Topic: Surplus amps

[Yahoo!]

wala na sir AU-D907X but AU-D707X and AU-D907 Limited nandun pa...

[number1]

sir, pa pm naman ng location, store name(if possible), directions.. thanks

[sandawa]

been to pier at lunch time to buy sana a CD player.  Went home with Technics SL-P555 cd player plus I came home with two high power amps.  Both rated at 370W, got both for Php 11.5K and the CD player for Php 2K.  I finally got the Sansui AU-D907X and also got Kenwood KA-1100SD.    I'll try them later against the Sony 333ESX II and Alpine/Luxman LV-117.

congratulations. what's nice with getting high-power amps, especially if they sound good, is probably you won't be spending anymore on low-power gears, except for valve amps. also, high power amps have high marketability, thus resale value could even exceed your acquisition cost. i'm not sure about this but the Kenwood L03a was a limited edition power amp while the unit you chose, KA-1100SD was newer but didn't rate well in the reviews. i could be wrong though. the bottom line - hindi ka lugi.

[D0Hbert]

Seacrmnd, ikaw pala pumakyaw, dumaan kami nina ni wndrlust, he's looking for a cd player himself, we asked about the sansui, salesman said, naunahan na kayo sir congrats padre sa amps mo.

[Yahoo!]

congratulations. what's nice with getting high-power amps, especially if they sound good, is probably you won't be spending anymore on low-power gears, except for valve amps. also, high power amps have high marketability, thus resale value could even exceed your acquisition cost. i'm not sure about this but the Kenwood L03a was a limited edition power amp while the unit you chose, KA-1100SD was newer but didn't rate well in the reviews. i could be wrong though. the bottom line - hindi ka lugi.

thanks sir... 
ganun ba sir, kaya pala wala ako masyado makita sa net regarding this amp.  actually sir I'm looking for the L-02a kaya I opted not to get it at this time.  If I can remember it right  from 01-08 yata yung series nito but yung 01 & 02 lang yata yung nagtagal/natira or maganda ang reviews.  I saw the specs of the KA-1100SD from this URL http://www.niji.or.jp/home/k-nisi/ka-1100.htm or this one
http://world.altavista.com/babelfish/trurl_pagecontent?lp=ja_en&url=http%3a%2f%2fwww.niji.or.jp%2fhome%2fk-nisi%2fpremain2.htm

[Yahoo!]

Seacrmnd, ikaw pala pumakyaw, dumaan kami nina ni wndrlust, he's looking for a cd player himself, we asked about the sansui, salesman said, naunahan na kayo sir congrats padre sa amps mo.

thanks sir... naka-reserve na kasi yun... musta na sir 907X mo?

[sandawa]

thanks sir... 
ganun ba sir, kaya pala wala ako masyado makita sa net regarding this amp.  actually sir I'm looking for the L-02a kaya I opted not to get it at this time.  If I can remember it right  from 01-08 yata yung series nito but yung 01 & 02 lang yata yung nagtagal/natira or maganda ang reviews.  I saw the specs of the KA-1100SD from this URL http://www.niji.or.jp/home/k-nisi/ka-1100.htm or this one
http://world.altavista.com/babelfish/trurl_pagecontent?lp=ja_en&url=http%3a%2f%2fwww.niji.or.jp%2fhome%2fk-nisi%2fpremain2.htm

i guess i was wrong. in any case, wala kang talo diyan. konting alaga lang, kikita ka pa diyan sa mga nabili mo.

[Yahoo!]

i guess i was wrong. in any case, wala kang talo diyan. konting alaga lang, kikita ka pa diyan sa mga nabili mo.

thanks sir.  i guess i really to stack up more of these surplus gems then sell them later in the buy&sell section... 
surplus cd players na lang talaga sir kulang, hirap makatiyempo eh.

[akyatbundok]

the L-series is probably kenwood's best product line esp. the half-million yen L-02A which i'm quietly waiting to appear.... is the 03A still there?  how much daw?  thanks!

