[.Sup]

I will probably go get this one on Thursday for my HE-500 and HE-4.
http://www.bolha.com/akustika-ojacevalci/pioneer-sa-508-oglas1280283077

 

[palmfish]

Quote:

I will probably go get this one on Thursday for my HE-500 and HE-4.
http://www.bolha.com/akustika-ojacevalci/pioneer-sa-508-oglas1280283077

I have the NA market version (SA-5800) of that integrated amp.
 
I'm not sure of the exchange rate, but I wouldn't pay more than $50 US for it.

 

[estreeter]

Quote:

The for sale stuff there that is good (and the are often very real bargains there) is in "Barter Town" - but you have to be an AK Subscriber to have access, and this costs $25 a year. Well worth it in my opinion, but YMMV.

 
Rob, I get the impression that buying from AK would be viable for anyone residing in the CONUS - not so hot for the rest of us, no ?  

 

[scompton]

Quote:

The for sale stuff there that is good (and the are often very real bargains there) is in "Barter Town" - but you have to be an AK Subscriber to have access, and this costs $25 a year. Well worth it in my opinion, but YMMV.

 
Personally, I think it's well worth subscribing to just about any forum you use frequently.  I don't post much in audiokarma, but I've been a subscriber for a long time.

 

[.Sup]

Quote:

I have the NA market version (SA-5800) of that integrated amp.
 
I'm not sure of the exchange rate, but I wouldn't pay more than $50 US for it.

Well I called the guy and he says it was never serviced and is in excellent condition. 111€ is 140$. Bear in mind that vintage stuff is harder to get here.

 

[Skylab]

Quote:

Rob, I get the impression that buying from AK would be viable for anyone residing in the CONUS - not so hot for the rest of us, no ?  

 
I think generally that is the case, it seems much more US centric than head-fi is.
 
Quote:

Personally, I think it's well worth subscribing to just about any forum you use frequently.  I don't post much in audiokarma, but I've been a subscriber for a long time.

 
Totally agree, I subscribe here, there, and AudioAsylum.  Well worth it, as little as it costs, and as much as I get from these fora.

 

[Silent One]

Quote:

The for sale stuff there that is good (and the are often very real bargains there) is in "Barter Town" - but you have to be an AK Subscriber to have access, and this costs $25 a year. Well worth it in my opinion, but YMMV.

 
I did not know. Thanks for bringing me light. 

 

[palmfish]

Well I called the guy and he says it was never serviced and is in excellent condition. 111€ is 140$. Bear in mind that vintage stuff is harder to get here.

OK, I was just making sure you knew that this is (was) a small entry-level amp. 25wpc IIRC. I bought mine new when I was in high school and have kept it for nostalgic reasons (and, of course, the flouroscan meters ). It is a warm and lush sounding amp and drives headphones just fine.

I use mine at the office for a small speaker system.I have pictures in my profile.

Enjoy it!

 

[.Sup]

Quote:

OK, I was just making sure you knew that this is (was) a small entry-level amp. 25wpc IIRC. I bought mine new when I was in high school and have kept it for nostalgic reasons (and, of course, the flouroscan meters

). It is a warm and lush sounding amp and drives headphones just fine.
I use mine at the office for a small speaker system.I have pictures in my profile.
Enjoy it!

Thanks! Yours looks much nicer with the wooden panels.  

 

[palmfish]

Yes, I like the wood panels too. It seems it was a North American thing as most European gear didn't seem to have them.

 

[obobskivich]

Ah, I think I can really join this club now. I just finished cleaning up and putting back together my JVC PC-R11W. What gets me is, this was the original driver I picked out for headphones way back when, and ended up putting it aside due to the size. After about 10 minutes on my MDR-F1s, I realize that was a mistake. Current. It's good.

Question for those who have restored gear: I took this thing apart to check up on it, and it looks pristine inside (as in, better than it should for being from 1982). All of the caps are that baby blue Rubycon style, and some of them look too big for their mounts (output caps in particular - they're stuffed in there sideways and connected to the board with wire) - what's the odds that this was restored at some point in the past? I mean literally everything on this thing works like it was brand new - pots, faders, etc are all dead silent and track more or less perfectly, there's no errant noise (there's a *slight* bit of noise I'm hearing with it on mute with the F1s, but its just as likely I'm hearing my air con in the background), etc. I've never pulled something this old apart and had this experience - usually there's at least one problem. Haven't found much about this guy online either, except that they're apparently a fortune on eBay :rolleyes:. (And to think, I got this as payment for helping organize a charity sale).

 

[Skylab]

Sounds to me like it was restored, or at least modded, before.  Can you post a pic?

 

[obobskivich]

Sounds to me like it was restored, or at least modded, before.  Can you post a pic?

I just spent two hours putting it back together! h34r:

Really man...you're killing me. :angry_face:

So basically give me some time to talk myself up to it, and yeah I'll take it back apart and snap a picture or three of the insides. Really just enjoying how fantastic it sounds right now with the MDR-F1. Kind of scared to hook up my Pro2900s - with the MDR-F1s through this, it reminds me of the Metalocalypse where the band goes to Norway and awakens the lake troll. I knew the F1s could sing, but this is just other-worldly. And this is coming from a non-amp "believer." I wish I knew more about this unit's specs overall; it was just handed to me with no documentation or packaging (I actually got the complete system - every component is excellent, the speakers were kind of shouty in their enclosures, but in an open-baffle they're absolutely sublime). Feel kind of silly for letting it sit for the better part of a decade...

Another question - this thing can run on AC *or* DC; ignoring that I'd have to find a rather robust DC power source, would there be any advantage to running it on DC? I think it can feed from 12V, so in theory I could tap it up from the SMPS in my workstation (which is quite good), or I can go buy a linear unit from a salvage shop. (AFAIK the original use for the DC jacks is to run it on a battery pack - it's supposed to be "transportable" like the ESP/950 system; I cannot imagine how many batteries this thing would eat though (and we're not doing the car battery thing), given that we're talking about a 10-20W/ch amplifier).

 

[Skylab]

Lesson to all you vintage gear lovers: if you ever take anything apart, take pictures

 

[moodyrn]

Quote:

Ah, I think I can really join this club now.

 
Welcome to the club! New people on headfi are often greeted with the phrase "sorry about your wallet". I think in this thread we can greet new people with "your wallet thanks you". I know restored units and the cost of restoring can cost a bit. But the performance per dollar with still way cheaper than you would have to spend on a headphone amp of the same caliber.