[Hooster]

 
I'm not an expert, but the fact that the TA only has 2 pins shouldn't keep people from buying this awesome amplifier.

 
Absolutely, the mod is simple, so no problem.

 

[Sarnia]

Bought it from amazon Germany and the TA came with 2 pins. But so should a British unit because in the box was also a power cable for British sockets, and this power cable has 2 pins (at the end that goes into the amplifier).

I'm not an expert, but the fact that the TA only has 2 pins shouldn't keep people from buying this awesome amplifier.

I personally am pretty sure that Sony know what they're doing, so not buying it because of that wouldn't make any sense to me.

People tend to worry about things they don't understand I think.

 

[asquare3376]

Bought it from amazon Germany and the TA came with 2 pins. But so should a British unit because in the box was also a power cable for British sockets, and this power cable has 2 pins (at the end that goes into the amplifier).

I'm not an expert, but the fact that the TA only has 2 pins shouldn't keep people from buying this awesome amplifier.

You either enjoy your music on a device or you don't. 2 pin, 3 pin, no pin, all of that doesn't matter unless you want to focus your mind on everything else but the actual sound itself. People who designed the amp obviously were much knowledgeable folks than us and they knew what they were doing.

 

[Daroid]

I personally am pretty sure that Sony know what they're doing, so not buying it because of that wouldn't make any sense to me.

People tend to worry about things they don't understand I think.

 
I have to agree on this tendency, but it is ultimately up to each individual to make their own choice (rational or not).
I've actually never seen these 2-pin C17/C18 plugs before - on the other hand C7/C8 is found EVERYWHERE, but maybe that connector isn't "nice" enough, since they didn't just go with that. No matter what, it would be nice to know more about Sony's design thoughts on why they decided opted for a floating ground. Then again, I have seen plenty of hif-amps with a earthed connector that either wasn't internally connected to anything or wasn't connected with any signal ground elsewhere - maybe because it is actually a nightmare to get right.

 

[Hooster]

  I don't get the mod of the ground is not connected? 
 
 
Most homes in the U.S. have ground-loop issues. A two-proung AC cord eliminates any buzzing noises if the user's home has wiring issues.

 
It is worth checking your home's grounding. It could be a hazard if it is not done properly.

 

[cbf123]

I've just picked one of these up to go with a set of Z1R's I snagged off Amazon Warehouse here in the UK last week for £1135. I took a chance on the Warehouse deal for the TA as well, coming in at £1050, it was too big a discount for me to care about that 1 year warranty. The amp is working beautifully, sounding pretty awesome with the Z1R.
 
I'm not sure that either the TA or Z1R have had much time put on them, so I'm looking forward to hearing where they go from here, but impressions after 24 hours of listening to them together are very strong.

 

[Imusicman]

I've just picked one of these up to go with a set of Z1R's I snagged off Amazon Warehouse here in the UK last week for £1135. I took a chance on the Warehouse deal for the TA as well, coming in at £1050, it was too big a discount for me to care about that 1 year warranty. The amp is working beautifully, sounding pretty awesome with the Z1R.

I'm not sure that either the TA or Z1R have had much time put on them, so I'm looking forward to hearing where they go from here, but impressions after 24 hours of listening to them together are very strong.

Top result!

 

[cbf123]

Yeah, pretty pleased

 

[Daroid]

Awesome, keep the impressions coming
Just curious, do you have any other DAC/amp combo to compare to?
 
1 year warranty? I thought it said 30 days pretty clearly everywhere, e.g. return if not satisfied. Of course, no matter what price one buys it at, one should always test all the connections (if at all possible) to determine it works as advertised - so yeah, no big deal.

 

[turbo87]

I believe the TA-ZH1ES is covered by 5 year warranty from Sony. At least in the US that is. Not sure about other countries though. In any case, good deal.

 

[Sarnia]

It's 2 years in the UK iirc

 

[Daroid]

Yeah, pretty envious that we don't get the 5 year warranty on the ES series

 
But the special thing with Amazon Warehouse deals is this shady practice, stated https://www.amazon.co.uk/sp?_encoding=UTF8&asin=B00OB25IQY&isAmazonFulfilled=1&isCBA=&marketplaceID=A1F83G8C2ARO7P&orderID=&seller=A2OAJ7377F756P&tab=&vasStoreID=:
 

Warehouse Deals is a trading name of Amazon EU Sarl, and is part of the Amazon.com Group. We offer open box, customer returned and warehouse damaged merchandise at reduced prices with the benefits of Amazon.co.uk fulfillment and customer service.

Due to the unique nature of each Amazon Warehouse Deals item, we unfortunately will be unable to replace any item.

Please note that used products are not covered by the original manufacturer's warranty.

If a product becomes defective after 30 days you won't be able to return it using our online return centre.  You may wish to visit the manufacturer's website or contact them directly as they may be able to offer troubleshooting and support with the issue you have with the product.  Alternatively, please contact us.

 

[cbf123]

Hey, thanks for the replies. Sorry, my post should have read that I DON'T care about getting a 1 year warranty at the price I've paid, and I'm probably not covered by Sony for the 5 years. Both products are working perfectly though, and I know that those prices will not be beaten with anything further than the 30 day return policy. I'd be buying directly second hand to get those prices, and even then I'd probably pay a bit more.

The practice of not supplying a manufacturers warranty with an open-box product is bizarre, though. I work in electrical retail (for my sins) and open-box products still carry the same warranty when we sell them. Typically a manufacturer will have very little idea of what condition a product is sold in by a retailer, nor would they care for the most part. The likeliness of a fault is hopefully slim, but it seems very un-Amazon like almost, for Amazon to not just offer the warranty anyway. They're doing no favours to people by selling at the Warehouse prices. They need to sell the stock either way...
 
I've had loads of stuff in and out of the house in the past few weeks. I've got a Questyle CMA600i that is on its way out, that was partnered with the Z1R briefly, as well as Oppo PM-3's and some AT ATH-W1000Z's for a while too. I've also used the Chord Mojo and now the TA with the above cans as well as with my Z1R. The TA is a class above all of them, and is definitely a better match than the CMA600i with the Z1R. The Mojo is a great portable option, but it probably won't see much use from me now.
 
Looking forward to some further listening, but I'll probably be sticking with this setup for the forseeable now.

 

[Whitigir]

TA is beyond Ha-1 and is approaching high-end system easily. I am going to test out RCA out soon. Does anyone have any idea what drive the output on it RCA ? Op-amp ? Which model ? Can someone share the service Manual ?

 

[L Zhao]

Hi Folks,
 
Just received TA-ZH1ES. It plays fine when using WM1Z walkman as source. However, when chose the "USB-B" as source and connect to mac, none of the audio apps (Tidal, Audirvana+ etc...) able to transit any source, it freezed the mac and force the app to quit. Anybody else have the issue? Pretty sure it's not the mac's problem, i am able to transit source to Schitt DAC...
 
 
Anybody here able to play music through Mac successfully?
 
Much appreciated,