[Yahoo!]

the L-series is probably kenwood's best product line esp. the half-million yen L-02A which i'm quietly waiting to appear.... is the 03A still there?  how much daw?  thanks!

me too! I'm waiting for the L-02a, kala ko nga yun na eh.
yes sir still there but naka-reserve na sa kin sir  , hindi ko na din kasi kaya bitbitin eh nag-taxi lang ako and kulang na din moolah sa wallet, nde na ako nakapagwithdraw, CD player lang kasi dapat bibilhin ko dun.  tama ka nga sir, dapat pag pupunta dun eh dapat may extra ka para kung meron gem eh hindi ka maunahan ng iba. 
he quoted me 6.5K for this one... i'll announce sir kapag hindi natuloy purchase ko... mukha na tuloy surplus shop bahay ko 
pero happy naman... 

[akyatbundok]

mukha na tuloy surplus shop bahay ko 
pero happy naman... 

ako rin bro hehehe at one point umabot yata ako ng 8 amps sa bahay, 4 of them surplus. 

nag progress ako pataas ng pataas na model until medyo mahirap na makahanap ng higher model.... but still on the lookout for even higher models.... you guys are better hunters, you started out with flagship models already.

[av_phile1]

Since we're on the lookout for excellent values on surplus amps, any remembrances of the best buys from japanese brands between 1975 to 1990 which I believe is the vintage of most surplus amps out there? 

I would think the Onkyo Integra models, whatever series, would be among these.  Same with most Sansui AU models. 

[number1]

i found this passage quite interesting and I'm merely quoting this.

"Most of the Japanese made integrated amplifiers offer little or no sonic advantage over a receiver. There are companies such as Krell, Plinius and Arcam that manufacture integrated amplifiers that offer a very high level of performance--if not the ultimate. It is possible to get very high quality sound from some integrated amplifiers."

source: http://www.norh.com/docs/amps/

what do you think?

[akyatbundok]

its a sweeping statement but understandable.... there's actually a very good explanation for this.

people outside of japan have this impression of mass-market quality, well because they are mass-produced.... the japanese keep the best for themselves while we get their low-quality stuff.... you can't really blame them, it's the currency exchange..... in the 80's the japanese yen was so high that an imported japanese amp would be much more expensive than it should be..... the only way to bring down the cost and compete with other brands was to mass produce.... so that's what we get, mass-produced products..... there won't be much of a market here for premium amps costing 100,000-250,000 pesos.

so the best japanese amps are sold only in japan.... ironically, we can get them as junk.

anyway.... 47 labs, accuphase, esoteric and audio note (japan) can compete in a very big way against krell, plinius and arcam.

[number1]

I just came from the pier. I saw a sony 333es. Originally was planning to get the 260w Sansui A-d907 limited, but I changed my mind when I saw a Sony 555 EsxII. I wonder if i made a mistake? 

Btw, the sony has gold connection for the cd and it was so so so so so heavy. 

I also saw a couple of onkyo a-817's....Lots of lower-end Sansui like 607, 707, 307,....

What do you think sir akyat? 

[akyatbundok]

yeah its really heavy... yours is a higher and newer model than the 333esx i once had... it should match well with the sony 555esd CD player... i tried to match my 333esx amp to a 333esd CD player but unfortunately the CDP i got was busted.... it did match very well to a denon CDP, and the new owner is now enjoying this matchup, although due to the success of the sony 337esd in the last CDP shootout, i think he's now hunting for a sony CDP to match it with the amp.... btw, i thought it didn't match very well with pioneer DVD players.

[number1]

sir akyat, I'm curious how does your sony 333esx compare to your sansui alpha in terms of performance?

[D0Hbert]

Saw that same sony amp mga 2 weeks ago, was about to get it when I noticed that some parts were already repaired. I had the unit opened, it has 2 transformers kaya ang bigat, pero sa gilid may sticker ng repairman, dated 6-1-04. Sabi ng tindero all orig, eh nakita ko yung sticker, sabi ko akala ko ba all orig eh nanduon yung sticker ng repairman, so kinausap ko yung nag repair, sabi pinalitan lang yung resistors. :I

[akyatbundok]

i prefered the alpha707 matched with my current gear but it wasn't really a fair comparison because they were positioned differently in the market.... the equivalent amp models of sony and sansui are better matched this way:

333 = 607
555 = 707
777 = 907

so i think your 555es would be a better match to my alpha707 in terms of parts & specs.... there wasn't a very big difference in sound between the 333es and alpha707, its just that the highs of the 333es seemed a tad softer.... the 333es CDP that i briefly tested had a well-extended treble so i think that would have been a great match -- the amp taming the highs of the CDP and the CDP adding life to the highs of the amp.... unfortunately the CDP played only one song then went kaput.... they forgot to lock the CDP so the mechanism must have disaligned (some old CDP's have a lock to hold the mechanism together while being transported).

