Sony TC-KA3ES / KA6ES / KA5ES / KA7ES average price ?

T

tututpouet

Member
Hello here,


I am looking to buy a TC-KAXS deck to have a taste of Sony TOTL series and compare with my V-6030S, but it seems troublesome to have a feedback on second hand prices of these machines.
Is there any average price for these babies ? Or even a price range.

I am not asking about a score price, I would just need to know the market price for a working and rather good looking unit.

Thanks in advance for the help.
 
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KA7ES goes for $1000 to $1500 when you can find one. You should join Barter Town, hint hint.
 
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When I was looking at the more affordable KA3ES, they were going for $500-$600 in good condition. One went for $405 plus shipping. So timing makes a difference. That was about 4-6 years ago when I was curious about such things.
 
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audiomagnate said:
KA7ES goes for $1000 to $1500 when you can find one. You should join Barter Town, hint hint.
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Damn nice series. IIRC, the amp was TA-N90ES, preamp was TA-E90ES, and the CDP was CDP-XA7ES which was a fixed laser unit. Can't remember what the tuner was.
 
Wow. If only cassettes sounded as good as that player looks! Not that they sound bad, but they do have their limitations. Good luck on finding one a little cheaper.
 
hank520 said:
Wow. If only cassettes sounded as good as that player looks! Not that they sound bad, but they do have their limitations. Good luck on finding one a little cheaper.
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That one looks much better in real life. I think that's a B&W photo. The real finish is Champagne. And if you've never heard the pre-recorded tapes made by Nak in the late 80s and early 90s on a Dragon or other high end Nak, you haven't heard what cassettes can sound like. Better than any CD or LP I've ever heard. This Dolby S equipped Sony can do close to 100 dB S/N with very low distortion. Knocking cassettes because you've only heard crappy mass produced tapes on a low end, poorly maintained deck is the same as knocking vinyl because you've only heard worn out, dirty LPs on a cheap turntable. End of rant.
 
One data point: I bought an essentially unused TC-KA3ES a year ago on my local CL for $180. The guy knew what he had, so it wasn't a ripoff score. But I felt that the price was extremely reasonable for the superb cassette performance I now enjoy.
 
audiomagnate said:
If you really want a KA7ES, here you go: http://www.ebay.com/itm/SONY-TC-KA7...ion_Cassette_Tape_Players&hash=item46086ebaa0

A cool $1619 and it's yours. Plus international shipping of $243 of course.
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The only sale I can remember of a KA7ES was 1500 euros in Germany nearly two years ago. At that time I thought the buyer was an idiot, well maybe not that much considering all sellers ask for a 1000+ euros price.:scratch2:

A it's out of my league, I'll have to focus on 6ES, 3ES or 5ES.
 
TC-KA3ES owner

Will chime in with this ...
The TC-KA3ES has better specs than the KA6ES(European) due to the
LC Amorphous heads used in the 3ES! The 3ES is closer in this respect to the 7ES. I personally prefer the more detailed extraction of recorded info with the LC heads than the S&F ones, (they also clain a higher BW with the LC's) but only giving up a bit of warmth very subjective. Looks like they all use the TCM200 type mechanism, industrial quality and design for home !!:yes:

Picked mine up from an Ex-SONY Canada employee with maybe 5hrs used on it ::music:

Enjoy the best of what SONY had to offer (just reading news now that they are enduring further cuts and downsizing .. oh! the world keeps turning !!)
 
The problem with Sony cassette decks are that they usually have misaligned heads. I have had several of their top line models (TC-K177SD, TC-K7, TC-K3ES) and while they played backed perfectly on their own units, the tapes had a severe roll-off when played back on other brands. I had a Nkamichi 700 and 600, Teac A360, 450. They all played fine with each other but not with the Sonys. Also, the Sonys tend to crease the center of the tape. The way the head assemblies were designed, you really could not fix the issue.
 
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