Nytech CTA 252?

skrodahl

skrodahl

Active Member
I was given this strange little amp yesterday when I bought a Dual 1225 turntable, and I was wondering if any of you had more info about it.

I have googled it, and found very little. It's been rebranded (by Nytech themselves by the look of it) for an old Swedish hifi dealer, Tonola hi-fi. (Curiously enough, the Dual 1225 was also rebranded to that same dealer.)

I've spent some time with it, and I can say that it sounds amazing!

A few pics are attached to show what we're dealing with here.
 

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I understand that it was meant to look like a calculator, at a time when they were all the rage. Strange design decision. It looks kinda... ugly, don't you think?

It's got a wooden/plastic enclosure. The dials are all to do with the tuner. Signal/Tuner/Frequency. Hidden behind a small "curtain" are four FM presets as well, as shown in the attached picture.

It has a grand total of two inputs, Phono and Tape, two speaker outputs (SP1 and SP2), what seems like high-pass and low-pass filters and then two buttons that I don't know what are for: AFC and CONT. The sliders are Balance, Bass, Middle, Treble and Volume, so it's technically got an equalizer. :thmbsp: There's also a Mono button, and the thing's got two headphone outputs for good measure.

Apart from that, I know that it's made in England (says so on the back), it can produce 2x25w/8 ohm and 2x40w/4 ohm.
 

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skrodahl said:
I understand that it was meant to look like a calculator, at a time when they were all the rage. Strange design decision. It looks kinda... ugly, don't you think?

It's got a wooden/plastic enclosure. The dials are all to do with the tuner. Signal/Tuner/Frequency. Hidden behind a small "curtain" are four FM presets as well, as shown in the attached picture.

It has a grand total of two inputs, Phono and Tape, two speaker outputs (SP1 and SP2), what seems like high-pass and low-pass filters and then two buttons that I don't know what are for: AFC and CONT. The sliders are Balance, Bass, Middle, Treble and Volume, so it's technically got an equalizer. :thmbsp: There's also a Mono button, and the thing's got two headphone outputs for good measure.

Apart from that, I know that it's made in England (says so on the back), it can produce 2x25w/8 ohm and 2x40w/4 ohm.
Click to expand...



My guess would be:

Automatic Frequency Control (to lock on radio stations)

Contour (Mid Frequency) Tone Control to add "presence"
 
I love this unit since it looks well made and dared to be different. UK made with the interesting quirks the English do well.
 
KentTeffeteller said:
I love this unit since it looks well made and dared to be different. UK made with the interesting quirks the English do well.
Click to expand...

It has certainly grown on me these last couple of days, both due to the great sound and its odd looks.

There are many amps that sound better, but it really surprised me in a positive way. Since this is currently my only functioning equipment with a RIAA stage, it is going to be my turntable setup.

(I'm getting back to vinyl for the first time since the 80's. Just did a count of my record collection, and it all added up to one single LP...)
 
skrodahl said:
I was given this strange little amp yesterday when I bought a Dual 1225 turntable, and I was wondering if any of you had more info about it.

I have googled it, and found very little. It's been rebranded (by Nytech themselves by the look of it) for an old Swedish hifi dealer, Tonola hi-fi. (Curiously enough, the Dual 1225 was also rebranded to that same dealer.)

I've spent some time with it, and I can say that it sounds amazing!

A few pics are attached to show what we're dealing with here.
Click to expand...

I know well the CTA 252.
Despite its weird looking, this receiver was among the best available in its time on the sound quality criteria, circa 1980. Unfortunately it was scorned by audiophiles because of its strange design and its DIN connectors.
A friend of mine had one, along with a Linn Sondek turntable and a pair of Allison 2 loudspeakers (amazing speakers too). My jaw dropped on the carpet when I heard this setup for the first time. It sounded powerful, with incredible bass impact and amazing dynamics.
You are lucky to have put your hands on this as it is a very, VERY rare find.
Congratulations !
 
Thierry said:
I know well the CTA 252.
Despite its weird looking, this receiver was among the best available in its time on the sound quality criteria, circa 1980. Unfortunately it was scorned by audiophiles because of its strange design and its DIN connectors.
A friend of mine had one, along with a Linn Sondek turntable and a pair of Allison 2 loudspeakers (amazing speakers too). My jaw dropped on the carpet when I heard this setup for the first time. It sounded powerful, with incredible bass impact and amazing dynamics.
You are lucky to have put your hands on this as it is a very, VERY rare find.
Congratulations !
Click to expand...