[number1]

Saw that same sony amp mga 2 weeks ago, was about to get it when I noticed that some parts were already repaired. I had the unit opened, it has 2 transformers kaya ang bigat, pero sa gilid may sticker ng repairman, dated 6-1-04. Sabi ng tindero all orig, eh nakita ko yung sticker, sabi ko akala ko ba all orig eh nanduon yung sticker ng repairman, so kinausap ko yung nag repair, sabi pinalitan lang yung resistors. :I

is this bad?

[D0Hbert]

I think its still a better buy than the 907 limited, the sansui is a pretty old model, no cd inputs yet, the sony is the better choice, but i didn't get the chance to test the unit myself. When I opened the unit, everything is squeeky clean, which means na may na repair na dyan, that's why i got curious and looked more closely. The sansui I got from the same store still has makapal na alikabok inside, which is a better sign na di pa kinalikot i think. test the unit, if you like the sound, then its a good buy. I saw mga 6 or 7 resistors changed sa right side na pcb, the repairman said he changed the old ones with compatible resistors, malamang same resistance, so it should be fine. I noticed another thing, sa may speaker connector sa loob, there's one square device na parang napalitan na, 2 kasi yon magkatabi, yung isa plain grey in color lang, yung katabi nya nanduon pa yung brand, not sure kung napalitan din ito.

[number1]

The sansui 907 limited seemed nice esp. since it is a "limited" edition model, but i found a little too old for my liking and plus the fact it was relatively underpowered compared to the 907X. However, a cd player can be connected to it through the aux port.

Looking at my Sony, the only things bad about it is that the tone controls won't work (it doesn't light up). But overall it seem to be in better shape than my Luxman. The Sony had no dents, the front and back panel almost like new and the wood panelling had some scratches.

Need help from the Amp gurus, my plans is purchase another Luxman but a higher powered one and probably a Sansui Alpha series. What is the model to get for a Luxman? Would the LV-117 be considered good? Can't seem to find a historical model line up on the net.   

Also if you were to choose between a Luxman, Sansui Alpha, and Kenwood L series, which would you get? I plan to consolidate to only an amplifier to be used to listen to vocals, jazz, etc..

[wanderlust]

id go between the luxman and sansui anytime sir.

[sandawa]

id go between the luxman and sansui anytime sir.

same with me even if the sansui or luxman amps were older, or 20wpc RMS less powerful than comparable brand models. also, the gold-plated or no CD outputs are no problem for me (outside of phono, they're all line-level anyway). most good performing amps fall short in faceplate/backplate cosmetics. defective tone controls should not be a factor too. if you're using tone controls, it simply means you haven't optimized your amp-speaker combination/placements. for optimized systems, tone controls degrade sonic quality. this is generally true for high-end amp-speaker matched combo.

[number1]

I don't use the tone controls, but it doesn't hurt to have it repaired by them while its still under warranty.

How much are the normal asking price for an amp in the pier? They quoted me like P8K for the Sony TA-F555ESXII initially and I tried to haggle and haggle with them. Eventually they gave it at a lower price and wont budge further after. I wont post the price, it seems a little too high for a Sony or a 300 watts amp.  Btw, this is the place with lots of speakers outside.

For the Sansui Au-D907 limited they initially quoted it as 6.5K for a 260 watts amp, I think the sony 333ES was going for 6K. How do I know if i'm getting dupped?

