Hi-Fi Amplifiers

My father owned a TV / HiFi store in Colchester England. Apart from Hi-Fi Brands like Bang & Olufsen, Sony, JVC, Technics, Teac, AKAI, Rotel, Sansui and Pioneer we sold Tannoy, Quad, Thorens, Revox, Leak and Wharfedale. One day we were approached to sell a Brand organised by Jacques Setton, a famous French, millionaire, racing driver and in France he was the importer for Pioneer. I say organised as he didn't make Setton Hi-Fi he commissioned it. We decided to take a receiver, and an amplifier to try to sell them, at the same time we had a range of our own speakers, GSR, which I had designed. As a young hi-fi enthusiast I was blown away by the quality of the sound especially when driving Tannoy Cheviots. The Setton's didn't sell so they were dropped down in price to clear. No-one new the brand. I couldnt ever afford my perfect setup. Move on many years, the shop is closed, long gone and forgotten. Its taken years and I have in the main house a Bang & Olufsen 7700 system driving Tannoy Cheviots, I also have a Denon for surround sound on the TV with a Rotel CD player switched to the same Cheviots. My children have Quad44/405 / Tannoy605 and Leak3400 Tannoy605 systems in the bedrooms. In my outside office I have had B&O 3000-2, B&O 4000, Rotel RX803, Leak3400, Technics SA5460 driving Tannoys Eaton but still kept looking at e-Bay for Setton, then one appeared nearby at a price I could justify to the family. I was the only bidder and I won it. The seller was sad to see it go as he thought it was the best amp he had owned. I put it in at home and I was blown away, it was good as I remembered even though my own frequency response has attenuated. Clear trebles punchy bass and precise transients. It has plenty of inputs, easy to use and looks fantastic. I have now stopped looking for more HiFi. I drive it with a Technics RS-TR474Mk2 and Sansui TU-D33XL. I'm using a computer for MP3 but Ill be looking for a CD.

Begin jaren 90 was ik op zoek naar een betaalbare versterker en luidsprekers. Eigenlijk had ik al een versterker een Pioneer 606MkII deze klonk wel goed had een MM en een MC versterker voor de platenspeler. Had een klein budget voor de luidsprekers, heb Engelse, Duitse en Franse luidsprekers beluisterd en voorkeur ging uit naar Focal en JM Lab gebruikte de focal in hun range. Uiteindelijk kocht ik mijn eerste set hifi speakers: JM lab DB 26K-2 deze had ik bij Kurvers Hifi in Alphen aan den Rijn echter de speakers werden gevoed door een Audio Analyse Pa60. Ben erg kritisch qua geluid ik heb cd's van Jennifer Warnes Famous - Blue Raincoat, Dire Straits, Tracie Chapman en andere cd's beluisterd. Mijn mond viel toen open, wat een geluid heeft deze PA 60... De verkoper tipte mij dat de PA 90 nog beter klonk, strakker meer bas en meer dynamiek. Er was maar 1 exemplaar van de PA 90, deze was net verkocht. Een week later kon ik deze beluisteren, en ja inderdaad deze klonk veel analytischer dan zijn broertje, de grote broer de A9 stond in de museum of Art in New York werd mij verteld. Helaas had ik alleen maar een budget voor de luidsprekers. Enige jaren later kon ik een PA60 overnemen voor een kleine prijs, echter bleek het de PA90 te zijn en deze kon ik voor dezelfde prijs overnemen... Yes! 24 jaar later heb ik de versterker nog steeds; "Still goiing strong", en klinkt deze nog steeds goed. Vanwege verhuizingen en overstap naar 5.1 geluid en andere versterkers heb ik de PA90 ruim 12 jaar niet gebruikt, maar wilde er geen afscheid van nemen. En nu pronkt deze in mijn installatie. De JM labs heb ik ook nog, maar ik beluister muziek op Magnepan 0.6 QDE SE, deze klinken zo goed en open op deze magnetostaten. De Audio Analyse heeft een enorme ringkerntrafo die en heeft genoeg power om de speakers goed te laten klinken. Maar het oog wil ook wat het fraaie design verveelt niet na al die jaren. Ben er nog steeds erg blij mee, en inderdaad als mijn versterker ooit vervangen moet worden welke versterker komt ervoor in plaats. Ik denk dat dit lang zoeken wordt....

