Author Topic: Surplus amps (Read 991077 times)

Audioboy · « **Reply #120 on:** Oct 04, 2003 at 08:06 PM »

Quote from: iceman90a on Oct 04, 2003 at 05:27 PM

julsp168 - ang linis ng amp na yan ah , ikaw na naglinis o sila? pwede ba pabuksan habang bumibili?

pwede pabuksan pre. the pics i posted are not the actual pictures of the marantz amp. I just got those pics in the internet. some units are really dirty but some are not.

i got mine a lot less dirty compared to other units.

Audioboy · « **Reply #121 on:** Oct 04, 2003 at 08:26 PM »

i went back to the store where i got my amp and had it replaced. i encountered unbalanced power output and distortion problem with the marantz pm-54d. no replacement can be had so i got the PM-54 version which is of higher wattage (200W). I got the later unit for 4.5k including transformer. Aside from having ridded the issues in the defective unit, the amp i got has better sound (warmer) and i was really amazed with its wide soundstage. the bass is impressively tight.

oh boy! i hope my "tube amp to be" can out shine this gem that i got.

akyatbundok · « **Reply #122 on:** Oct 05, 2003 at 11:30 AM »

julsp168, congrats! kasama pa transformer. been looking for a marantz too but they dont seem to stay too long in the shelves. mukhang ok yan pm-x4 series ng marantz, they have auto-class A operation w/c is very unique among the integrated amps out there.

i noticed sa buy&sell newspaper someone's selling luxman "tube" amps daw for 15k. i called up the guy and found its not really a pure tube amp, but the same hybrid LV-103 i got for 4k at the pier. sold out na daw siya he sold 3 units already with more to come. isip ko tuloy ang laki naman magpatong ni manong. in fairness sabi naman niya its not surplus but somebody's bringing it home for him straight from japan. personally if that were my budget why go surplus? you can get a NAD 320bee may remote pa, pre-outs/main-ins and best of all its bnew.

i got to talk to one of the sellers at the pier; sabi niya all the surplus stuff comes in one huge container and there are people who pick off the good units ala bidding. anybody has a contact there so those interested could participate in the bidding and probably get better units & bargains? at least yun wala na patong.

Audioboy · « **Reply #123 on:** Oct 06, 2003 at 10:26 AM »

thanks akyat.

the Marantz PM-54 has an automatic voltage shift power supply (AVSS) circuit that increases the supply on the output transistors during brief high-level transients and restores the normal operating voltage when the extra power is no longer needed. It has a rated power of 60 RMS watts per channel @ 8 ohms, 0.015 % distortion. The back of the amp indicates a 200 watts of power, thus an indication that the amp has enough reserve power when called upon to pump higher levels.

Audioboy · « **Reply #124 on:** Oct 06, 2003 at 11:27 AM »

Quote from: fakelondongenius on Sep 30, 2003 at 02:06 PM

Marantz PM 74D P 4,000

have you seen this amp in pier? this is one hell of an amp.

4k? murang mura compared to the price i paid for its little brother.

i wasnt able to find one in other stores when i returned the defective unit.

H a n $ · « **Reply #125 on:** Oct 06, 2003 at 12:32 PM »

Julp,

Pa audition naman hehehe kung pwede??

fakelondongenius · « **Reply #126 on:** Oct 06, 2003 at 01:21 PM »

Quote from: JulsP168 on Oct 06, 2003 at 11:27 AM

have you seen this amp in pier?

yes.

merong surplus shop sa Cubao. kahelera ng Isetan. katabi ng mga nagbebenta ng tv.

Audioboy · « **Reply #127 on:** Oct 06, 2003 at 02:18 PM »

Quote from: Hans Adriane on Oct 06, 2003 at 12:32 PM

Julp,

Pa audition naman hehehe kung pwede??

no problem. just tell me when and ill tell you if its ok with my schedule.

