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A question for ALW

Robert

Tapehead
Andy,

You may remember I sought your advice some time ago about a lovely old Pioneer SA9800 amp I bought. Basically, it caughed and spluttered into life at switch on for a few minutes and then worked ok. Well, the problem cured itself with use, probably because the thing had been stored in its sealed carton for 20 years and needed to wake up :)

Anway, as I type this the Pioneer if playing Ella Fitzgerald sweetly through my Kans (don't laugh) but I'd like to perform a few mods to get the best from the old girl. This is what I had in mind:

1/ Replace the supply caps. At 25 years old I guess they are not at their best. The amp has four 15000uf caps.Cost not being an issue, what are the best available?

2/ The internal screaned cables are extremely thin and the PVC covering has become brittle. I plan to replace them with some decent Mic cable.

3/ The speaker wiring is very thin. Even Denis Morecroft would raise an eyebrow at these wires :)
I plan to replace it with something more substantial. I have some spare Origin Live Soli-Core and will probably use that. I'll take te cables direct to the pcb and bypass the speaker selector. I'll also add four 4mm sockets to the rear panel to use in place of the twist lock things allready there.

4/ The mains cable in a thin 2 core item (the unit came from the USA) which again has become a little brittle. Plan to replace with some decent cable.

5/ Wire wraping is widely used inside the amp. While not using solder will have its own advantages am I right in thinking that oxidisation could be a problem and should I clean and then solder over the wire wrap ?

All switches have been cleaned and are crackle free.

What do you think?

Any other ideas?

This is the beast.....

eba00394891f00000032.jpg


Thanks,

Rob.
 
Once I've had a look at these I'll see if I can offer any ideas beyond the basics.

Your basic ideas are sound though, the BC / Philips caps Les has recommended are great, and would be my first choice for the main reservoirs.

Andy.
 
Tony, nice tuner.

There is something about the sound of those old analogue tuners that is lacking from even good modern designs. At the risk of slipping into the round earth soup, I'd describe it as depth and body. I have an old Aiwa tuner that dates from around 1978 and a review of it indicates an rrp of 450 quid - a fortune in ''78 when an LP12 cost 299. A friend commented that he has never heard bass like it from a tuner - it had punch and dynamics similar to good vinyl and lacks the grey mist that effects many modern tuners.

Im looking at the Pioneer's tuner soul mate at the moment, a lovely minty TX7800 in a matching walnut case and am very tempted to bid high to land it. Trouble is the tuner is in the US and is 110v only. I may still bid and swallow the postage (gulp!) as I did for the amp. That cost me $100 to get accross the Atlantic and nearly crippled the delivery man.

Hope you enjoy the tuner Tony. I found a superb site dedicated to tuners of all ages. Its very round earth but these guys know their onions.

http://www.fmtunerinfo.com/


Andy, Would I be correct in thinking that converting a 110v tuner to run in the UK simply involves replacing the internal frame tranny?

I so want to buy this........


eba00394891f00000034.jpg


Rob. Drooooling :)
 
Thanks Andy,

I've placed a bid so here goes......
Mind you I'm told its another $100 by air to get the beast to the UK :(


Another excellent site for the Pioneer Classics -


http://www.silverpioneer.com/index.htm


There is something about range topping 70s Pioneer, Trio, Sansui and Technics electronics that causes me to suspend all hi-fi logic - looking as they do these things must sound good.

Looking back I now believe many Japanese amps were not given a fair hearing in the press or by dealers because those companies refused to submit to the hair shirt briggade.
I tried a little experiment yesterday. Using the Pioneer fed by my Gyro, into the lowest noise MC input I have ever heard and driving Kans I set the tone controls to flat and used the bypass control to switch them in and out of circuit. Was there a difference? - was there
really any difference? - none that I could detect. Having bashed the FE bibble for decades I dont say that lightly, but I'm fed up with telling myself what I should hear and now accept what I really hear. I firmly believe that this is at least partly the result of not having any boxes with little green logos in my system. No legends, no myths and no bull.

