Is this amp all show and no go? Looks like it would start the dead.
http://cgi.ebay.com/Nakamichi-PA-7-Nelson-Pass-Design-200-WPC-Stasis-AMP_W0QQitemZ260213214961QQihZ016QQcategoryZ39783Q QssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Nelson Pass designed Stasis topology. Very good amp. Not as enthused about the price , however.

These don't come up for sale very often,for a good reason. they are great amps, I don't think the $$ is that far out of line however, I do think I'd ask a lot of Q's

If your selling something this nice, FOR GOD'S SAKE take a dust cloth to it,are folks really this STUPID:yes::D!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I still want it as well:thmbsp:

I saw six of these go on Ebay in Oct. and Nov. Median price was about $750 with a high of $915. So the "buy it now" price on this one may be a bit high, but if the reserve is around $750 it could still be a good buy.

BTW, the PA-7 mk. II tends to go for $200-300 more than the first generation PA-7.

OH... and DITTO on the dust. I don't understand some people.

Nice amps those, are you aware the Nakamichi Corp that built these is out of business? The current Nakamichi Corporate is a totally different entity. Are you absolutely sure your possible investment has no unsourceable parts?

Want something with more punch, and less lean sounding that's under the radar and good value? Try Classe' CA200 or CA201. Factory service is still available and these to me sound far better than the PA7II. Just a tip!

Best,

Paul :thmbsp:

Check here http://www.nakamichi.com/home.html Still can't guarantee parts availability for a 20+ year old amp , but Nak seems to still be around.

Check here http://www.nakamichi.com/home.html Still can't guarantee parts availability for a 20+ year old amp , but Nak seems to still be around.

Oh yes, the "new" Nakamichi. They can't help you at all with your Nak cassette deck nor any of the older Nakamichi pieces.

For more information about the demise of the original Nakamichi Corp see Wikipedia or the condensed version here:

http://www.avrev.com/news/0202/26.nakbank.shtml


Best,

Paul :thmbsp:

...there's another one on e-pray now, a PA7 AII....

I won't post the actual auction out of courtesy as detailed below. You'll have to go look for it yourself.

Seller popped into the SS forum with 7 posts, and posted his own e-pray listing there before getting the kibosh from the moderators. However, if folks are seriously thinking about one of these, this would be another choice.

I have a PA 5AII which I need to get hooked into a system, since currently it's sitting in the garage. At only 150 WPC, it's not the Big Boy, but it should do the job on most speakers....:scratch2:

Definitely no affiliation on this one....:no: Hopefully I won't get in trouble for mentioning this...:tears:

Oh yes, the "new" Nakamichi. They can't help you at all with your Nak cassette deck nor any of the older Nakamichi pieces.

For more information about the demise of the original Nakamichi Corp see Wikipedia or the condensed version here:

http://www.avrev.com/news/0202/26.nakbank.shtml


Best,

Paul :thmbsp:


Aaaahhhh.I haven't followed Nak for many years. Only looked them up a few years ago , out of curiosity , when I got nostalgic about my ZX9. Doesn't surprise me , though. Mobile Fidelity , among others , have gone through several incarnations. Good info-thanks for the link!

Sometimes buyers take comfort in that dust, it tells us that his decision to sell is at least NOT the result of having peeked inside it to see where all that smoke came from last nite.

FWIW, aside from the pics there are two things in the seller's description that tell me all i need to know "no surprises" combined with "local pickup available and encouraged".

There's a good chance this one is everything it's purported to be.:thmbsp:

Just my .02 y'all understand................

Very good points. Personally I'm sick of Ebay so I have learned patience. Local pickup for me even if it's not so local is far better than the disappointment of a poorly packed high dollar item from an Ebay seller who cannot pack properly. :nono:

Best,

Paul :thmbsp:

These are pretty "current capable" amps, i'll bet it would surprise you on your Infinities.:yes:

Tom,
Been toying with that idea for some time. My biggest concern is the wattage mismatch. I have a choice of the following amps for the RSIIb's, which I am bi-amping.

Phase Linear 400
Hafler DH-500
Bose 1801
Nak Stasis amp
Yamaha M80 - currently being held hostage until my B-70 is fixed....

Which amp would you use on the high end, and which amp would you use on the bottom end? Both the Bose and the Yammie have gain controls of their own...

Oh and it looks like I finally have the Eq for these units coming, which will go in line between the preamp, and the amp driving the low end....

Sorry for the hijack BTW....:nono:

My belief is the Nak will smoke what you have listed. I'm not a big Hafler fan , nor Carver. The Bose I won't comment on , and if I mention the Yammie I'll have to get a flame-retardant keyboard.......That Nak is a beast for driving speakers. Worst case scenario ? You can sell the Nak for very close to your investment-if not more.