Audioboy · « **Reply #128 on:** Oct 06, 2003 at 02:34 PM »

Quote from: fakelondongenius on Oct 06, 2003 at 01:21 PM

yes.

merong surplus shop sa Cubao. kahelera ng Isetan. katabi ng mga nagbebenta ng tv.

if you have the land line no. of the store, please post it for interested pinoydvd members. tnx.

akyatbundok · « **Reply #129 on:** Oct 06, 2003 at 03:30 PM »

oks nga yung PM-74D according to the review mga sir. ang nakita ko pala sa pier dati ay PM-75, yung modelo na hindi class-A.

i was able to audition the PM-80 yesterday in makati but this one was not a surplus unit so it costs twice (8k) but the exterior is smooth walang scratches. it sounds awesome, mataba tumunog yet detailed. guess what, i compared it to the 30-yr old accuphase E-202 and for our taste the marantz was slightly better. hmmm... didn't expect that at all, maybe the accuphase needed cleanup?

i think the PM-x4 line is even better because of the automatic switching. the PM-80 has a manual switch to toggle between class-A and class-AB but i suspect it has no automatic switching. i noticed that while class-A mode is very sweet, class-AB seems to be more dynamic (or just louder? i cant tell). so with automatic switching you get the best of both worlds.

but i came home empty-handed because the last we auditioned was a custom tube preamp + hafler power amp combo that sounded even better than the PM-80. had to defer any buying decision coz i have to think this through. of course logic sets in, and my practical side takes over... now i'm thinking: it better sound good the combo costs 28k combined and its not even bnew. is the hybrid separates worth 20k more than the class-A marantz? the marantz came pretty close in terms of sonics. is the pre-owned marantz worth 4k more than the surplus marantz? hmm... gotta think... gotta think. best buy pa rin yung surplus PM-74D if its still working flawlessly.

Audioboy · « **Reply #130 on:** Oct 06, 2003 at 04:04 PM »

Quote from: akyatbundok on Oct 06, 2003 at 03:30 PM

it sounds awesome, mataba tumunog yet detailed.

I have the same observation.

Quote

best buy pa rin yung surplus PM-74D if its still working flawlessly.

if the amp is in good condition, budget and performance wise, this is the best option.

but if you can find PM-94 at a relatively higher price than PM-74D, i'd go for this amp:

symon · « **Reply #131 on:** Oct 07, 2003 at 12:22 PM »

Hey, akyat, sent you a pm.

akyatbundok · « **Reply #132 on:** Oct 08, 2003 at 02:51 PM »

Quote from: JulsP168 on Oct 06, 2003 at 04:04 PM

I have the same observation. :)if the amp is in good condition, budget and performance wise, this is the best option.

but if you can find PM-94 at a relatively higher price than PM-74D, i'd go for this amp:

best buy talaga yang pm-94, julsp... yung nakausap kong matanda na nagbebenta ng luxman hybrid amps, ang sabi niya mas maganda daw tunog nung pm-94. kaya ang benta niya sa marantz pm-94 ay 40k versus 15k sa luxman lv-103. parang brand new kung mag presyo si manong. buti na lang may pier.

H a n $ · « **Reply #133 on:** Oct 08, 2003 at 02:57 PM »

Akyat,

For 40k budget you can go for dynaco ST70 tube na pre.. hehehehe yes buti na lang may pier

Audioboy · « **Reply #134 on:** Oct 08, 2003 at 05:18 PM »

Quote from: akyatbundok on Oct 08, 2003 at 02:51 PM

best buy talaga yang pm-94, julsp... yung nakausap kong matanda na nagbebenta ng luxman hybrid amps, ang sabi niya mas maganda daw tunog nung pm-94. kaya ang benta niya sa marantz pm-94 ay 40k versus 15k sa luxman lv-103. parang brand new kung mag presyo si manong. buti na lang may pier.

grabe naman magpresyo si manong. can you pm me the number of that manong? thanks.

joan2 · « **Reply #135 on:** Oct 11, 2003 at 04:39 PM »

to the guys who bought these amps, have you considered rewinding the power transformer to our local voltage? i am refering to those amps that are 100volts ac and do not have a facility for changing the input voltage? reason i asked is that i am afraid of "murphy's law" which could very well be at work here....

akyatbundok · « **Reply #136 on:** Oct 11, 2003 at 06:21 PM »

sir joan2, pwede pala gawin yun? akala ko noon pinapalitan nila ang transformer at ibang parts para maging 220v. kung pina-rewind magbabago ba ang performance ng amp? sa ngayon kasi im using a stepdown transformer kaya sinasabihan ko mga tao wag basta mag insert sa wall socket.

nga pala, matanong ko na rin... dun kasi sa sira kong amp, ayaw mag-click nung delay switch. ibig sabihin ba nun ang may sira lang ay yung delay switch? meron pa kayang pwedeng maging sira sa parts nun? meron siyang diagnostic LED sa loob for left & right channels. yung sa left channel nagbli-blink. pansin ko bago masira yun may scratching sound sa left channel. ano po kaya cause nun?