Anyway I'm getting on my soap box again so it's time to shut up.

Rob.
 
Lee you mailbox is full so I'll post the message here.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hi Lee,

Very interested in the TX9800. I have not seen any on the use market so gave up on it and had settled for one of the lesser 800 seriese tuners.

Any details on obtaining a 9800 would be welcome.

Thanks,

Rob.
 
Looking back I now believe many Japanese amps were not given a fair hearing in the press or by dealers because those companies refused to submit to the hair shirt briggade.

Well, then you should have lived in Sweden. The most "serious" HiFi mag then, "Radio & Television", nearly only dealt with Jap stuff. The high point was when they spent 10 pages reviewing a Hitachi cassette deck that wasn't sold outside of Japan!

Me myself had a Kenwood (Trio to you Britts) 7100 amp. Traded it for a NAD 3020 that, to my ears and in that system and with my then taste of sound, sounded clearly better. I wonder what I might think today...

JohanR
 
Collected a lovely Pioneer CTF950 cassatte deck today from the post office. Started its journey as a mint example and working perfectly. That is until some bastard at the post office decided to throw it around and smash the front mounted transport :mad: :mad: :mad:

Not sure if i can rescue the poor beast yet. it does actually work but the the control panel is hanging off, the 1/4 inch alloy facia is bent and one of the pinch rollers took a hit and is bent inwards.

Don't u just love Parcel Force :mad:

Rob.
 
Oh man - that SUCKS :(

I feel your pain... Can you claim on the insurance?

I'm on the hunt for a CTF900 - found one in Exeter at the right price - but I believe it has the wrong record level knob. Will have to investigate it further...
 
Originally posted by Robert
post office decided to throw it around and smash the front mounted transport
That's really bad news. Even if a claim can be made (and paid), it won't put the deck right will it.

I wish I could work out the mentality of box shifting types. In principle, it seems hard work but easy on the brain; don't drop or throw things, keep the arrows pointing upwards; that sort of thing. I saw a £6k projector box a year ago where TNT had driven the fork of a truck into the box. Not pretty. I've also had an expensive glass topped coffee table delivered by the drivers of a reputable store who tipped the box 90 degrees to get it through the front door, despite the arrows and warnings on the box. Yep, the glass fell out and scratched everything. The sad thing is, they do not appear to give a shit. Shame.

Rant over

Mick
 
That is until some bastard at the post office decided to throw it around and smash the front mounted transport

Sorry to hear about this - I have experienced this, too, so can empathise a little.

From this gloomy experience, I can only pass on my little ray of shunshine - the post office have no idea of broken second-hand hifi's residual value, so you'll likely end up with a full refund under the insurance, plus the damaged deck to do with what you will.

Good luck with the repairs...
 
Any details on obtaining a 9800 would be welcome.
I've found I own one. Which I don't want to sell and I'm not sure it's working properly.

Anyway I also have the manual with circuit diagram, so if anyone needs a scan....

Paul
 
Collected a lovely Pioneer CTF950 cassatte deck today from the post office. Started its journey as a mint example and working perfectly. That is until some bastard at the post office decided to throw it around and smash the front mounted transport

Gutting news – it is so annoying when something that is not easily replaced gets trashed by kak handed handling by a courier. Years back I did some very serious shouting involving some quite bad words at a courier who had just totally trashed a beautiful and rather scarce Moog Source I’d just sold someone…

I've agreed to buy Lee's 9800 and he is kindly delivering it on Sunday.

I now have very serious tuner envy! I’m definitely looking for a high-end 70s jap tuner, the Luxman I landed last week has definitely wetted the appetite, though I’d like to get a real statement job with ultra high sensitivity, switchable selectivity, stereo blending etc.

Tony.
 
Well folks its here.

Lee very kindly delivered the TX9800 this afternoon and I have to say its a cracking tuner. Just about the best bass I've ever had from a tuner - and with a strong signal (which i have in london) its dead quiet.

Oh, and it looks great in the dark :)

Rob.
 


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