The Pioneer A-400 Heritage
Extract From Marketing Magazine September 26 1991
High noon for British hi-fi
"The UK hi-fi industry used to look down upon Japanese product. All that changed with Pioneer's launch of the A400 amp, says Mat Toor"
"The hi-fi dealers were getting into the groove at a disco in Bristol's Holiday Inn one Saturday night last February. The Bristol Hi-Fi show was over and dealers and manufacturers were drinking and dancing away their image as anoraked and obsessive introverts. But as the lights flashed and the booze flowed a hidden current of resentment coursed through most of the partygoers. There was a stranger here, someone who didn't fit in. Then the DJ interrupted the music with a dedication "and this song's for Tony and all the guys at Pioneer UK". Silence struck. Long seconds later the calm gave way to a chorus of boos.
Pioneer, it seemed, had done something to offend.
It was the worst possible offence. Pioneer had produced a product that took on the Brits and beat them at their own game. It stripped the UK industry of the carefully nurtured Truth that it alone could produce products to satisfy the uncompromising ear of the UK consumer. And it raised fears that the British hi-fi industry would be swamped by better-built and cheaper Japanese products which at last could match the Brits on sound quality.
That product was the A 400 amplifier. And some fear that this big, black monolithic machine would make an eloquent tombstone when the UK industry is finally buried.
Back in the early 80’s things were different. Japanese products drew superior smiles from the bods behind the small, but perfectly formed, hi-fi companies with names like Mission, Mordaunt Short and Quad. "Look at those silly buttons, knobs, and flashing lights, bass and tone controls - they all compromise the sound quality you know."
The Japanese knew, of course, but for them the UK was small fry. Bigger markets like Germany - where consumers like to play with their knobs - got the products they wanted and the UK had to make do with the same. So UK distributors were often left with product which simply couldn’t compete with the sleek and sonically impressive UK offering.
"If the Germans wanted flashing lights we would be lumbered with them, knowing damn well that the UK market doesn’t like them," recalls Pioneer’s public relations manager John Bamford.
Staff at Pioneer UK demanded something better. Doug Randall, a Pioneer marketing manager, lobbied hard with management at home and in Tokyo for a product geared specifically for the UK. He was convinced that a marriage of UK sound quality, Japanese build quality and economies of scale, would give Pioneer the best of all possible worlds.
Pioneer resisted for seven long years. "After banging his head against a closed door for most of the 80's Doug finally got what he wanted," says Bamford. "For the first time a British firm persuaded Tokyo to set up a production line for us alone."
Randall worked with a Japanese design team to produce an amplifier stripped of all but the simplest controls. Its raison d’etre was simple: to reproduce music as purely as possible. No frills. No flashing lights. No bass expand buttons for Dixons salesmen to play with. The result was the A 400 amplifier which arrived in the UK in the spring of 1990.
In the specialist hi-fi world, just like on Broadway, nothing can hope to succeed without the critics’ blessing. Specialist hi-fi magazines were the gospels which spread the Buy British word.
But they greeted the Japanese A 400 with a chorus of praise that would have made Laurence Olivier blush. It was awarded the coveted Product of the Year award by What Hi-Fi magazine - an accolade that had never before gone to a Japanese company.
....Since its launch 18 months ago Pioneer has sold 25,000 A 400s (at £240 each). That means that in value terms this one product secured an extraordinary 12.77% share of the total amplifier market. ....."
And Doug had to buy the prototype...
Hi-Fi That Rocked The World
'For most of the 1980s, it was generally accepted by audiophiles that all amplifiers from all major Japanese manufacturers sounded dreadful. That may not have been literally true, but it was a common preconception and there were some grounds for it. Pioneer had certainly made some turkeys on the amp front, but came up smelling strongly of roses with the astoundingly successful A400, its closely-related but less powerful A300 brother and their follow-ups. A modestly specified amplifier (about 50 watts, no tone controls, no gadgets), it sounded beautifully lively, detailed, sweet and open, and left quite a few small specialist manufacturers of competing products badly bewildered. There was no particularly hi-tech secret to it, just good design based on 'golden-eared' listener feedback in both Japan and the UK. Internal components were generally 'bog-standard' and many a tweaker had a field day replacing parts, but even in stock form, it blew most of the competition away. It took quite a while for the other big names to catch up, but nowadays of course there are plenty of fine-sounding European and Far Eastern amps.'