The Manley Mahi (cleverly named since they're monoblocks and when you have two, you have Mahi Mahi) are high-end, mid-powered monoblock hi-fi amplifiers utilizing a quad of EL84s in the power section, a 12AT7 at the input, and a 6414 driver tube. Fans of tube rolling take note: it's best to stick with the EL84M power tubes sourced by Manley themselves for safe, reliable operation--but you can have yourself some fun with the 12AT7s ;-) The Mahis come well packed in nice boxes with excellent purpose-made foam packing, and the amps themselves are petit-sized at less than a foot wide or deep and about half a foot tall. They also weigh in at less than 20lbs each, thanks to Manley's own, unique power transformer which pack a lot of punch into a small package. The manual supplied by Manley is also a hoot to read, with a more laid-back, off the cuff prosaic yet highly informative nature that really provides some insight to what a fun and enjoyable yet serious company this is with a character such as EveAnna Manley at the helm. Coupled with the unusual yet lovely charcoal and purple paint scheme of the amp chassis, you get the feeling that Manley enjoy what they do and want the end user to have fun and enjoy their products as well. The Mahis have a couple interesting tricks up their sleeve compared to similar amps. Using a pair of easily accessible toggles on the top of each you unit, it's possible to switch between Triode and Ultralinear operation, as well as vary the negative feeback in three positions between 3dB, 6dB, and 10dB (labeled as "minimum," "standard," and "maximum" respectively. Output power depends on what settings you're using. Into a typical 8-ohm speaker, in Ultralinear, Manley claims 24 watts-41 watts depending on feedback, while in Triode mode it's 14 watts-25 watts depending on feedback. This makes the amps quite versatile regardless of the speakers you're using, which can happily work with medium- to high-efficiency speakers in a variety of room sizes. Only very power-hungry speakers in large, voluminous rooms will be wanting for more tube power. The sonic characteristics will, of course, depend on how you're operating the amps. Generally speaking, you can expect a clear, open, and taught sound from EL84 power tubes and this particularly describes the sound in Ultralinear mode. In Triode, you can expect a smoother, more sparkly or sugary coloration. In either mode, you will get the most muscular, up-front sound from minimum feedback, while switching in more feedback will create a greater depth of soundstage at the cost of some bass muscle. I run these amps with my medium-efficiency Kharma CE-1.0 speakers. The Kharmas are magnificently clean and clear sounding, with a smooth and polished yet precise top end. These 3-way, ceramic-mid driver speakers throw a huge soundstage and the Mahis are quite up to the challenge of matching them with a highly resolving, large, clear sound. The Kharmas have very big and well-damped cabinets and rather large kevlar woofer to control and even in my small listening room, I have preferred the Mahis set to Ultralinear and either minimum or standard feeback settings for the best muscle with rock music in particular, and also softer rock, folk/acoustic or classical recordings mastered at the lower volumes of yore. Of course, given different speakers in different rooms, your amp setting preferences will vary! The Manley Mahi Mahi monoblocks are a good choice for the person interested in a mid-powered pair of tube monos that have some play in their power and presentation, can throw a big sound that remains clear at frequency extremes, but that nevertheless retains the refined, seductive midrange characteristics that only tubes can provide. Other good points are its low operating costs, since EL84s and 12AT7s in particular are quite ubiquitous and very affordable compared to larger or more esoteric tubes. The efficient power section also drinks less mains power than bigger amps while still giving the amps sufficient bass muscle. Those looking for a more "classic tube sound" with a fatter, more wallowy bottom end and a thicker, more syrupy midrange should look elsewhere--the older EL34-powered Conrad Johnson camps come to mind. Indeed, the Manleys are amps that can satisfy those craving the broadband clarity of a good solid state design while still offering the big, smooth seductiveness that only tubes can deliver.

I have been using it for five years without any reliability issues. I didn't try out any particular models when I bought it, I wanted something new to have warranty and this one was the only one in the store in this category. I bought it most of all due to its auxiliary jack input with adjustable volume (everything on the front panel)...Which is perfect to connect my bass directly, that was my goal. As already explained in other reviews, this amp colors sound, the reproduction isn't neutral. I find the sound a bit too "living-room hi-fi" (but I use it with two "big" speakers that surely amplify this aspect and I have never used other speakers with it). However, when inputting an instrument directly (a passive bass in my case), it's truly perfect! The output power is quite all right (it really rocks!) and, I repeat, it's really great to input an instrument on the front panel with a separate volume control, which allows you to, eventually, mix it with another input source. It's a handy solution to play at home without the need to take out all your live gear every time. I don't know if I would buy it again, because it was an "urgent" purchase and, thus, I didn't do any comparisons, but in the end I'm satisfied with it. The original remote supplied with it (including motorized volume, with the volume knob moving as visual feedback) is very practical, even if big, it provides lots of functions to control an entire audio setup.

I have used the 9711 together with Quadral Amun VI (Phonologue) speakers. Overall good sound, especially the lows and the mids are excellent. The highs are also good, but transients sound a bit 'rounded'. I have put a lot of effort in improving transient behaviour. In my tuning and listening trials I finally settled with Van den Hul TEATRACK HYBRID ( http://www.vandenhul.com/p_C26.aspx ) for the speaker cables and Nordost flatline interconnects. This improved transient response and made instrument position much better. I encountered the same problem with the degradation of one channel as described in the previous review. In my case it was the right channel. I replaced the volume control circuitry and the input selection circuitry, but without succes. Than I found a service manual for the 9711 and tried the prescribed adjustification of the bias current setting. That did the trick, both channels are working well again.

