Topic: Surplus amps

[sandawa]

yes, that's a good route for someone into DIY -- my favorite adventure route in fact. it would take you 44 hours from Manila to Davao but along the way are the zigzags in Quezon and Camarines Norte, Mt. Mayon in Albay, the beaches in Sorsogon, the rustic rural scene in Samar and Leyte plus San juanico Bridge, Surigao's greenery including a view of Lake Mainit, the heart of beautiful Agusan and finally the Davao Region - from the golds of Monkayo to the banana farms of the Floirendos. bring a camera with extra memory cards.

if you're thinking of sourcing surplus hifi here, however, forget it, you'll be disappointed. we don't have a lot of arrivals lately. you have a lot more in Pier or in Valenzuela (as posted earlier). if you just want to enjoy southern Philippines and get a glimpse of Davao's hifi, and take a chance at what's available, that would be wonderful. i promise you, hindi ka magugutom dito sir, tataba ka pag-uwi mo sa Maynila!

[mandrake]

Sir Sandawa, you got PM.

[shuttertrigger]

been at pier last weekend and got the DIATONE AU300 Integrated Amp.
the amp is pefect to my "Old School" and vintage Kenwood speakers and also to my Denon TT..
again, LIFE is so sweet....

will post the pics when i have it downloaded on my mobile phone.

thanks to Nonoy for answering my questions/inquiries.. nice and friendly too.. 

[mandrake]

Speaking as a first time owner of a surplus amp, I must say ang laking bagay talaga ng forum na 'to.  I started reading this last year and gradually realized surplus equipment was a viable path to having a dedicated audio setup.  My biggest problem was allocating time and getting my wife to accept such a decision.  Para sa kanya kasi I was willing to pay good money for junk

What finally made me take the plunge was reading Sandawa's very informative posts.  With perfect timing, one of the more sought after models suddenly became available; Wanderlust's Sansui AU-907X Decade.  Here was an amp that had provided good service to one of the more active members here and who, coincidentally, I  also met during last year's grand EB.  Plus it had the pedigree, eka nga.  Paano ko palalampasin 'to?  So I didn't   I chose an alternative path to surplus audio heaven

Just this weekend I found a slight problem with the amp and after asking Wanderlust, we agreed that  Sandawa would be the best person to go to.  As expected, he was very helpful and I finally got the problem fixed   Master Sandawa you're really the man!

Ang haba na ng kwento ko but what I'm trying to say is basically the same as what Akyatbundok said: the journey is as much fun as the destination, no matter what path you choose to take.

[sandawa]

thanks, mandrake. but to clarify, i merely recommended Audio Karma's Echo Wars system of adjusting DC offset of vintage amps. other guys here are the better resource persons for amp problems -- from JojoD to 2ny, and many others.

[C.O.2]

  Mga bros. how would you rate the following surplus amps which i found in alabang:

1.  Technics s-7600
2.  Aurex sb-410
3.  Denon pma-730
4.  Sony ta-2650
5.  Yamaha ca-5100
6.  Denon pma-550

Price range from 2,500 to 3,500.  Thanks

[Narayan]

then i came back and asked the guy -- what's your last price?  ......he says P3,200.

ano?? sabi mo "2.8k pwede pa bumaba" tapos ang last price 3.2k??  he ought to wipe the drool on his chin coz he's probably thinking he got me there..... if a buyer comes back the next day looking for a specific model he probably wants it badly..... enough to bend over backwards and get screwed.... anyway, he denies having quoted us the price i was expecting, and soon he was looking at my back and i'm riding into the sunset.

i had the same experience at he pier...its not even the next day but on the same day after i have checked on the net about an item which caught my interest, the seller, mang rey, suddenly increased his price significantly when i texted him to reserve the item as i will get it the next day

even though i liked the unit, i didnt give in to this unfair business practice and decided to just let it go and hoped that the seller somehow gets the message

[shuttertrigger]

this what i got last weekend...