In May 2006, Hi-Fi Choice's reviewers sat round an email client program and between them came up with the 50 most important hi-fi components ever sold in the UK. The results were published in an award-winning supplement Hi-Fi that Rocked the World. If you missed it, here's the top ten:
1. Linn Sondek LP12 turntable
2. NAD 3020 integrated amplifier
3. Quad Electrostatic loudspeaker
4. Rega Planar 3 turntable
5. Pioneer A400 integrated amplifier
6. B&W Nautilus 801 loudspeaker
7. BBC LS3/5a loudspeaker
8. Marantz CD-63 MkII KI Signature CD player
9. Garrard 301 turntable
10. Wharfedale Diamond loudspeaker
Pioneer A400 is a no frills 'audiophile' amplifier that set the 'cat among the pigeons' when it was introduced in 1990. Hi-Fi magazines greeted it with a chorus of praise. Comparisons with amplifiers costing up to 1,000 GBP were made, confirming that the A400 is a 'giant killer'.
25,000 units were sold in the first 18 months, securing an extraordinary 12.8% of the total amplifier market. Soon, the Pioneer A400 attained something of a cult status. A400X model was introduced later but the demand was still for the original A400 and the production continued till 1996.
It won the coveted Product of the Year by the What Hi-Fi? magazine - an accolade that had never before gone to a Japanese company.
What the press said:
"There is something ineffably right about the Pioneer A400."
Andrew Gold, What Hi Fi?
"It loves music, the A400." "It loves it with a vengeance."
Mark Payton, High Fidelity Magazine
"Even if your budget extends to £1000, it could be exactly what you are after"
Jimmy Hughes, Audiophile
"As good as amps costing up to a thousand pounds." Hi Fi Choice
"Best Amplifier", "Best Buy Overall", "Product of the Year" What Hi-fi?
"Best Amplifier" Hi Fi Choice
Englishman Tom Evans introduced a modded commercial version called Pioneer A400 GTE. Some of his modifications employed changing of smoothing caps (Elna 10000uF 50V) and coupling caps (2.2MFD/50V at C201/C202), boosting bias up to 200mA, lowering negative feedback by 6db and adding a DC servo module underneath the PCB. This made the Toshiba 2SC3281/2SA1302 power transistors run at 25MHz. If the A400 got Evans complete modding he would change the manufacturers red LED power indicator with a blue one.
Tom Evans and Pioneer produced a 30WPC followup called Pioneer A-300R Precision which Evans preferred over the A-400 GTE.
Pioneer A-400 technical specification:
EE design by Tadao Yoshida
Technology employed from the Pioneer C-Z1
Super Linear Circuit (SLC)
Clean Ground System (CGS)
DIN Continuous power output (both channels driven at 1 kHz)
85W + 85W into 4 Ohms. 1% THD
60W + 60W into 8 Ohms. 1% THD
Continuous power output (both channels driven at 20 Hz to 20kHz)
70W + 70W 4 Ohms, 0.05% THD
50W + 50W 8 Ohms, 0.03% THD
Dynamic power output (on EIA dynamic test signal)
135W/100W/70W into 2 Ohms /4 Ohms /8 Ohms
Damping Factor: 130 (20Hz - 20kHz)
Total Harmonic Distortion
0.03% at 20Hz-20kHz , 50 W, 8 Ohms
0.05% at 20Hz-20kHz , 70 W, 4 Ohms
Frequency Response
5Hz-100 kHz + 0/- 3 dB (CD, Tuner, Aux, Tape)
20Hz-20 kHz +/- 0.3 dB (Phono MM)
20Hz-20 kHz +/- 0.5 dB (Phono MC)
Signal-to-Noise ratio (IHF short circuit, A network)
108 dB (CD, Tuner, Aux, Tape)
87 dB / 69 dB (Phono MM, 2.5 mV input, Phono MC, 0.2 mV input)
Signal-to-Noise ratio (DIN, continuous power/50 mW)
88 dB / 65 dB (CD, Tuner, Aux, Tape)
74 dB / 63 dB (Phono MM)
Input sensitivity/impedance
CD, Tuner, Aux, Tape: 150mV/ 50 kOhms
Phono (MM): 2.5mV/ 50 kOhms
Phono (MC): 0.2mV/ 100 kOhms
Power supply: 240V AC, 50/60 Hz
Power consumption: 520 Watts
Dimensions:420(W)x352(D)x126(H)mm
Weight: 8 kg / 9.9 oz (17.621 lb)
Production date: 1990 - 1996
Price in 1990: 240.00 GBP
Followed by: Pioneer A-400X, Pioneer A-300R and Pioneer A-UK3
Extract From Marketing Magazine September 26 1991
High noon for British hi-fi
"The UK hi-fi industry used to look down upon Japanese product. All that changed with Pioneer's launch of the A400 amp, says Mat Toor"
"The hi-fi dealers were getting into the groove at a disco in Bristol's Holiday Inn one Saturday night last February. The Bristol Hi-Fi show was over and dealers and manufacturers were drinking and dancing away their image as anoraked and obsessive introverts. But as the lights flashed and the booze flowed a hidden current of resentment coursed through most of the partygoers. There was a stranger here, someone who didn't fit in. Then the DJ interrupted the music with a dedication "and this song's for Tony and all the guys at Pioneer UK". Silence struck. Long seconds later the calm gave way to a chorus of boos.