joan2 · « **Reply #137 on:** Oct 11, 2003 at 09:38 PM »

rewinding the power transformer should not in anyway change the performance of your amp. what it 'l do is to ensure that you don't get into accidental plugging to the wall without the transformer, it should even improve performance because you are getting rid of a device that on its own introduces losses too..
with regards to your relay question, that may very well mean that you have a large dc offset at your output terminals that can fry your speaker in an instant...the relay was there to protect your speaker from dc current and from turn-on and turn-off thumps that may occur had the relay not been there!!! a blown out output transistor could be the culprit...

akyatbundok · « **Reply #138 on:** Oct 13, 2003 at 08:53 AM »

sir joan2, thanks for the tip. ill look up a few contacts re: rewinding the tranny on my amp.

meantime, here's what happened to me this weekend -- "murphy's law"!!

i turned on my integrated amp to warm up the tubes in my luxman. im so clumsy, i forgot that i had previously removed the speaker cables from my speaker. i was just putting down the phone when i saw the speaker cable on the floor, with the banana terminals touching each other!!

"anything that can go wrong will go wrong" -- i lost the right channel.. hu hu hu

ive always been careless about these things bcoz of the circuit protection in newer amps. its the 2nd luxman hybrid in a row that ive clobbered. i felt so bad, i only had one thing in mind: in my next trip to my favorite shopping mall ("The Pier")... i'll get me one of those big killer amps.

...and so i did.

fakelondongenius · « **Reply #139 on:** Oct 13, 2003 at 09:18 AM »

oops eto na ang nabili ko! Pioneer SA-8800II

akyatbundok · « **Reply #140 on:** Oct 13, 2003 at 11:09 AM »

bro, i saw the pics briefly but now they're gone.

wowow.. how does it sound? nice design on the amp -- its like 2 mono amps built into a single chassis. even the transistors for each channel have their own heatsink. talk about channel separation. must be as good as having a separate preamp and 2 monobloc power amps.

yukon · « **Reply #141 on:** Oct 13, 2003 at 11:53 AM »

Quote from: akyatbundok on Oct 13, 2003 at 11:09 AM

bro, i saw the pics briefly but now they're gone.

may limit yata sa number of views nung image... sayang di ko nakita...

iceman90a · « **Reply #142 on:** Oct 13, 2003 at 11:54 AM »

nakaka engganyo tuloy magpunta sa pier at kumuha ng stereo amp ah

akyat, ano bago mong nakuha?

ty

akyatbundok · « **Reply #143 on:** Oct 13, 2003 at 12:33 PM »

iceman, i got the sansui AU-alpha707. pang palubag loob dahil nakasira nanaman ako nung luxman. i'm very happy with this amp; i took pictures of it last night, will post later.

based on the sansui.us website, you should avoid models made in the early 80's because that's when the company had labor and currency exchange problems. true enough, those models na may suffix na F at G ay naiipon lang sa pier. i got one of the alpha series which was the company's attempt at regaining market share to make up for the poor models. the website said that the X and alpha models were manufactured at a loss. you will immediately notice the difference in quality of the parts.

i got this in the store with the stacked speakers. before we tested the unit, i asked them to open up the casing. this one has the biggest EI transformer and capacitors that ive ever seen. bigger than the sony ES i got from the same store. the 2 caps were almost the size of beer cans!!

i checked the AU-707X model in another store. that one had a huge toroidal transformer and 4 smaller caps. but unfortunately it was defective (i never buy without auditioning it).

the sound has a very good balance -- slightly weightier bass than the sony ES/kenwood THX and some shades of the refinement of the Luxman hybrid. the luxman is my favorite amp because the background is so quiet and the sound is so clean/clear. the sansui approaches the luxman's clarity but adds the bass weight that's missing in the luxman. this is just my initial impression, so it could still change after i do more listening. i always get excited when i get something new.

jofkevski · « **Reply #144 on:** Oct 13, 2003 at 12:40 PM »

akyat,

balak ko ngang kunin yan 3 weeks ago eh kasi it is about 130Wpc (8ohms) and 160Wpc (6 ohms), pero nagpigil na lang muna ako. Kung dalawa yang 707 na yan noon, could have purchased both, kasi meron yang main-in (parang separate amp baga), saka kundi ako nagkakamali, may XLR input pa yata yan eh.