 

[bumblebee]

cire2005,

Looks new pa ah If you can change the backlight to blue, ala McIntosh dating. Congrats.

[shuttertrigger]

cire2005,

Looks new pa ah If you can change the backlight to blue, ala McIntosh dating. Congrats.

yup bro! makinis pa talaga... and wait 'til you hear it sing....

[bumblebee]

yup bro! makinis pa talaga... and wait 'til you hear it sing....

Specs pls? How much and where?

[Jakob]

.... due to my near fiasco last year i have in mind a super downsized, minimal cost setup that includes a Wharf 9.1 speaker, Sansui amp and Sansui tuner -- that's pretty much all i need, with unlimited source material coming from the tuner.

OT:

sir, what's the model of your sansui tuner? sa pier mo din ba nakuha, how much if you don't mind?.

thanks

 

[Vhongbiker]

yup bro! makinis pa talaga... and wait 'til you hear it sing....

bro congrats! sayang hindi ako nakasama.
how much kuha mo bro?
parinig naman

[shuttertrigger]

bumblebee/vhongbiker,

thanks!

the only specs i got is 125w per channel and 100V
controls for bass, treble, balance, loudness
outputs are phono, tuner, tape/cd/aux
has headphone output also
subsonic filter on/off switch

FJMR trading stall PO 13th st. Port Area Manila (pier)
it also came with 6mos labor warranty


vhongbiker, ikaw ang bahala kung gusto mong mapakinggan.
problema ko lang masyadong maliit bahay namin..
kung meron sanang place na pwede ko dalhin ito walang problema..

[wanderlust]

congrats cire... looks quite yummy 

sir mandrake, glad to know youve resolved it na but im quite intrested to knowing the story behind, hmmm... makatawag nga. 

[shuttertrigger]

congrats cire... looks quite yummy 

thanks attorney! iba talaga tunog ng vintage amp.. para tuloy gusto kong mag-downgrade sa 2 channel...hehehehe 

[H a n $]

thanks attorney! iba talaga tunog ng vintage amp.. para tuloy gusto kong mag-downgrade sa 2 channel...hehehehe 

Bro congrats sa new catch mo!!.

[Narayan]

cire2005,

bro, had seen and listened to that amp earlier. kinis pa talaga and very nice sounding. enjoy

[shuttertrigger]

sir hans and sir narayan,

Thanks to both of you.. Kung hindi dahil sa mga advice nyo, hindi ko makukumpleto ang ganitong set up!
Mabuhay po kayo! 

[H a n $]

sir hans and sir narayan,

Thanks to both of you.. Kung hindi dahil sa mga advice nyo, hindi ko makukumpleto ang ganitong set up!
Mabuhay po kayo! 

Miss ko tuloy Victor ko.. :'( :'(

[shuttertrigger]

Miss ko tuloy Victor ko.. :'( :'(

sir hans,

actually, yung victor tsaka yung diatone ang pinagpilian ko.. halos pareho lang tumunog
ang naging deciding factor ko lang is yung condition ng unit medyo may dent na kasi yung Victor and marumi
na rin yung front panel..and the diatone is 125w compare sa 100w na Victor..good thing is pareho lang sila ng presyo..

[sandawa]

Mga bros. how would you rate the following surplus amps which i found in alabang:

1.  Technics s-7600
2.  Aurex sb-410
3.  Denon pma-730
4.  Sony ta-2650
5.  Yamaha ca-5100
6.  Denon pma-550

Price range from 2,500 to 3,500.  Thanks

baka sabihin mo snobs kami rito. sa totoo lang, i'm not familiar with any of those amps except the Sony TA-2650 (kalimutan mo na 'yan- not one of those VFETs). unless there are others here who are using some of those amps.

but then, better to audition them and let your ears decide.

