Show Us Your Sonys!!!

What's the most powerful Sony power amp?

The TA-3200F is nice but "only" 100 wpc. Is there anything bigger and still with that wonderful Sony sound?
 
There are a couple. Next after the TA-3200F, if you neglect the VFETs, are the TA-N77ES and TA-N80ES. IMHO, the TA-N77ES is about the best looking amp ever made (along with the Yamaha MX-2000/10000 and Threshold T-800). Single-ended 200wpc with BIG red analog meters. TA-N80ES was the same, but now in a balanced configuration and sans meters. That is pretty much it, unless you count some esoteric stuff that didn't really get exported or their modern switching ES amp for about $8K. BTW - I have a TA-N80ES that I am picking up in CT in a couple of weeks if you are seriously interested. You can read about these amps and see their pic's, spec's, etc., on Axel's Vintage Knob.
 
YB2 The owners manual came in a white jacket with raised model #s on the top, the fold out is a flow chart , orange paper is voltage selection leaflet, lastly paper on left is the readings the unit gave for S.N. & distortion signed by S.Miyazawa.
 
There is also the very rare TAN-8250 with 150 wpc in stereo or 300 wpc bridged to mono (into 8 Ohms, 20-20K). Looks almost identical to the TAN-8550, but it's not a VFET amp.
 
The TA-N1 (1999) was Sony's most powerful monster, followed by the N77ES (1987) N80ES (1990) and N90ES (1994).
The N9 (1978) and N900 (1980) monoblocks, the N902 (1983) and R1/R10 (1989/1992) were very powerful Class A amplifiers.
 
Hmmm......when I mention Sony amps I am only referring to the ones that were commonly sold in NA. Was the TAN-8250 sold over here? I don't recall that I've ever seen one listed in either eBay or Audiogon. Same with the N9/N900/N902 and R1/R10. Japan or Europe, only.

Here's the TA-3200F, which arrived today in good shape. Just needs a bit of cleaning (house keeping and Deoxit) and touch up on the bias (-0.09/-0.17vdc) and it will be good to go. Think I may hang onto as it is a match for the ST-5000FW I've grown so fond of. And, it has a very nice sound for an older unit that hasn't been recapped. This is a delightfully simple amp that should respond very well to a recap and transitor upgrade. Anyone have a TA-2000F that they wish to part with?

Let's see. Now that I've got the TAE-8450/TAN-8550, TA-E86B/TA-N86B/ST-J75. Just need that TA-2000F and ST-5950 to complete the sets.:yes:

TA-3200FNudie.jpg
 
The TAN-8250s are certainly rare and I don't know for sure if they were sold new here or not. But there was one sold on eBay a few months ago for about $400. That's the only one I remember seeing in the last couple of years.
 
Yamaha B-2 said:
Hmmm......when I mention Sony amps I am only referring to the ones that were commonly sold in NA. Was the TAN-8250 sold over here? I don't recall that I've ever seen one listed in either eBay or Audiogon. Same with the N9/N900/N902 and R1/R10. Japan or Europe, only.

Here's the TA-3200F, which arrived today in good shape. Just needs a bit of cleaning (house keeping and Deoxit) and touch up on the bias (-0.09/-0.17vdc) and it will be good to go. Think I may hang onto as it is a match for the ST-5000FW I've grown so fond of. And, it has a very nice sound for an older unit that hasn't been recapped. This is a delightfully simple amp that should respond very well to a recap and transitor upgrade. Anyone have a TA-2000F that they wish to part with?

Let's see. Now that I've got the TAE-8450/TAN-8550, TA-E86B/TA-N86B/ST-J75. Just need that TA-2000F and ST-5950 to complete the sets.:yes:

TA-3200FNudie.jpg

Yes the 3200F is a well layed out amp that should be simple to maintain and upgrade in time. Mine too just needed a little tweek on the bias and a little cleaning. Not sure why my power lamp burned out after only one month but it's probably just the cheap radio shack replacement bulb I used, next time I have it out I will retro a bright green LED to replace it with.

If I do ever do a restoration on mine I've obtained some nice NOS RCA 2N3442 outputs that should work fine with lots of voltage and current margin. The filter caps might take a little more research in that I would want them the same diameter so that the plastic Sony rubber boot would still fit.

Lefty
 
Yamaha B-2 said:
Hmmm......when I mention Sony amps I am only referring to the ones that were commonly sold in NA. Was the TAN-8250 sold over here? I don't recall that I've ever seen one listed in either eBay or Audiogon. Same with the N9/N900/N902 and R1/R10. Japan or Europe, only.

The N900/901, 8250 and R1 were ; the N9 and R10 are of the near non-existant kind everywhere...

You still need an E+N7 combo, E77ES/ESD+N77ES, E+N80ES, E+N88 and ER1+NR1 combos (the latter calls for a winning ticket at the lottery, though). Not forget the original TA-3120/A/F, the TA-3060/F, TA-3140/A/F and a couple of others I don't remember at the moment. And at least five pairs of hands to fiddle with all this :)
 
And only 0.01% of these combinations will produce any sound ...
Take some contact corrosion into account and you are at 0.002% ... :D

I have the feeling, as if not all the switches and pots in the TAE-8450 have an internal connection, they were only built in to confuse you ... :)

There is only one preamplifier, which is even more busy: The C-1 from Yamaha.
It has switches to deactivate groups of groups of other switches ... a hierarchical approach ... cool :smoke:
 
PS1800A has arrived:thmbsp: Only minor damage from shipping, all easily repairable. Motor works but I want to go over it before connecting it to the system.

Looks good so far, 20 lbs with 2 lb platter, appears to be same motor and speed control circuitry as 3000 plus the magnetodiode semiauto mechanism. This has been bypassed with a "baling wire/binder twine" type fix so magnetodiode may have expired or may have just been lack of expertise by repairman.

