 I have one of those in the basement, or rather the more powerful 420 model. It cost me DM 500 when it was new. It sounds a trifle harsh compared to the Pioneer I have now, but did a reliable job all of the time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
king ubu Posted April 30, 2007 Author Report Share Posted April 30, 2007 Thanks Mike! I guess I'm sold if I'm not told any weird stories about where it stood around in the last years... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
king ubu Posted May 3, 2007 Author Report Share Posted May 3, 2007 So I did ask some questions, and it seems they guarded it like their eyeball... been in use until 2-3 months back, regularly dusted even afterwards, never stored in a cellar or anywhere damp. Will pick it up tonight! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
king ubu Posted May 4, 2007 Author Report Share Posted May 4, 2007 I have been listening with my amp now all morning, sounds pretty good to my ears! (No idea if the speakers I use are any good...) Anyway, all inputs work alright except the phono one is loud and the music sounds distorted - is that as it should be and need I connect an lp player to check that input, or is this some kind of flaw? (Sorry, I'm clueless... would I need a phono pre-amp? and what's a phono pre-amp for, actually?) Thanks in advance for your patience and for sharing your knowledge! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Niko Posted May 4, 2007 Report Share Posted May 4, 2007 (edited) I have been listening with my amp now all morning, sounds pretty good to my ears! (No idea if the speakers I use are any good...) Anyway, all inputs work alright except the phono one is loud and the music sounds distorted - is that as it should be and need I connect an lp player to check that input, or is this some kind of flaw? (Sorry, I'm clueless... would I need a phono pre-amp? and what's a phono pre-amp for, actually?) Thanks in advance for your patience and for sharing your knowledge! don't forget to dust it, it's used to that by the way, when i was 5 i destroyed the radio part of my father's fine Grundig radio, so (maybe because i still feel bad, partly because i couldn't afford an improvement) i always listen to music with my cd player plugged into the phono input of it is this a stupid thing to do? sounds ok to me, but i don't really have a comparison Edited May 4, 2007 by Niko Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Claude Posted May 4, 2007 Report Share Posted May 4, 2007 (edited) Anyway, all inputs work alright except the phono one is loud and the music sounds distorted - is that as it should be and need I connect an lp player to check that input, or is this some kind of flaw? (Sorry, I'm clueless... would I need a phono pre-amp? and what's a phono pre-amp for, actually?) That is normal. The phono input is for the much lower signals of a phono cartridge only. So you can only check it with a turntable. Connecting a CD player will produce horribly distorted sound and could even damage the phono input, although mass market amplifiers are usually immune against this sort of mistreatment. Congratulations for the purchase. Beware of the upgrade virus ... Edited May 4, 2007 by Claude Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
(BB) Posted May 4, 2007 Report Share Posted May 4, 2007 (edited) I have been listening with my amp now all morning, sounds pretty good to my ears! (No idea if the speakers I use are any good...) Anyway, all inputs work alright except the phono one is loud and the music sounds distorted - is that as it should be and need I connect an lp player to check that input, or is this some kind of flaw? (Sorry, I'm clueless... would I need a phono pre-amp? and what's a phono pre-amp for, actually?) Thanks in advance for your patience and for sharing your knowledge! I'm a little confused on the phono setting question. If you don't already have a TT hooked up to it how are you getting sound from it? To answer the phono pre-amp question on a very basic level, the signal sent to the amp by the stylus is a very weak signal compared with those sent from the tuner, cd, etc... and needs to be pre-amplified before going to the main amp. If your amp has a phono setting, than it contains a pre-amp of some sort. If you are hooking up another device into the pre-amp, that may explain the loud distorted noise. I am only guessing here as I have never done that. Now the real question is are you motivated to start finding an upgrade for your speakers? The upgrade game can be very nice for the ears, but hard on the bank account. Edited May 4, 2007 by (BB) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
king ubu Posted May 4, 2007 Author Report Share Posted May 4, 2007 Thanks Claude and (BB) - yes, I connected a cd-player to the phono-input when I got that distortion. Thanks also for the pre-amp explanation. No money for speakers at the moment, but at least I have an amplifier now... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeweil Posted May 4, 2007 Report Share Posted May 4, 2007 Seems like you must hold back on buying Mosaic boxes for a while to save some money for speakers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
