Topic: SAKURA AMP

[Weng!]

Hi Gnew!  I have not yet tried the home theatre capabilities of this amp since I only use it for listening in stereo music.  I have a Hyundai home theatre with its own discrete amp.  I have not yet found the time to set-up this Sakura AP-009 for home theatre duties.  Anyway, there are four volume control knobs in its front, one each for:  Rear, Front, Sub, and Main Volume.  There is a push button switch for listening to stereo or multi-channel surrounds. 

thanks sir. may separate volume controls pa pala. pwede din siguro tanggalin ang potentiometers para maging power amp na lang talaga for HT.

[gearhead]

Hi Sansui.  How can I see if the power supply is torroidal?

this is the same model as the sakura amp (from the posts above).
you can see the toroidal transformer in the top rightmost corner.

[m0b1u5]

sirs,
 can you share any contact info of the store you bought the amp? address and contact numbers will be a great help.

thanks

[av_phile1]

Sir AVphile, I would like to ask for your respected opinion / answer.  I've been using this Sakura amp almost daily at normal room listening levels.  It does not get hot nor really warm unlike the Konzert or the Pioneer amps that I also own.  It has no fan and its heatsinks also do not get warm.  I am just wondering why?  Thanks in advance.

Neither do my Acurus power amps (just warm).  I think that's because we hardly have pushed the amps to really flex their muscle. Bear in mind that most comfortable listening levels in typical rooms hardly exceed 10watts rms per channel on reasonably sensitive speakers.   Or the transistors used are biased at the lower end of their SOA (Safe Operating Limits).  Or their heatsinks are well designed to dissipate heat more evenly.  Or your rack get excellent ventilation.  But whatever, it's a shame we can't re-heat our coffee or pizza on it.   

[sansui]

Sir AVphile, thanks!

[agmjr]

The only thing that disappointed me was that the 5.1 inputs were in the amp and not the preamp. 

i am noob in this but i am quite intrigue with the sakura amp. does this mean sir that i can not connect a receiver with a built 6.1 pre-out on the ap-009? my plan kasi is to buy it and just put on the freezer the accompanying ap008 (the pre-amp) tutal di naman ako magaling kumanta 

[sansui]

Hi  agmjr!  You can directly connect a tuner, tape deck, or cd player because there is a stereo RCA auxiliiary jack at the side of the AP-009.  Doing so however means bypassing the karaoke preamp where the bass and treble controls are located.  You however, can still connect your music source via the karaoke preamp because it is actually a stereo preamp.  I guess Sakura just named it karaoke preamp because aside from the usual tone controls, there are a few knobs for reverb, and volume controls for microphones.  The preamp also has its usual RCA inputs for tuner, cd player, tape, and dvd player.  If you have an existing preamp, you may also use it instead of the Sakura's preamp.  The AP-009 is simply a 6-channel power amp.  You will still be needing a preamp to adjust the bass and treble to your taste. 

[Weng!]

Hi Gnew!  I have not yet tried the home theatre capabilities of this amp since I only use it for listening in stereo music.  I have a Hyundai home theatre with its own discrete amp.  I have not yet found the time to set-up this Sakura AP-009 for home theatre duties.  Anyway, there are four volume control knobs in its front, one each for:  Rear, Front, Sub, and Main Volume.  There is a push button switch for listening to stereo or multi-channel surrounds. 

thanks for the reply sir.

are there 6 pairs of RCA input jacks found at the back of the AP-009? you have mentioned above that there are also volume controls on the fronts panel, are those knobs (3 or 4??) controlling a pair of channels?

i am only interested on the AP-009 if it can take 6 pre-outs of an HT AVR to make use of its 6 channel amplifier.

[sansui]

The RCA inputs on the AP-009:  center, sub, front (left and right), rear (left and right) and auxilliary.  The speaker outputs:  front left, front right, center, rear left, rear right, subwoofer left, subwoofer right.  The volume controls:  sub, rear, center, main volume.  There are only two buttons:  power (with corresponding blue led light) and AC-3 or stereo push button switch.  Since it has no built-in Dolby Digital or DTS decoder, you have to use the built-in in your DVD player (if it has these features).  I  would reiterate that I have not yet tried it for home theatre applications.  It sounds really good in audio stereo.  The weight of this amp is 31 lbs.

[Weng!]

The RCA inputs on the AP-009:  center, sub, front (left and right), rear (left and right) and auxilliary.  The speaker outputs:  front left, front right, center, rear left, rear right, subwoofer left, subwoofer right.  The volume controls:  sub, rear, center, main volume.  There are only two buttons:  power (with corresponding blue led light) and AC-3 or stereo push button switch.  Since it has no built-in Dolby Digital or DTS decoder, you have to use the built-in in your DVD player (if it has these features).  I  would reiterate that I have not yet tried it for home theatre applications.  It sounds really good in audio stereo.  The weight of this amp is 31 lbs.

thanks again for the info and clarification sir sansui.

i wonder if you can use the SUB IN to power surround speaker. the SUB discrete amp should be solely for amplification only coz there are no x-overs mentioned in the amp.

[sansui]

Gnew, maybe.  Although there are two sub speaker out connections (left and right) that you can use if you want 2 subs, there is only a single RCA sub-in (thus it is purely mono).  And it seems that you are right that it is solely for signal amplification because I use that sub-out to get signal to input in my sub's high level input for stereo lestening.

[sansui]

Gnew, correction.  I looked at the back of the amp and I get a signal to feed to my sub in one of the front channel outputs where my stereo speakers are connected.  Anyway, my guess is though there is no x-over, the signal that will be fed by your dvd player in the sub speaker out channel of the amp would be low frequencies thus making it unsuitable for surround speakers.