Thanks a lot for sharing your experience. My unit seems to be in excellent mint condition, which makes it even more of a nice find. It's supposedly been sitting on the same shelf since it was bought.

It sounds better than the more modern amps I've owned, primarily NAD, H/K and Marantz, and it pairs nicely with my A25 speakers. But... it is (I guess I might be bashed for this) no match for my Topping TP-20 T-amp.

The tone controls needs to be tweaked to make it sound "right", so I'm starting to think about recapping. I've read that the insides are a bit messy, and there are no service manuals to be found. It's definitely a keeper though!
 
skrodahl said:
But... it is (I guess I might be bashed for this) no match for my Topping TP-20 T-amp.
Click to expand...

Agreed, and no bashing in perspective : those T-amps are true high-end killer amps, like most of the Tripath designs. I have built many, from the tiny 2x14W one to the 2x300W monsters and they are all flying over the so called audiophile references. Well, I'll probably be bashed for this :scratch2:

Restore your Nytech, it deserves it.
 
theophile said:
Here's some more I've found:

http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/atta...5062901-nytech-ca252-woes-nytechca252pre1.jpg

http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/atta...5063174-nytech-ca252-woes-nytechca252pre2.jpg

http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/atta...35066237-nytech-ca252-woes-nytechca252pwr.jpg

I don't know whether any of them will be of any help, but since you have nothing to go on, I'd guess that they may give you a glimpse of what you are looking for.
Click to expand...

That helps a whole lot, major thanks for that find theophile.

Thierry: That link on pinkfishmedia is also great. I thought I had googled every last bit out of this amp and company, apparently not. :)
 
Since there isn't a lot of information about this unit out there, here are some pictures of the internals of the CTA 252. It looks fairly well organized to me, but cramped. Could be challenging to work on.

b01d2159-792d-4c45-a16e-90fcf061a9c9


d24615d4-821d-4490-8dc5-2af26af448de


d0757e5e-2d95-433f-bc5f-1c199411a6b8


da1fcec3-f80f-49a6-bc19-eb7bcc56bdd9


31530765-7094-4f0f-97a6-f75a7cfe7af4


98b50c8d-85ed-4e3f-8ec7-b2fdf5b9612c


0beba6b6-60ee-4d06-86d3-641f07fdea26


3bcc7121-2a66-4bae-afe4-be6c941a3fc5


3e3d048d-1022-418e-b9b4-c0639c0475df


b112b0df-fc72-4c27-91f9-e40603f2d64d


f6975ab7-a1e9-426c-bb76-e5bb7a22a492
 
Please look at the diy.audio.com entries. There is a warning about using solder suckers whilst working on the Nytech. Apparently, the copper traces are bonded to the board with wallpaper glue(that's what it says). The traces easily de-laminate from the board.
 
theophile said:
Please look at the diy.audio.com entries. There is a warning about using solder suckers whilst working on the Nytech. Apparently, the copper traces are bonded to the board with wallpaper glue(that's what it says). The traces easily de-laminate from the board.
Click to expand...

That's pretty standard fare for the old paper/organic laminate PCBs. Although these PCBs seem to have a better backside, they're all green.

Having made these mistakes before, I'm careful with both the solder sucker and the desoldering braid (which applies more heat to the PCB, and can cause the traces to curl off). I guess it's true when they say that patience is a virtue. :)

I had a good look at the larger electrolytes, and there is no visible leakage or deformations. There are also quite a few axial electrolytes that are hard to come by. In many cases, radial ones will work. With the space constraints presented by this kit, it seems axial is the only option. Those are hard to find at decent prices.

All in all, the unit sounds really great. Recapping would be a long-term project. It was cool to see the inside of the CTA 252 though.
 
skrodahl said:
I was given this strange little amp yesterday when I bought a Dual 1225 turntable, and I was wondering if any of you had more info about it.

I have googled it, and found very little. It's been rebranded (by Nytech themselves by the look of it) for an old Swedish hifi dealer, Tonola hi-fi. (Curiously enough, the Dual 1225 was also rebranded to that same dealer.)

I've spent some time with it, and I can say that it sounds amazing!

A few pics are attached to show what we're dealing with here.
Click to expand...

I use one of these with my Linn TT. Probably a cardinal sin, but I output it via it's Din tape output to my surround sound Pioneer amp & it goes through the 5.1 with a Rel subwoofer. It sounds fabulous.

I've also got a ?rarer smaller Nytech amp tucked away somewhere. If I can dig it out I'll find it's model number. It also sounds brilliant.

Edit. This is the wee one.
FWyEXvT.jpg
 
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