king ubu Posted May 5, 2007 Author Report Share Posted May 5, 2007 no sir - I can't use good speakers in our flat anyway... the house might collapse Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeweil Posted May 5, 2007 Report Share Posted May 5, 2007 From the weight or from the vibration? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
(BB) Posted May 5, 2007 Report Share Posted May 5, 2007 no sir - I can't use good speakers in our flat anyway... the house might collapse There are lots of great bookshelf speakers that I would guess you could find for about the same price you paid for the amp. Brands like Polk-Audio DCM B&W Infinity and many more... put out speakers that range in quality from good to great. Used B&W DM110's regularly sell for around $100 US. I also have a pair of DCM CX-17's that put out a very nice sound. And there are always headphones. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
king ubu Posted May 11, 2007 Author Report Share Posted May 11, 2007 could these here be ok? TECHNICS SB-CS6 http://cgi.ebay.de/TECHNICS-BOXEN-SB-CS6-3...1QQcmdZViewItem with front cover, for a bit less than 30 euro, used, off course... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeweil Posted May 11, 2007 Report Share Posted May 11, 2007 (edited) Judging from the label on the back they allow an input of 120 W sinus or 60 W music (the seller says 41 to 8o W) - how powerful is the SONY amp you just bought? If you haven't got a manual look on the SONY website or at the back of the amp - the power output should be written there. If the output of the amp is higher than the speakers are lined out for you might damage them at higher volume. Edited May 11, 2007 by mikeweil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
king ubu Posted May 11, 2007 Author Report Share Posted May 11, 2007 (edited) found this in an ebay description: 2x 90W Musik; 2x 70W Sinus what would that mean? that these speakers are too weak? would that be a problem if I don't crank the volume up too high? Edited May 11, 2007 by king ubu Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
king ubu Posted May 11, 2007 Author Report Share Posted May 11, 2007 I found this, I assume that contains all I need to know: SONY TA-F 220 Technische Daten: Super Legato Linear / Spontaneous Twin Drive Sinusausgangsleistung: 80 Watt je Kanal (4 Ohm), 70 Watt je Kanal (8 Ohm) Störspannungsabstand: 100 dB Klirrgrad: 0,03 % vergoldete Eingänge für CD, Tuner und Phono Cincheingänge: Phono (MM), CD, Video / Aux, Tuner, Tape 1, Tape 2 / DAT Cinchausgänge: Tape 1, Tape 2 / DAT 4 Lautsprecher anschließbar (4 – 16 Ohm) A, B, A+B, Off (Kopfhörer) Source-Direct Taste (direkte Verarbeitung der Klangsignale durch Umgehung der Klangregler) Regler für Balance, Höhen, Tiefen Loudness Taste getrennter Input- und Rec-Out-Selector: Wiedergabe und Aufnahme einer anderen Quelle möglich, direktes Überspielen von Tape 1 auf 2 und umgekehrt Vollmetallchassis Kopfhörerbuchse Abmessungen: 430 x 135 x 315 mm (Breite/Höhe/Tiefe) Gewicht: 8 kg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Claude Posted May 11, 2007 Report Share Posted May 11, 2007 (edited) I can't say anything about the quality of the speakers (although Technics was one of the few japanese brands to make decent ones), but you can forget about their watt indication. In theory, it means the speakers can handle 70W (test signal) or 90W (music), but in practice you could kill them with a cheap 20W amp driven to maximum level (producing distortions that will fry the speaker drivers) and you can use them without a problem with a good 300W amp at normal levels (home listening, not garden party sound). Edited May 11, 2007 by Claude Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
king ubu Posted May 11, 2007 Author Report Share Posted May 11, 2007 So for reasonably loud listening, indoor use, they should work alright, provided they don't sound like crap? I'll give them a try, they won't cost me more than a double disc set, so... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
porcy62 Posted May 12, 2007 Report Share Posted May 12, 2007 Ubu, I don't want to frighten you, but consider that, a part catrdriges, loudspeakers are the most "wearable" component of the system. The foam suspension of the speakers, tweeters and woofers, tend to age, even w/o using them. So be very careful about used loudspeakers and check how the foam's suspension appears, otherwise you'd have to replace the components, and that it could cost you more then 30 euros, expecially if that particular component is discontinued from the factory, in that case you have to replace it on both speakers. I personally wouldn't buy used louspeakers without checking them personally, but yes, 30 euros...is tempting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidewinder Posted May 12, 2007 Report Share Posted May 12, 2007 Indeed, I've had a mid-range unit on a Mission speaker disintigrate before my very eyes. I think I was playing the 'Agharta' CD at the time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Claude Posted May 12, 2007 Report Share Posted May 12, 2007 It's difficult to see from the pictures if the woofer has foam or rubber suspension. Rubber usually doesn't have the problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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