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Latest Old Kit purchase: Sony TA-F6B amp

Michael L said:
I've had a VERY brief period ( due to domestic agg )with this Beast driving signal from my Naim 252.

I should point out that the cable connection was a bit of a bodge; involving 79-strand cable to my NACA 5.

Fisrt impression is that it is extremely clear and sweet at the top end. Really made the PM-94 sound dull in comparison, and I really like the sound of that. I was not able to play LOUD but the bass is not quite as stygian as that from the Marantz, which also has the edge in the mid.

That being said, I do feel that I could happily live with it; apart from the very detailed sound, IT HAS VU METERS
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Glad you approved of the sound (obviously I've yet to hear mine as yet). Has yours been serviced at all, or does it have its 30+ year old original caps still installed? Apparently it's vital to replace caps in the PLPS as if it hasn't blown now it will soon... On the pre-amp side of things the signal is routed through a few back-to-back (creating a non-polar type) electrolytics so I'm going to be replacing those (with Nichicon KZs or even 4.7uF film caps if I can find them) once I get the PSU up and running again. I'm basically taking it a step at a time, starting with the PSU first, and I'll then get onto the other sections of the amp in turn.

If yours hasn't been serviced I'm sure replacing some/all of the caps would bring the bass more to the level of your PM-94.

- John
 
John

Thats very helpful, thank you.

I'd be surprised if its ever been serviced.

I've discovered a guy in Reading who will service old kit at an incredibly low hourly rate - so much so that I've told him he is too cheap. I have many commitments on my time right now so realistically will not be able to do much in the near future, but the Long-Haired general pretty much hates my system anyway and I'd not be allowed to introduce any substitutes any time soon.

I would love to give it a decent workout, and replace the connectors with ones that would take my banana-plug terminated NACA5.
 
Well I finally got my TA-F6B up and running at last, with the help of the good folk over at www.diyaudio.com.

It was quite an adventure getting that swine of a PSU up and running again - the full story can be followed here for anyone interested:

http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/solid-state/181121-sony-ta-f6b-psu-repair.html

I've only replaced all the caps in the PSU areas of the amp, to ensure it's running safely. I have yet to replace ANY caps elsewhere, so the sound I am hearing is in many cases via 30+ year old caps (having said that there are only a few caps directly in the signal path, and that's in the pre-amp section). Bearing this in mind, it still sounds very, very good indeed! Extremely even-handed with whatever genre you throw at it, but not boring or clinical sounding at all. Tremendous detail/insight into the recording. The only negative is the bass is a little on the light side, but I'm 99.9% sure that's down to the other caps needing replacement. Old caps always seem to effect the bass the most, at least from my experience in recapping older units.

This amp is fab with vocals - very very smooth with incredible insight. Dare I say it, but very valve-like. No solid-state grain that I can discern.

Some of the pots are a little scratchy and will need to be cleaned at some point, and the left VU meter lights up but doesn't move at all, so likewise that'll have to be sorted out too.

But it's alive a last!

I'm extremely happy with it and - again - mucho thanks to TonyL for letting me buy it so cheaply.

- John
 
Glad you managed to get it working again. I think that I owned it before Tony and seem to remember that it was always a little bass light - but as you say very detailed. Great build quality too. I had the matching cassette deck once - can't remember if that went to Tony too? You used to be able to pick these vintage Sonys up very cheaply on German eBay. Now they seem to be going for silly money.


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djdstone said:
Glad you managed to get it working again. I think that I owned it before Tony and seem to remember that it was always a little bass light - but as you say very detailed. Great build quality too. I had the matching cassette deck once - can't remember if that went to Tony too? You used to be able to pick these vintage Sonys up very cheaply on German eBay. Now they seem to be going for silly money.
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Yes there's one on the german Ebay right now that's going for 400 Euros! Mind you I can already hear the potential of this amp, and that coupled with the build quality that makes a mockery of many modern amps I can see why they're starting to garner higher prices now.

I'm sure with a full recap of all other sections of the amp, and re-adjusting the bias to Sony specs (I purchased the service manual too and it's very detailed in terms of adjustments) that bass will re-appear again. There's a couple of 'back to back' electrolytics in the signal path in the pre-amp section too. I'm going to replace those with film caps of the same value which should also help some.

Interesting to hear there was a matching tape deck too! I'm keeping my eye out for the matching tuner assuming that isn't also going for mega-bucks now!

- J
 
The ST-A6B tuner is pretty darn good and can be picked up for under £200. I had one a while ago and was very pleased with it, although the -A7 that replaced it is a good deal better.
 
I found a photograph of it on my computer the other day. Would you like me to send it to you? Can't remember if I sold it to Tony or on eBay again. It was based on the Elcaset design. Might be worth hunting one of those down.
 
Michael L said:
The ST-A6B tuner is pretty darn good and can be picked up for under £200. I had one a while ago and was very pleased with it, although the -A7 that replaced it is a good deal better.
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The similar looking TA-F7B amp from Sony is meant to be something very special as well - I'll keep an eye out for one of those, though to be honest I'm trying to kick this Hi-Fi habit this year haha!
 
djdstone said:
I found a photograph of it on my computer the other day. Would you like me to send it to you? Can't remember if I sold it to Tony or on eBay again. It was based on the Elcaset design. Might be worth hunting one of those down.
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Yeah that would be cool - thanks! I'll PM you my address.

- John
 
Well just taken care of the slight bass lightness I mentioned earlier...

Dofus here forgot he was still using the test speakers (complete with old crappy speaker cable) placed on top of my regular speakers. Wired up my Mission M72s (OK not the worlds best loudspeaker by any means, but I've been more than happy with them for the past 6 years) and the bass end is present and correct.

For a 30+ year old amp it's got surprising kick - looking forward to recapping the remainder of the amp. Should sound even better still.

Whew!

:D
 
I've spent some time using this as a power amp to my Naim 252. It does a fine job wilt a slightly more clinical sound than the PM-94 that also sees duty. Then again, the Marantz takes 45 minutes or so to get to sound right, whereas the Sony kicks in very quickly.

Running it as an Integrated shows it some way behind the 252, which is no surprise really given its a 7k preamp.

Best of all - VU meter...
 
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