My belief is the Nak will smoke what you have listed. I'm not a big Hafler fan , nor Carver. The Bose I won't comment on , and if I mention the Yammie I'll have to get a flame-retardant keyboard.......That Nak is a beast for driving speakers. Worst case scenario ? You can sell the Nak for very close to your investment-if not more.

The Nak on the upper end. I'll bet the class A would sound good there. What about the low end?

Any takers?

What about the low end?


The Yamaha. just my $.02. The Phase wouldn't be bad. (hell , except for the bose , none of them would be bad.) By the time that Nak comes out of Class A , with speakers of at least 89db , you will be rockin' the house! Bearing in mind , most selections will be made based on personal preference and experience. I couldn't say anybody else' recommendations would be "wrong". Unless they chose Bose. (Bose Guys! Open fire!) :)

Those Nakamichi amps are the real deal! :thmbsp: I remember listening to both the PA5 and the PA7 at my local McIntosh/Nakamichi/ADS dealer when they were new. Very, very impressive! They more than gave McIntosh a run for their money, but were a completely different sound. The Nelson Pass designed Stasis Class A circuitry really delivered the goods. Detailed, faster on transients, and lotsa, lotsa current! The Nak preamps were real nice too, but as I recall there were only two models. One was a bare-bones minimial design and the other model had a few more features. The entire product line were relatively minimialist designs compared to the full-featured Mc products. I personally would be VERY happy to find a Nak amp and preamp in good condition. I would love to listen to my Snell C's or Dahlquist DQ-10's being driven by Pass Stasis power. Hmmmm! :scratch2:

Those Nakamichi amps are the real deal! :thmbsp: I remember listening to both the PA5 and the PA7 at my local McIntosh/Nakamichi/ADS dealer when they were new. Very, very impressive! They more than gave McIntosh a run for their money, but were a completely different sound. The Nelson Pass designed Stasis Class A circuitry really delivered the goods. Detailed, faster on transients, and lotsa, lotsa current! The Nak preamps were real nice too, but as I recall there were only two models. One was a bare-bones minimial design and the other model had a few more features. The entire product line were relatively minimialist designs compared to the full-featured Mc products. I personally would be VERY happy to find a Nak amp and preamp in good condition. I would love to listen to my Snell C's or Dahlquist DQ-10's being driven by Pass Stasis power. Hmmmm! :scratch2:


Yup. For an idea of where Mr. Pass' career has gone since then , check the prices on some Pass Labs amps. Seriously-the Naks are the absolute lowest price you will ever pay for a Nelson Pass-designed amp. The Stasis philosophy is still being used-on $18K (each) monoblocks.

Yup. For an idea of where Mr. Pass' career has gone since then , check the prices on some Pass Labs amps. Seriously-the Naks are the absolute lowest price you will ever pay for a Nelson Pass-designed amp. The Stasis philosophy is still being used-on $18K (each) monoblocks.

I disagree. I think the lowest price you will pay for a Nelson Pass design would be the Adcom GFA-555.

I disagree. I think the lowest price you will pay for a Nelson Pass design would be the Adcom GFA-555.
Or every once in awhile, a Forte Model 3 (if you're lucky) :yes:.

I was able to pick up a Nak PA5 amp CA5 Pre amp and some ADS L1290 speakers from the original owner about 6 months ago. It is a very nice combination. The Naks are very nice and perform without a hitch. My combo is not the top of the power heap, but still play plenty loud and clear.

One thing that is noticeable, is the the sound of the music doesn't change with the volume position. The amp puts out 100 watts per channel and the pre amp is minimalist. No tone controls what so ever. This mid 80's Nak stuff is nice.
My two cents. Oh by the way, I paid less than 800 all in perfect condition.

These guys are a well-respected Nakamichi service facility:

http://www.eslabs.com/

I have used them for many years and they are upstanding folks who run an honest business.

These guys are a well-respected Nakamichi service facility:

http://www.eslabs.com/

I have used them for many years and they are upstanding folks who run an honest business.

I can second this recommendation. I relamped my pair of Nak 630 tuner/preamps with new bulbs purchased from these folks. They also went above and beyond and included instructions for the easiest way to get the curcuit board out that holds the 7 lamps.

Best,

Paul :thmbsp:

I want one.

I've been drooling over those amps for quite a while. They rarely come up for sale, and as someone said before, this has it's reasons. They're fine amps, and that's a reasonable price...

Keep them spinning,
Bert.

