Sondex S230 ??

dogwan

Dogwan
Picked up the cutest little amp a couple days ago.

Hard to find much info on this little British bit of kit from the 80's. Supposedly 30w per channel. Seems more like 1/2 that.

Have yet to try the phono section. Impressed that it is totally dead silent. Played some tunes with an iPod into Epicure model 5's and while it sounds very clean it is a bit shy on the bass.

Anyone know much about this?

Here's pics of it sitting on H430 for scale. IMG_20161202_194125.jpg IMG_20161202_194134.jpg IMG_20161202_194145.jpg IMG_20161202_194202.jpg
 
I remember reviews of it. If I have the magazines with the reviews, I'll get back to you.
 
Thanks @Nat that would be cool.

It's a pretty interesting piece. After running it for a bit the bass got a little better, or my ears got used to it. I can see this making a great little desktop system. Have yet to try the phono stage.
 
Found it in HiFi annual from 1985. Apparently designed by the same guy who designed the Radford tube amps. They noted that, unusually, the output stage is capacitor coupled, which, I believe, would make it relatively impervious to interactions with the speakers. They liked it on all sources, but thought it a bit bright with MC, better with MM, and even better yet with Aux. Modest power but well controlled. Could be overloaded by cartridges with high output. Musical sounding, with good clarity and depth.
If I get some time, I'll post a scan.
 
I've just found and joined this forum following a search for "Sondex".

Now the Sondex S230 is an amp I know very well, becuase I'm the one who did the production testing and final assembly on them, at a small factory near Portishead, Bristol.

It is quite rare, because we only made about 800 of them.

The S230 was designed by John Widgery, who also designed many Radford Audio products. Like the STA25 Renaissance, which I also made and tested. :)

Picked up the cutest little amp a couple days ago.

Hard to find much info on this little British bit of kit from the 80's. Supposedly 30w per channel. Seems more like 1/2 that.

What output transistors have you got in yours? If it's BD810 and BD910, then those had somewhat lower power driving speakers lower than 8 ohms. Later version was uprated, for better driving of lower impedance speakers, using BDV transistors and a re-designed PA.


Have yet to try the phono section. Impressed that it is totally dead silent. Played some tunes with an iPod into Epicure model 5's and while it sounds very clean it is a bit shy on the bass.

Anyone know much about this?

Here's pics of it sitting on H430 for scale. View attachment 828832 View attachment 828833 View attachment 828834 View attachment 828835

Yeh, that's it. Was also available in black as well. They were powder-coat painted by a workshop nextdoor to our small factory.


BTW if you do have an early series S230, with BD810 and BD910 outputs. Be careful about maximum volume with low impedance speakers. Those can be a bit prone to thermal runaway. resulting in a lot of smoke and a bad smell. But fortunately they are are AC capacitor coupled output, so it wont put loads of DC across your speakers, in fault conditions.
 
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Being Brit, does it run on USA 120vac?

Yes it does, the transformer has two 120VAC primary windings, which need to be wired in parallel for 120VAC, and in series for 240VAC operation. Also the fuse should be 1A anti-surge for 240VAC, and 2A anti-surge for 120VAC use.
 
Welcome to AK @xilinhotmike

Unfortunately I sold off the Sondex quite a bit ago. As much fun as it was, I found someone who wanted it more than me.

Always cool when someone shows up who was there when some of this vintage stuff was actually being produced!
 
Another newbie here. I too have an old Sondex S230 (Number 764)
Amplifier.jpg
Amp_Internals.jpg
Unfortunately the big capacitor has turned up it's toes.
Capacitor_Gunk.jpg
@xilinhotmike - Do you (or anyone else) have any ideas on a suitable replacement, as LCR no longer make them.
The detail on the Capacitor says: L.C.R. Red 6800 uF 63VDC, Plain Neg, CW 682 CJ 063, U.K. 84-39
Capacitor1.jpg
As a bit of history, it was bought by my father in the 80's and has been in use ever since. It has worked amazingly all this time, but recently there is some crackling over the audio, probably due to this dodgy power capacitor, which has blown junk out of it's top.
 
Another newbie here. I too have an old Sondex S230 (Number 764)
View attachment 1846851
View attachment 1846850
Unfortunately the big capacitor has turned up it's toes.
View attachment 1846852
@xilinhotmike - Do you (or anyone else) have any ideas on a suitable replacement, as LCR no longer make them.
The detail on the Capacitor says: L.C.R. Red 6800 uF 63VDC, Plain Neg, CW 682 CJ 063, U.K. 84-39
View attachment 1846853
As a bit of history, it was bought by my father in the 80's and has been in use ever since. It has worked amazingly all this time, but recently there is some crackling over the audio, probably due to this dodgy power capacitor, which has blown junk out of it's top.


Yikes, that cap is buggered.

It's likely that there is nothing super special about that cap. That value is readily available and modern versions will likely be smaller. Lots of options available. I would just go ahead and replace. The most critical thing is to make sure you know the polarity and put the replacement in correctly. 2nd most critical thing is making sure you match or exceed the voltage rating. I would go either 80v or 100v if it fits. After that I would just be sure to get something of acceptable quality. Panasonic, Kemet, and Nichicon are the brands that I prefer (in that order) for replacement power supply caps.

If you're located in the state either Digikey or Mouser have decent locater tools on their websites. Just be wary of cheap counterfeits if you go on eBay or Amazon.
 
I replaced the faulty capacitor and everything works nicely again.
I chose an 80 V 6800uF from Nichicon (NKG-120) - it is a bit shorter, with a slightly bigger diameter, but looks sensible in there.

Thanks for the suggestions.
 
I replaced the faulty capacitor and everything works nicely again.
I chose an 80 V 6800uF from Nichicon (NKG-120) - it is a bit shorter, with a slightly bigger diameter, but looks sensible in there.

Thanks for the suggestions.

That's great! Always good to see a piece of vintage audio saved from the landfill.
 
Interesting thread.
The Sondex name is one I'm familiar with. Back in the early 80s lots of hi-fi shows featured Sondex valve amplifiers. they would be coupled to high end turntables such as Logic, Pink Triangle and Dais. As I recall the resulting sound was warm and very pleasant to listen to.
I have an Amadeus Gold integrated amp from the late 80s which has the MM1 phono stage adapter board installed. It's a lovely sounding amp with a reported 50W per channel but hasn't seen the light of day for quite a while. I'm waiting on a refurb of the living room before building the system again. The tonearm, cartridge and speakers are all ready to go, just need a decent turntable that will complete the package. Money is quite tight so I'm thinking of going for a vintage deck as opposed to one of the modern ones. Wish me luck.
 
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