Pioneer, it seemed, had done something to offend.
It was the worst possible offence. Pioneer had produced a product that took on the Brits and beat them at their own game. It stripped the UK industry of the carefully nurtured Truth that it alone could produce products to satisfy the uncompromising ear of the UK consumer. And it raised fears that the British hi-fi industry would be swamped by better-built and cheaper Japanese products which at last could match the Brits on sound quality.
That product was the A 400 amplifier. And some fear that this big, black monolithic machine would make an eloquent tombstone when the UK industry is finally buried.
Back in the early 80’s things were different. Japanese products drew superior smiles from the bods behind the small, but perfectly formed, hi-fi companies with names like Mission, Mordaunt Short and Quad. "Look at those silly buttons, knobs, and flashing lights, bass and tone controls - they all compromise the sound quality you know."
The Japanese knew, of course, but for them the UK was small fry. Bigger markets like Germany - where consumers like to play with their knobs - got the products they wanted and the UK had to make do with the same. So UK distributors were often left with product which simply couldn’t compete with the sleek and sonically impressive UK offering.
"If the Germans wanted flashing lights we would be lumbered with them, knowing damn well that the UK market doesn’t like them," recalls Pioneer’s public relations manager John Bamford.
Staff at Pioneer UK demanded something better. Doug Randall, a Pioneer marketing manager, lobbied hard with management at home and in Tokyo for a product geared specifically for the UK. He was convinced that a marriage of UK sound quality, Japanese build quality and economies of scale, would give Pioneer the best of all possible worlds.
Pioneer resisted for seven long years. "After banging his head against a closed door for most of the 80's Doug finally got what he wanted," says Bamford. "For the first time a British firm persuaded Tokyo to set up a production line for us alone."
Randall worked with a Japanese design team to produce an amplifier stripped of all but the simplest controls. Its raison d’etre was simple: to reproduce music as purely as possible. No frills. No flashing lights. No bass expand buttons for Dixons salesmen to play with. The result was the A 400 amplifier which arrived in the UK in the spring of 1990.
In the specialist hi-fi world, just like on Broadway, nothing can hope to succeed without the critics’ blessing. Specialist hi-fi magazines were the gospels which spread the Buy British word.
But they greeted the Japanese A 400 with a chorus of praise that would have made Laurence Olivier blush. It was awarded the coveted Product of the Year award by What Hi-Fi magazine - an accolade that had never before gone to a Japanese company.
....Since its launch 18 months ago Pioneer has sold 25,000 A 400s (at £240 each). That means that in value terms this one product secured an extraordinary 12.77% share of the total amplifier market. ....."
And Doug had to buy the prototype...
* * *
Hi-Fi That Rocked The World
'For most of the 1980s, it was generally accepted by audiophiles that all amplifiers from all major Japanese manufacturers sounded dreadful. That may not have been literally true, but it was a common preconception and there were some grounds for it. Pioneer had certainly made some turkeys on the amp front, but came up smelling strongly of roses with the astoundingly successful A400, its closely-related but less powerful A300 brother and their follow-ups. A modestly specified amplifier (about 50 watts, no tone controls, no gadgets), it sounded beautifully lively, detailed, sweet and open, and left quite a few small specialist manufacturers of competing products badly bewildered. There was no particularly hi-tech secret to it, just good design based on 'golden-eared' listener feedback in both Japan and the UK. Internal components were generally 'bog-standard' and many a tweaker had a field day replacing parts, but even in stock form, it blew most of the competition away. It took quite a while for the other big names to catch up, but nowadays of course there are plenty of fine-sounding European and Far Eastern amps.'