I was able to pick up a Nak PA5 amp CA5 Pre amp and some ADS L1290 speakers from the original owner about 6 months ago. It is a very nice combination. The Naks are very nice and perform without a hitch. My combo is not the top of the power heap, but still play plenty loud and clear.

One thing that is noticeable, is the the sound of the music doesn't change with the volume position. The amp puts out 100 watts per channel and the pre amp is minimalist. No tone controls what so ever. This mid 80's Nak stuff is nice.
My two cents. Oh by the way, I paid less than 800 all in perfect condition.

Now THAT is a sweet deal! :thmbsp: Good for you!

Comparing those Nakamichi amps to Adcom and Forte amps is like comparing the Energizer Bunny to Chernobyl. No comparison!

Back in the day, owning a stack of all Nakamichi gear -- culminating with the PA-7 -- was my personal holy grail. I loved the look and feel of all their gear and especially thought their CD players were lustworthy. Never got to audition most of these pieces, but the stellar reviews and my complete faith in Nakamichi had me sold.

I own a Threshold S/300 Stasis, which shares more than a passing resemblance to the PA 7. I've heard them side by side in my own system, and I felt the Threshold was better - just. Which mean the Nak is pretty good, and it's easy to service. So if you can afford it, go for it.

Now THAT is a sweet deal! :thmbsp: Good for you!

Comparing those Nakamichi amps to Adcom and Forte amps is like comparing the Energizer Bunny to Chernobyl. No comparison!


That's pretty much my take on it. I was not , however , aware that Mr. Pass was involved in the design of the Adcom.

I've been watching those two Nak auctions too. They are known to handle 1 or 2 ohm loads. I have 2 pairs of speakers that are 4 ohm so it'd be a good fit ... if it was within my budget. Maybe someday.

Comparing those Nakamichi amps to Adcom and Forte amps is like comparing the Energizer Bunny to Chernobyl. No comparison!
Mr. Pass owned Forte (and Threshold) up until 1991 or 1992 when he left to start Pass Labs. The Forte amps don't give up much to Threshold gear.

Back in the day at ADS we got enough complaints from PA7 owners to compel the service manager to buy one to try and replicate the problem. On the larger ADS towers, usually L1590 but sometimes L1290, the PA7 would shut off during high level playback. This was traced to back EMF (inductive kickback) from the woofers. Other amps on hand such as a Hafler DH200, Apt Model 1, a/d/s PA4, Bryston 3B, etc. did not do this. It was apparently not an issue on smaller speakers.

Just an FYI.

Back in the day at ADS we got enough complaints from PA7 owners to compel the service manager to buy one to try and replicate the problem. On the larger ADS towers, usually L1590 but sometimes L1290, the PA7 would shut off during high level playback. This was traced to back EMF (inductive kickback) from the woofers. Other amps on hand such as a Hafler DH200, Apt Model 1, a/d/s PA4, Bryston 3B, etc. did not do this. It was apparently not an issue on smaller speakers.

Just an FYI.

So was this a problem with the Pass technology or a Nak thing?

Now THAT is a sweet deal! :thmbsp: Good for you!

Comparing those Nakamichi amps to Adcom and Forte amps is like comparing the Energizer Bunny to Chernobyl. No comparison!

No one was comparing the Nakamichis to the Adcom or Fortes, we simply repsonding to the statement that the Naks were the least expensive Nelson Pass designs you could find, which is not true.

I have never listened critically to the Naks (just in passing years ago), nor have I ever listened to a Forte amp, so I certainly cannot make any comparisons.

My understanding is that the only Adcom amp that Nelson Pass designed was the GFA-555. He was not involved in the other amps, or even the changes for the GFA-555II. However, the GFA-555 did provide the "template" for the design of many of the amps in the Adcom line. It is also rumored that Pass design the GFA-5802, but once again my understanding is that this is also untrue. Pass did however design the matching pre-amp, the GFP-750, which was (still is???) a Stereophile Class A rated product.

Rob

My understanding is that the only Adcom amp that Nelson Pass designed was the GFA-555. He was not involved in the other amps,

He designed their first car amplifiers also.

Re: the Nak; we didn't dissect what the flaw was, only that they did not work on our speakers.

I bought one of these a couple months back and I am very very happy with it. I am uing a Sony TA-E86B as a pre amp and they work fantastic together. I also bought a Kenwood KD-770D TT to round out the vintageness of the system but I am having a hard time finding the original angled headshell.

I've got a PA-7A Series II and have had it for over 15 years. It's hard to beat for the money. 225 wpc with 90 amp peak current. It's built like a tank with all top rate components. The only thing I remember that is different from the series I is the wiring is run under the chassis on the series II so when you take off the top cover, it looks super clean.