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A&R A60

1000rpm, thanks - that pretty much summed it up. In fact, I'd go further and say that it's a bit of a cracker, smooth but not slow, dynamic and rhythmic but not insistent. I can't believe that after all the different amps I've had over the years, this is the first time I've had an A60.

Sorry to hear that yours has blown up. How did it happen? Is this something that should be worried about with mine? I was under the impression that the A60 was very robust and reliable. Then there's the Nytech CTA-252XD that's sat next to it... I picked this up at the same time. Again, boxed with all the bits, it looked wild, it was dirt cheap, I couldn't help myself... It hasn't been used for many years. I still haven't been brave enough to power it up...

At least there are plenty more A60s out there, and for the money, it's a real no-brainer in my book. Better late than never.
 
The 'E' refers to 'export'. The original A60 had those dreadful 2-pin DIN speaker outlets that would crush the sales in non-EU markets. So in 1978 they were replaced by 5-way binding posts and the 'E' suffix added.

couldn't resist picking up a very nice, boxed, early example of an A60. It's actually an A60E. I'm not sure whather this means it's some sort of "enhanced" variant,
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Ron, thanks, that makes sense. The board says A60 series II on it and it does have 4mm sockets on the back (thankfully!). Looks to be a 1979 model.

Still unsure about the little daughterboard on the phono stage. It looks like a legit A&R part and the manual makes reference to it as an option. Sadly there's no more info on what the dip switches do as far as loading is concerned.
 
The daughterboard is probably a MC loading module. Have you tried your amp with a turntable yet?

IME, if your amp continues to sound good over a week or so, your caps are probably OK. If the sound changes/deteriorates, look at changing them. The smoothing caps are likely to be OK unless you see them leaking. I didn't bother replacing mine when I overhauled my formerly atrocious-sounding 1980 A60 and the amp sounds great. You might like to check that the quiescent current is within acceptable limits.
 
Haven't tried the phono input yet.

The amp does sound rather lovely so maybe I'll just leave it untouched.
 
Some pics:

earlya60a.jpg


earlya60d.jpg


earlya60c.jpg


earlya60b.jpg


Somebody on here may even recognise it....
 
Yup, frustratingly it only has sequential numbers rather than load values. I'm assuming that somewhere out there is a document that relates those numbers (or combinations thereof) to specific loads.
 
Arcam may be able to provide some info if no one here can.

I have three A60's of different vintages, I think I remember one or more of mine having that cartridge socket with a jumper plug in it. Suppose this is removed when loading module is fitted.

Just looked back here:

http://www.pinkfishmedia.net/forum/showthread.php?t=66453&page=4

Post No. 51 has link to an inside picture of my late A60. One can see where the loading module would fit.
 
Hi All
Just wanted to post a bit thank you to Robert, and Radfordman for their help.
Got my early model A60 (Serial 10371) re-capped and re-calibrated this morning, took me a couple of hours but there's no buzzing on the output now. The smoothing caps had holes in them and had leaked gunk all over the circuit board but it cleaned up a treat.

Slight noise on one channel when volume is turned, but I can always use a bit more switch cleaner - now to play some music through it - where did I put those 5 pin din leads?

regards C
 
1000RPM said:
that is about a good a description of having naim and an a60 in the same room as I've heard. alas this week I blew up my a60, so shows how much I know ;)
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Bought the above complete with tuner. Replacement Motorola TIP3055 output transistors arrived this afternoon. Replaced them and just finished calibrating the quiescent current; the amp is singing like a dream!! All the pots are quiet and the noise floor very low, so I've left the power supply caps alone (they are replacements in any case). Whilst the build quality of this 1984 model is completely different to my A60AP model, I'll be interested to do some side by side comparison; particularly on the phono stages.
 
Does anyone happen to know what changes were made to make the A60+?

I bought mine s/h. Originally it was an A60 but the previous owner had it upgraded by Arcam in 1987 to A60+ spec.

I've always wondered what they actually did to it and, for that matter, what the opinion is of those changes i.e. how much of an improvement was there (if any!) to sound quality?
 
Pinky said:
Does anyone happen to know what changes were made to make the A60+?

I bought mine s/h. Originally it was an A60 but the previous owner had it upgraded by Arcam in 1987 to A60+ spec.

I've always wondered what they actually did to it and, for that matter, what the opinion is of those changes i.e. how much of an improvement was there (if any!) to sound quality?
Click to expand...

As far as I can recollect, internally the only difference is the aux input has reduced gain to cater for cd and the front button may be labelled thus. Phono input is RCA.

Hope that helps.
 
My later A60 has a much thinner chassis, different finish on the knobs and front panel as well as other changes compared to earlier ones. Oh yes, the centre detent pots (I quite like them).
 
The wooden sleeve is also different, slightly thinner, with different machining and with screws at the side cheeks. The pots are also smaller on the later models and the speaker connections on the mainboard are via a terminal block rather than hard wired. The led is also surface mounted as compared to the earlier plug-in version.
 
Analog addict said:
The wooden sleeve is also different, slightly thinner, with different machining and with screws at the side cheeks. The pots are also smaller on the later models and the speaker connections on the mainboard are via a terminal block rather than hard wired. The led is also surface mounted as compared to the earlier plug-in version.
Click to expand...

Yes, the later wooden sleeves are like this and the headphone socket does not have nut on the front panel.
 
Nice pair. Black finish not in bad condition. If they were mine I would strip them and refinish as I prefer the wood look.

In Pic DSC02571 one can see that the bushes on the pots have come away from the front panel. Just need pushing back. One could lock them to the panel with something, perhaps a weak Loctitie.
 
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