[akyatbundok]

OT:

sir, what's the model of your sansui tuner? sa pier mo din ba nakuha, how much if you don't mind?.

thanks

 

bro i got mine 2nd hand, its not surplus kaya kumpleto sa FM band, swerte lang i got it for 2k its a vintage Sansui tuner from the early 70's, kinda old but it sounds way better than the tuner in my receiver.

[Vhongbiker]

bro match with 9.4 mo ba?
enjoy.....

[C.O.2]

baka sabihin mo snubs kami rito. sa totoo lang, i'm not familiar with any of those amps except the Sony TA-2650 (kalimutan mo na 'yan- not one of those VFETs). unless there are others here who are using some of those amps.

but then, better to audition them and let your ears decide.

Hindi naman sir sandawa. Alam ko naman very accommodating ang mga taga rito. Anyway, try ko na lang isa-isa.  Ano nga pala meaning ng VFETS?

[sandawa]

VFET (vertical field effect transistor)-driven vintage amps are now the object of a hunt among audio enthusiasts worldwide. VFETs were built by a few Japanese hifi firms back in the '70s to mimic the sound of valve/tube amps. unfortunately, due to high cost of production, VFETs were discontinued. there were very few amps that used VFETs. ang problema, nakakuha ka nga, nasira naman, wala rin - no more parts available.

check out Axel Dahl's site: http://www.thevintageknob.org/

[rascal101]

K lang makabili ng ampli na sira huwag lang VFET. Mod mo na lang output stage ng ampli or cd player mo para magmukhang tubo tunog. Medyo mahirap nga lang dahil sa 2nd order distortion.

[sandawa]

true, pero kung tested na maayos ang VFET amp - habulin! Lordfoo and another guy here, i think, got a Sony TA4650 and TA5650 respectively, at very reasonable prices. iba talaga ang tunog niya, lalo na sa mid-range. it was produced to sound like a triode, thus the tube-like sonic character. hindi kasing linis ng high-power mos-FETs (which i personally prefer) lalo na sa gitna, but it has a distinct sound, that is, if you want some variation.

i have a Yamaha B3 VFET power amp (the only Yamaha B3 in Audio Karma). gulat ang mga taga labas sa Pinoy, paano tayo nagakaroon ng collectors' VFETs. di nila alam sa junkyard ko napulot yung unit ko. it's now packaged with a WS Tono tube preamp, on a biamp mode with Sonic Impact tripath amp, and driving KEF 101 series 2 speakers. the Yamaha VFET handles the mid and low frequencies and the T-amp takes care of the high frequencies.

here's a photo of the Yamaha B3 beside a WS Tono (with T-amp on top). below is the bi-ampable KEF 101 series 2 which i modified early this year cutting the HF unit at the woofer's center and mounting one on top:

[ATJr.]

@sandawa,

way i understand it, v-fets are bised quite high, at more than 250ma at idle, higher order odd harmonics tend to be minimized at the output stage, thus the tube like sound!

[Lord Foo]

The sony TA5650 and TA4650 are really very nice integrated amps.  The TA5650 with me used to behave like an egg fryer but when my brod adjusted the DC Offset and Bias based on the service manual provided by Axel of Audio Karma, the execessive heat generation went away.

The unit still heats up but its not very hot anymore and the sound it produces compares very very well with most of my amps. The unit is now being used by Rusty. I havent found a service manual for the TA4650 so I haven't used it up yet. But the two times,  I powered it up, it sounded more suited to my taste than the Yamaha CA1000 when every setting is set to neutral.  The bass is simply superb.

Let me describe the base with some poetic license...

Awesome bass emanates from the woofer, crawls on the ground, climbs up your toes and up your legs. It makes your knees wobble. It socks your stomach, squeezes your heart and slither up your face. The bass brings tears to your eyes and finally, it oozes slowly and gracefully out of each single strand of your hairtips - making them stand up as if in fright but in reality is in audio ecstasy.