Plinth is walnut veneer with only one ding, cover is good shape.

Arm appears well made, gimbal for vertical travel and ball race for horizontal and is adjustable for VTA. No cueing lever though. Came with a Pickering V15/AME-3 in good shape.

First impression is that it should be a pretty good TT once it's brought up to snuff. I'll add pics of the insides once I've had a chance to take them.
 
Here are the critical bits on the 1800A.

Tonearm is straightforward and antiskate is cord and weight. As mentioned, there is no cueing lever. Turns out the cueing is mechanically operated and driven by a spring motor. It is "loaded" by the start switch which also causes the arm to drop. Manual reject is controlled by a switch operated electromagnet that releases the mechanism causing the tonearm to lift and a small arm to engage the otherwise unencumbered tonearm and swing it to the rest. Auto reject is controlled by a small magnet on the tonearm base which swings near the magnetodiode which in turn activates the electromagnet and releases the linkage. Magnetodiode circuit board is bottom right in the photo with tonearm just above it, spring motor for cueing is middle right and top right is the linkage that loads the spring motor including the electromagnet on the right end. Black housing in top centre is strobe. Controls are all along top edge.

Motor is indeed the D-502F used on the 3000 but servo amplifier board is different and also includes circuitry for the magnetodiode. Motor is hung on foam isolators. Transformer is also hung on isolators inside a shielding cover along with the servo amp board. Suspension is by expansion springs on each corner of the deck.

There appears to be some problem in the magnetodiode circuit which is preventing power from reaching the electromagnet and activating the reject mechanism meaning the shutoff mechanism also doesn't work. The previous owner had solved the problem by installing a household light switch on the rear of the plinth. I'm hoping for a slightly more elegant fix that will at least get manual reject to function and with luck, perhaps I can get autoreject working.
 

Attachments

  • 1800-internals-2.jpg
    1800-internals-2.jpg
    48.5 KB · Views: 553
  • 1800a-arm.jpg
    1800a-arm.jpg
    28.7 KB · Views: 372
Did a minor clean and adjustment on the TA-N80ES. A very nice amp. If I wasn't listening to the B-2 this is the one I would listen to (or its predecessor, the TA-N77ES - I'm a sucker for those big, red meters :yes: ). Was very surprised at how stable and close to 'spot-on' the offset (spec is 0.000 and they were 0.003 and 0.004) and bias (spec is 0.015 and they were 0.014 and 0.014) were. Not much to be done. Easy access to the TPs and trim pots. A bit of cleaning and it is ready to go. Both balanced and single-ended input. Sony is like Yamaha with their transformer potting gunk. Looks a bit like rust, but is something they coat the iron with. And a wide copper strap.

Getting ready to put this on Audiogon, if anyone is interested.

Front.jpg

NudieRight.jpg

NudieLeft.jpg

Bottom-PwrDevices.jpg
 
The N80ES is an excellent amplifier.
I still don't understand why we got europeans got two toroidal PTs and the US the one shown here (encased in later versions btw) or why Sony didn't sell them in Japan...


But, Glenn, do I really see a pair of IDLE BX-1s on these images??
 
axel said:
The N80ES is an excellent amplifier.
I still don't understand why we got europeans got two toroidal PTs and the US the one shown here (encased in later versions btw) or why Sony didn't sell them in Japan...

But, Glenn, do I really see a pair of IDLE BX-1s on these images??
Idle, indeed. Just can't keep up with the refurb'd B-2. Anxiously awaiting my TA-8550 to compare. 100wpc Sony VFET vs. 100wpc Yamaha VFET. Should be a real 'sound-fest'. :thmbsp:

Was pleased to see that all TA-N80ES amps seem to 'pucker' their 'Sony' sticker on top of the center filter cap cover.
 
axel said:
The N80ES is an excellent amplifier.
I still don't understand why we got europeans got two toroidal PTs and the US the one shown here (encased in later versions btw) or why Sony didn't sell them in Japan...


But, Glenn, do I really see a pair of IDLE BX-1s on these images??




maybee the ei transformer fits better to the 110 voltage than the twin torodial transformers . just a thought
 
Anyone Have A Sony V7 They Wil Part With?

I originally owned the V7 in the service in 1979 and I had it paired with a Sony timer, Technics SL-QX200 TT, Sony TC K60 cassette deck and the massive Pioneer CSS 922A speakers. Granted these may not be up to greatness status here, but I loved them. WELL...I have acquired all (have 2 of the nearly one a kind LCD metered TC K60's decks) BUT the power center for all this equipment. I have had little luck finding the V7 when I was able to scoop on it.

Any leads to this beast would be greatly appreciated!! :D
 
cherokeedude said:
I originally owned the V7 in the service in 1979. I have had little luck finding the V7 when I was able to scoop on it. Any leads to this beast would be greatly appreciated!! :D
Keep watching eBay. They show up periodically. The STR-V7/6/5 are all the same except for the power rating (150/115/85wpc). Same tuner, chassis, etc.

Looking forward to some pic's and a review of the one that Negotiableterms just had recapped. Think he is going to be driving a set of Infinity Kappa speakers with it.
 
Thank you B2

I am watching Ebay....I have had to pass on all the V7's unfortunately. I did scoop the V5 once and parted with it a couple months later for the Audio Dynamics C200 and B200 preamp and amps. The whole point is I want the V7 for more nostalagic reasons. That and I have a friend with a pair of built 105# Titans - as we call them. They are 15" woofers, twin mid ranges and tweeter horn all rolling on caster wheels. I am attaching the pic of one....
 

Attachments

  • TITANS1.JPG
    TITANS1.JPG
    47.6 KB · Views: 48
Back
Top Bottom