In May 2006, Hi-Fi Choice's reviewers sat round an email client program and between them came up with the 50 most important hi-fi components ever sold in the UK. The results were published in an award-winning supplement Hi-Fi that Rocked the World. If you missed it, here's the top ten:
1. Linn Sondek LP12 turntable
2. NAD 3020 integrated amplifier
3. Quad Electrostatic loudspeaker
4. Rega Planar 3 turntable
5. Pioneer A400 integrated amplifier
6. B&W Nautilus 801 loudspeaker
7. BBC LS3/5a loudspeaker
8. Marantz CD-63 MkII KI Signature CD player
9. Garrard 301 turntable
10. Wharfedale Diamond loudspeaker
* * *
Pioneer A400 is a no frills 'audiophile' amplifier that set the 'cat among the pigeons' when it was introduced in 1990. Hi-Fi magazines greeted it with a chorus of praise. Comparisons with amplifiers costing up to 1,000 GBP were made, confirming that the A400 is a 'giant killer'.
25,000 units were sold in the first 18 months, securing an extraordinary 12.8% of the total amplifier market. Soon, the Pioneer A400 attained something of a cult status. A400X model was introduced later but the demand was still for the original A400 and the production continued till 1996.
It won the coveted Product of the Year by the What Hi-Fi? magazine - an accolade that had never before gone to a Japanese company.
What the press said:
"There is something ineffably right about the Pioneer A400."
Andrew Gold, What Hi Fi?
"It loves music, the A400." "It loves it with a vengeance."
Mark Payton, High Fidelity Magazine
"Even if your budget extends to £1000, it could be exactly what you are after"
Jimmy Hughes, Audiophile
"As good as amps costing up to a thousand pounds." Hi Fi Choice
"Best Amplifier", "Best Buy Overall", "Product of the Year" What Hi-fi?
"Best Amplifier" Hi Fi Choice
* * *
Englishman Tom Evans introduced a modded commercial version called Pioneer A400 GTE. Some of his modifications employed changing of smoothing caps (Elna 10000uF 50V) and coupling caps (2.2MFD/50V at C201/C202), boosting bias up to 200mA, lowering negative feedback by 6db and adding a DC servo module underneath the PCB. This made the Toshiba 2SC3281/2SA1302 power transistors run at 25MHz. If the A400 got Evans complete modding he would change the manufacturers red LED power indicator with a blue one.
Tom Evans and Pioneer produced a 30WPC followup called Pioneer A-300R Precision which Evans preferred over the A-400 GTE.
* * *
Pioneer A-400 technical specification:
EE design by Tadao Yoshida
Technology employed from the Pioneer C-Z1
Super Linear Circuit (SLC)
Clean Ground System (CGS)
DIN Continuous power output (both channels driven at 1 kHz)
85W + 85W into 4 Ohms. 1% THD
60W + 60W into 8 Ohms. 1% THD
Continuous power output (both channels driven at 20 Hz to 20kHz)
70W + 70W 4 Ohms, 0.05% THD
50W + 50W 8 Ohms, 0.03% THD
Dynamic power output (on EIA dynamic test signal)
135W/100W/70W into 2 Ohms /4 Ohms /8 Ohms
Damping Factor: 130 (20Hz - 20kHz)
Total Harmonic Distortion
0.03% at 20Hz-20kHz , 50 W, 8 Ohms
0.05% at 20Hz-20kHz , 70 W, 4 Ohms
Frequency Response
5Hz-100 kHz + 0/- 3 dB (CD, Tuner, Aux, Tape)
20Hz-20 kHz +/- 0.3 dB (Phono MM)
20Hz-20 kHz +/- 0.5 dB (Phono MC)
Signal-to-Noise ratio (IHF short circuit, A network)
108 dB (CD, Tuner, Aux, Tape)
87 dB / 69 dB (Phono MM, 2.5 mV input, Phono MC, 0.2 mV input)
Signal-to-Noise ratio (DIN, continuous power/50 mW)
88 dB / 65 dB (CD, Tuner, Aux, Tape)
74 dB / 63 dB (Phono MM)
Input sensitivity/impedance
CD, Tuner, Aux, Tape: 150mV/ 50 kOhms
Phono (MM): 2.5mV/ 50 kOhms
Phono (MC): 0.2mV/ 100 kOhms
Power supply: 240V AC, 50/60 Hz
Power consumption: 520 Watts
Dimensions:420(W)x352(D)x126(H)mm
Weight: 8 kg / 9.9 oz (17.621 lb)
Production date: 1990 - 1996
Price in 1990: 240.00 GBP
Followed by: Pioneer A-400X, Pioneer A-300R and Pioneer A-UK3
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