[sandawa]

sorry. napansin ko sa ilang posts ko para akong nagsusulat ng memo hindi ko napansin forum nga pala ito. anyway, tone controls aren't bad but eventually you wouldn't use them when you found the ideal setup, which is relative to a lot of factors especially your room. and you're right, it's better to have a perfectly working unit esp. if it's under warranty. also, let your listening preference prevail instead of those of guys like me.

i have friends here in davao who are into trading surplus consumer electronics and they have told me their secret. for amps, look at the power consumption at the back. Japanese shippers ask for P10 per watt now, so a 300-watt power consumption rating at the back means the unit was bought at roughly P3,000. the add-on amount, varies from brand to brand and external/internal appearance. a repaired unit would be priced higher since additional amount was spent on it. in the past, before demand rose there in Manila, the asking price per watt was only P5. so, start haggling at say P12/watt and go up to P20/watt if the unit is something you fancied. it's guaranteed they'll already have decent profit at P15/watt. of course, this is a supply-demand game thus my info may not apply at all when the deals become "fast and furious."

[random]

i have friends here in davao who are into trading surplus consumer electronics and they have told me their secret. for amps, look at the power consumption at the back. Japanese shippers ask for P10 per watt now, so a 300-watt power consumption rating at the back means the unit was bought at roughly P3,000. the add-on amount, varies from brand to brand and external/internal appearance. a repaired unit would be priced higher since additional amount was spent on it. in the past, before demand rose there in Manila, the asking price per watt was only P5. so, start haggling at say P12/watt and go up to P20/watt if the unit is something you fancied. it's guaranteed they'll already have decent profit at P15/watt. of course, this is a supply-demand game thus my info may not apply at all when the deals become "fast and furious."

thanks for the info sandawa! 

[akyatbundok]

wow thats very useful info.... thanks sandawa.

i know that place with the stacked speakers, that's where i bought my sony 333es and sansui alpha707.... their asking price are usually much higher than other stores, so if i can find those units elsewhere i would spend more time walking around.... for instance they asked for 5.5k for the 333es but i found the same amp elsewhere with asking price of 4k.... but the cheaper amps i found were in much worse condition so i haggled for the 333es to around 4.8k by saying that the other store had 3 of those all selling for 4k (which was true).... same thing happened with my sansui, they asked for 6.5k at the time, but apparently they smell the blood rushing through my brain hahaha so i only got it down to 5.5k.

gotta haggle with that store they seem to expect it from buyers so they jack up the asking price.

[sandawa]

Just been to a Japanese warehouse/junkyard here in Davao and found out radical changes in their prices to retailers for "as is" AV units. Here it goes:

1. Amps: black - P12.50/watt maximum of P4,000; silver - P10/watt maximum of P3,000 per unit
2. CD Players: big - P500 to P600; medium - P350 to P400
3. Tape decks: big - P1,000-1,100; medium - P800 to P900
4. TV: 28 to 31 inches - P2,500 to P2,800; 32 to 34 inches - P2,900 to P3,500 (obviously the high figures here apply to widescreen units)

Last February, I bought two Onkyo CDs there (C-501XD and C-901XD) at P1,000 each. Napamahal pa pala ako. Take note that the rates apply to "as-is" units and only about two-thirds of these are in good condition. The risk of getting an unrepairable unit could go up to 33%. But internal arrangement could be made like what I did for my almost mint-condition Onkyos.

If I only have enough time, I'll open a channel so I could send units to you based on these prices. If you guys could incorporate an audio club or a formal group with dedicated one or two staff, maybe we can explore a "cooperative" type trading channel for the benefit of members and give those pier retailers competition. Also you could organize weeked auditions for new gears from high-end dealers there, get hefty discounts too, through such audio club.

[Yahoo!]

pasintabi po...
 post ko lang kung meron interested. just saw these from pier.

Onkyo 819RX
Onkyo 817XG
Onkyo 817RX II
Onkyo 917R
Denon PMA-690
Marantz PM-54DS
Sony 222ESR
Sony 303ESD
Sony 333ESG
Sansui AU-D607X Decade
Sansui AU-D907 Limited, still available

Got a Sony CDP-333ESD instead of
Denon DCD-1300 CD Player (still available). Good decision? 

according to them more are coming this month.

regards...