[BmWr75]

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Everybody likes pictures so why not. I get excited about seeing clean, stylish and cool stuff, hope you find this at least interesting.
 
Currently headed this way.
I'm a fan of compact, vintage and if possible simpler the better.
A nice , and apparently rare Electra SA-100 ( made in Japan ) single-ended tube looks like early 60's since it looks similar period to my minty restored germanium transistor based Lafayette ( pretty darn close housing and rear ).
 
 
This thing has dual volume  and dual tone controls.
 
 
 
Looks like nice shielded transformers(?)
 
According to the fella I got it from:
All leads were completely desoldered and new caps installed with spaghetti tubing
New stock capacitors including polyester metal film Cornell-Dubellier orange dips, Miec filter caps
The mono/stereo and norm/inverse switches were bypassed with shielded cable to provide a noise free and short signal path ( apparently made an audible difference )
5W true RMS into 8 ohms
Original NEC tubes (6CA4 rectifier, 12AX7 pre-amp, 7189(6BQ5) x2 outputs, but I have some Russian 6P14P-ER which are 6BQ5/EL84 equivalents, which means now I can listen to the Russian orthos properly
 
Just need to grab a speaker tap headphone jack/speaker selector unit and good to go.  And guess I should consider a replacement grounded cord eventually for safety's sake.
This is to hold me over until I do some real work ( go to town on them ) on the larger tube units later when i get some enthusiasm, if ever. They can sit pretty in the cabinet for now.
 
Hope this sounds decent.

 
Certainly looks nice.  All the caps look new to me.  That is a good thing.

 

[LugBug1]

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My HD800 sounds thick and bloomy through the vintage amps I own. Same for HD600 and 650 that I previously owned.

No doubt it comes down to music type and personal taste.

Absolutely. 
 
And I must add, I don't think that vintage amps are the end all for the hd800's. The sound is very good to my ears but of course there is always room for improvement. They are finicky beast, to be sure! But putting some meat on them bones can only be good thing in my book, as they can be a trifle thin and sharp sounding on lower powered amps. 

 

[palmfish]

Absolutely. 

And I must add, I don't think that vintage amps are the end all for the hd800's. The sound is very good to my ears but of course there is always room for improvement. They are finicky beast, to be sure! But putting some meat on them bones can only be good thing in my book, as they can be a trifle thin and sharp sounding on lower powered amps. 

I think we're in agreement. Only what sounds thin and sharp to you is articulate and clear to me

 

[LugBug1]

Quote:

I think we're in agreement. Only what sounds thin and sharp to you is articulate and clear to me

 

 

 

[Oregonian]

Spent last night and this morning unloading, cleaning, setting up and wiring this beast.
 
From the top -
 
Yamaha P520 turntable (had that already) - next to that is an iPod touch for the non-vintage touch - but it IS playing Pink Floyd!
TX-9500II tuner - and I have to admit, after listening to FM for years, I am NOW - local classic rock station KGON is rocking!
CTF-1000 tape deck - likely will never use this so may find a CD player for this slot
SPEC 1 pre-amp
SG-9500 equalizer
SPEC 2 amp - (250 watts per channel)
 
Running into some Polk Audio speakers - good yes, but does not do this justice.
Phones are Denon D2000 w/Mark L full treatment
 

 
One meter light is out as is the Equalizer bulb.  Everything else works as it should.

 

[Skylab]

Got the cabinet finished for my sx-650!!

Matt I bet that's the nicest SX-650 out there.

And Oregonian...WOW. Major score!!!!

 

[LugBug1]

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Deserves to be seen again. Magnifico!! 

 

[MattTCG]

Good grief Oregonian!! There are no words really. And you paid how much for that? 
 
I'm sitting here trying to visualize my wife's reaction if I brought that monster home...

 (the dead horse would be me). 

 

[Oregonian]

Quote:

Got the cabinet finished for my sx-650!!

That.  Is.  Gorgeous.  
 
It's so nice you don't want to put it in a rack!!  Nice job.

 

[MattTCG]

Thanks so much. It's about two hours from being completely done. And then...
 
I want a Sansui. 

 

[Oregonian]

Quote:

Good grief Oregonian!! There are no words really. And you paid how much for that? 
 
I'm sitting here trying to visualize my wife's reaction if I brought that monster home...

 (the dead horse would be me). 

Matt, the amount of time I spent justifying it in my mind and coming up with a spiel to tell her was, well, hours.  And truth be told, when I told her I paid $280 and it was literally a once in a lifetime find she said, good for you.  All the buildup, all the stress...................and she let me down.  In a good way of course. 
 
Just last week I brought home my turntable and made the huge mistake of using our computer/audio room coffee table to set it up just to test it................I was in the dog house quickly.  This she says "good for you".  After 25 years of marriage I still can not figure her out.  Nor will I likely ever. 

 

[Oregonian]

Quote:

Matt I bet that's the nicest SX-650 out there.

And Oregonian...WOW. Major score!!!!

Skylab, coming from you that is truly high praise.  Got lucky, right place right time.  Glad I decided to take that phone call.  And to buy it even knowing my wife might divorce me over it.  (see my comments above).................love my wife................love my wife................love my wife..................

 

[claybum]

Quote:

Spent last night and this morning unloading, cleaning, setting up and wiring this beast.
 
From the top -
 
Yamaha P520 turntable (had that already) - next to that is an iPod touch for the non-vintage touch - but it IS playing Pink Floyd!
TX-9500II tuner - and I have to admit, after listening to FM for years, I am NOW - local classic rock station KGON is rocking!
CTF-1000 tape deck - likely will never use this so may find a CD player for this slot
SPEC 1 pre-amp
SG-9500 equalizer
SPEC 2 amp - (250 watts per channel)
 
Running into some Polk Audio speakers - good yes, but does not do this justice.
Phones are Denon D2000 w/Mark L full treatment
 

 
One meter light is out as is the Equalizer bulb.  Everything else works as it should.

 
 
Lordy, that's some major iron!   Congrats.

 

[PhoenixG]

Nice rack! Now get yourself some nice HPM xxxx's, S-XX10's, or McIntosh XR-xx's to go with them!

 

[jbusuego]

That's a major score for $280.00. Wish I could a score like that.