[JakeCastle]

Am planning to buy a sakura amplifier and use it on a computer with a 5.1 soundcard with all the necessary connections. (Acually yung unang RONGXIN na integrated, bumigay na after years of abuse) I intend to purchase a pair of DAIICHI three way Hi-fi speakers, which is rated at 100W. Has anyone tried this setup before? mahirap lang ako kaya kung pwede sana ayaw ko makarinig ng Yamaha, Denon, Bose, Berihnger. Eto lang po kaya ng bulsa ko... kamusta po ba ang tunog ng DAIICHI vs PHAZER?

[av_phile1]

Amplifiers of decent make like the Sakura should have no problem ampliying your 5.1 soundcard output. Just DIY or get a well constructed RCA to 3.5mm jack cable for a secure connection between the two.  Dai-1chi has been in the speaker business for decades now and is a respected OEM for many well known brands.  They don't disappoint and are exceptional at their price range.  You might also want to consider a wharfedale diamond 9 or 8 as I recall reading here that the prices of some Dai-ichi models are even higher than an equivalent Diamond model.  Just don't know if that is still accurate.  Just check them out. 

[JakeCastle]

Finally purchased the Sakrua 387A 5.1 amplifier as per sir Mike of Aaron Moses' recommendation. Friendly guy, good advice and nice discounted heheh tanks to sir Arturio.... kamusta daw po sabi ni mike, your compadre...

So far so good.. I just transferred the old baby stereo plugs to RCA cables to the proper inputs. Currently I plugged my old satellites from the Rongxin DV88 and it sounded better that the original amplifier. I guess tama yung sabi ni sir mike na mas maganda yung tunog ng 387A compared to the newer models. I fired the amp with windows media player and DFX plugin and couldnt help but smile. After configuring the amps DSP with Nero Digital Showtime I couldnt believe my ears... bwahahaah am so please I spent all night tinkering with the system

Am sooo happy i didnt fall for the temptng Php 2,000 integrated amp and speakers they were selling at the sidewalk. I guess when it comes to speakers you get what you pay for. I am now facing a dilemna. Speaker placement and which loud speakers to use... cubes, bookshelf, towers? whats the appropriate speaker placement?

[Archie]

problem here on my sakura 387a, Center and surround channel gives out distortion while in AM mode.

FM and DVDs are ok.

[rustyns]

This is very intriguing. Sir Sansui, kung ok lang sa yo, paki-email yung pics sa [email protected] and I will post them here.

TIA

Di ko makuha kung paano mag post ng photos.  Medyo newbie ako sa computers.  Hanap muna ako ng friend ko na marunong.  Sinundan ko kasi instructions on how to post photos kaya lang nalito pa rin ako.  Anyway, I already took its photos and will post it as soon as possible.  Sorry for the delay.

[sansui]

rustyns, try ko e-mail sa yo tonight. 

[ditterdi]

Hi,

can someone recomment a store in Manila that has a good collection of Sakura amplies at sharp prices?

thanks,

Leo.

[NMM1]

sir, u might wanna check out Raon... from what i've heard there are stores there that sell that brand, m not sure though where exactly...

[ditterdi]

thanks,

can you name a specific shop?

leo.

[ditterdi]

Thanks!

Leo

[mervn]

any comment pls

meron na po bang naka pag try sa inyo ng sakura av-519?


thanks in advance
mervn

[Heartbreak Kid]

Paano po ulit mag-add ng am/fm stations sa program ng sakura av387A? Sori I forgot na po. Thanks.

[Heartbreak Kid]

Paano po ulit mag-add ng am/fm stations sa program ng sakura av387A? Sori I forgot na po. Thanks.

[arthurallanj]

Try Moses Aaron beside Metrobank Raon, look for Mike. 7354390. 

[JakeCastle]

yeah same here the documentation/manual that came with my sakura amp is barely intelligble. I am having problems with my HTPC setup (home theater personal computer). The thing is I a lose the audio when I use both opera and a media player. In addition the God damn media player wont work right. I gave up on the problem. I downloaded the lastest sound card driver, patche etc., even replaced the soundcard sigh same problem grrrr....

[threadlock]

Any updates sa price ng Sakura AV-389? Im planning to buy one =)

[yasmine_leigh]

pwede po ba ung ganitong setup?

TV --> AV reciever
Home Theater PC --> AV reciever
dvd Player --> AV reciever?
5.1 speaker -->AV reciever?

and pwede po ba sya sa HTPC na setup or pang dvd player lang sya?

maraming salamat po.

[threadlock]

pwede po ba ung ganitong setup?

TV --> AV reciever
Home Theater PC --> AV reciever
dvd Player --> AV reciever?
5.1 speaker -->AV reciever?

and pwede po ba sya sa HTPC na setup or pang dvd player lang sya?

maraming salamat po.

Pwede po. Can be both use for HTPC setup at DVD, you just have to switch b/w sources(TV,DVD,PC)
Ganyan ang HTPC setup ko dati for my Sakura AVR:
Kelangan mo lang pumili kung alin ang priority mo your 5.1 channels kasi walang Digital input ang mga Sakura AVR.

DVD player priority (5.1 input of Sakura will be used for DVD Player):
TV-->dual RCA cable-->AV reciever
PC -->Baby Stereo Jack-to-RCA Cable-->AV reciever
dvd Player --> 5.1 Home theatre cable-->AV reciever

HTPC priority (5.1 input of Sakura will be used for the PC):
TV-->dual RCA cable-->AV reciever
PC -->5.1 Home theatre cable-->AV reciever
dvd Player -->dual RCA cable-->AV reciever

yung 5.1 speakers meron syang ports for that.

Hope it helps....