OK yang amp na yan Bro, pero tyagain kong hintayin ang 907 series, o kaya X111 series, o kaya yung mga reference series. Magkano mo naiskor?

akyatbundok · « **Reply #145 on:** Oct 13, 2003 at 12:47 PM »

pre, you're right it has XLR balanced inputs for the power amp. the build quality is first rate. onga, if you see the AU-alpha907 go for it! pero this one cost me dearly: 5.5k... hu hu hu

mahal siya, but still cheaper than my luxman lv-105... asking price was 6.8k. sabi nung store, they once had 3 of these. but gotta avoid the F and the G, they're starting to accumulate in pier.

jofkevski, a friend of mine has a similar idea as yours. he wants to build his HT using only a dvd player w/ built-in DD/DTS decoder, and then 2 surplus amps plus a sub. he's gonna phantom the center (we got the idea from av_phile - thanks bro!) with his diamond 8.1 for a very cheap but kick-major-booty 4.1 system.

iceman90a · « **Reply #146 on:** Oct 13, 2003 at 01:01 PM »

Quote from: akyatbundok on Oct 13, 2003 at 12:47 PM

jofkevski, a friend of mine has a similar idea as yours. he wants to build his HT using only a dvd player w/ built-in DD/DTS decoder, and then 2 surplus amps plus a sub. he's gonna phantom the center (we got the idea from av_phile - thanks bro!) with his diamond 8.1 for a very cheap but kick-major-booty 4.1 system.

just wanted to share that this is currently how my HT is set-up:

integrated amp driving the fronts (phantomed center)
sub-woofer connected via speaker line-in (fronts)
aiwa mini-component as surrounds

dvd settings:

amp connected to FL-FR out of my Kebao 3089
center speaker - OFF
sub-woofer - OFF
mini-compo connected to SL-SR out of my Kebao 3089

i cannot find any HTIB's that will match this set-up kaya I'm interested in getting a surplus amp and another pair of speakers so i can get rid of my mini-compo (nakaka sira ng japorms)

jofkevski · « **Reply #147 on:** Oct 13, 2003 at 02:47 PM »

actually I have different intention. I need amp that has main-in (bypass pre-amp) sa surplus amp. I initially looked with the guy that has A-10III (similar to my A-10II) except his has 240VA trans x2 while mine has 190VA trans x 2, while all others are the same (hirap ngang kausap yung tao). Thus this amp will be functioning like separates.

Then I will keep my Yamaha RX-V630 and will use its pre-out (L, R, surrounds no center). 8.1 are all my surrounds.

Am currently using alpha607 of sansui to drive my 2-coil 12-inch DIY subwoofer, each coil has each L/R channel of the sansui 607. I used the SW pre-out of RX-v630 to feed to this 607. so each coil may receive 100Wpc, for a total of 200W for my SW driver.

Having 707 or 907 (alpha series) will maintain the looks of all the amps (piano finish). Presto, I will then have HT build on good separates, that will cost thousands of dollars using brand new gears.

iceman90a · « **Reply #148 on:** Oct 13, 2003 at 02:58 PM »

i see what you are getting at... admittedly the digital decoder of the kebao is cheap. magaspang tunog compared to having an AVR do the decoding, although a plus for the kebao vs nextbase is that it has an onboard DTS decoder (which is also cheap

)

which is why i'm still on the lookout for an affordable receiver with pre-outs

joan2 · « **Reply #149 on:** Oct 13, 2003 at 04:09 PM »

Quote from: akyatbundok on Oct 13, 2003 at 08:53 AM

sir joan2, thanks for the tip. ill look up a few contacts re: rewinding the tranny on my amp.

meantime, here's what happened to me this weekend -- "murphy's law"!!

i turned on my integrated amp to warm up the tubes in my luxman. im so clumsy, i forgot that i had previously removed the speaker cables from my speaker. i was just putting down the phone when i saw the speaker cable on the floor, with the banana terminals touching each other!!

"anything that can go wrong will go wrong" -- i lost the right channel.. hu hu hu

ive always been careless about these things bcoz of the circuit protection in newer amps. its the 2nd luxman hybrid in a row that ive clobbered. i felt so bad, i only had one thing in mind: in my next trip to my favorite shopping mall ("The Pier")... i'll get me one of those big killer amps.

...and so i did.

the power of murphy's law demostrated once more....i wonder who else got bitten....
i have had extensive experience in repairs of these amps, i have builtseveral power amps over the years, i can do repairs or you or i can look at your amps and tell you what you can do if you are interested in tweaking the insides o your amps,to me this is more challengin than to debate over cables and inter-conects, an i assure you that this is not as expensive.....