I've been using it for two years. Having tried out lots of amps, it comes out pretty good: it's Class A! It makes the room warm up. Wooden sides, black paint with a metallic protection filter on the inside and connected to ground: They don't make them like this anymore...It's excellent for the price. Impressive sustain, very stable stereo image, it takes several minutes to warm up. Very good bass foundation. I always use several systems to judge a sound (amps, speakers) and this amp is really worth it because it's a pleasure to listen to it, it's never aggressive. If you want more pep, you'll need to look for another amp. But eagerness should always remain under control, or it can turn into aggressiveness. Fortunately, the SU7700 knows how to stay in control: Bravo!

I bought this electronic device for 100 euros (hk 725 and hk 770) i'm very amazed at the quality of its sound and its perfect state after thirty years.It's very powerful and my davis loudspeakers(kadillac columns) sounds much better than with my denon .I was often laughing at buyers of vintage hifi but i must admit that i'm very happy of my buying and i'm taking a great pleasure in listening to my records. I love its dynamics and enjoy very much the improvement on my recent denon as i'm not a pro i won't make endless commentaries. forgive my English seeing that i'm French

(Originally written by theunknowndj/translated from Audiofanzine FR) - How long have you been using it? Since August 2007 I bought it secondhand (I'm a student) Launched in 1999 but the previous owner was an amp freak so it was in perfect condition (just serviced) - Which feature do you like the most / the least? Pros: 5 x 70 watts Low distortion level Sleek design (mine is silver and gold) Precise highs and lows (but it also depends on the speakers) Sturdy Many inputs Cons: gets really hot Horrible remote control Nothing important ^^ - Did you try any other models before buying it? No. It was my first amp in this category and I didn't want to buy a Yamaha, Denon, Marantz, etc. - How would you rate its value for money? Good since I bought it secondhand Considering that the device was in perfect condition at a very low price, the value for money is unbeatable - Based on your experience, would you buy this product again? I'm very happy considering it was my first amp I think I will stay faithful to Denon. I might buy a high-end product but I'm not sure because this one is already amazing It might lack a bit of lows but I connected it to my PC so I can use lots of filters and EQs to correct the sound until I buy a subwoofer... The amp is dolby digital compatible if you have the adequate devices... It provides ambient presets but I recommend you to avoid them if you're a purist... You can input the size of your speakers (large/small) and their distance to the listener so that the amp manages reflections to simulate a large room when it's used in a small environment... You also have the possibility to adjust the individual volume of each loudspeaker (from +12 to -12), which is convenient to get a consistent sound in a non-rectangular room... The amp also provides RDS and low/high controls...

I bought my Sansui –AU 5900 in 1976 and am still using it in combination with Teac tapedecks an Tascam cd player, a Sansui equalizer and a Thorens turnable with a Shure V15 element At a certain moment the sound of the amplifier became a little dull, mostly this is caused by the aging of the power transistors. As I have a degree in electronics no big deal, but the power transistors need to be paired as a result of the original design. The nasty thing was that supplementary power transistors were hard to find and the original Japanese ones were not available in Europe. Through Amazon I found I supplier who offered five pairs for a reasonable price in Hong Kong. At arrival a few weeks later they were exactly the correct Japanese type and also from the same brand. As the AU-5900, AU6900 and AU7900 have the same power printed circuit board, with more or less components I decided to upgrade the output board to an AU7900 version, I needed some capacitors and resistors, some screws and isolators that’s all. In fact the only difference between these models is the number of components on the board, the preamplifier is the same as also the power supply. There is a difference in filters, but they are hardy to never used. After this upgrade, the output stage became a triple Darlington, the noise ratio became better, so worse that if you forget to switch the amplifier off only the red light indicates that the power amplifiers is on. Also the power and thus the dynamics of the amplifier became much better The amplifier is now about 44 years is use and fit again for several tenths of years. Finding a better one will be hard and costly, many brands in the 70’s used bad quality components and PC boards even so worse that there are firms who replace the complete boards with fiber glass boards.

What I like most/least? I bought this amp as part of my first quality "separates" system right out of high school, and almost 30 years later I still use it to power my outdoor sound system pool-side. Think about that - this unit is still going strong after 30 years and has never required repair. How many modern day amps would last half that long?! Even though its rated at only 40W (with 8 ohm speakers) this amp has plenty of power. In fact I got kicked out of my first apartment because of this system! LOL Only thing I don't like are missing features compared to modern units, in particular remote control. I've connected a Apple Airport to the Aux In which gives me at least some remote capabilities via "iDevices". Precision and quality of sound? I'm not an audiophile, and have no complaints about the sound of this amp. There is no ability to have separate settings for each input, etc. like modern amps would have and especially when switching from my Marantz ST-450 tuner to the Apple Airport I sometimes miss that feature. But that's an input issue, not an issue with the amp itself. Try other models? Back in 1982 yes. I'd say this component set was mid-range at that time as far as "separates" go. More recently I've used Denon and other mid/higher end amps. But they are much more complicated for my family to use.

I bough it at Costco for $150 . I needed a guitar when I began taking lessons two years ago It is very glossy and its sound is incredible for its price range. I made mine electric by adding the fisman classic 4 pre amp on it. I used for several gigs before getting my hand on a fender . I like the fact that it uses nylon strings and is easy on the fingers . Theres not much to dislike about it besides the fact that the neck is thicker than a steel string acoustic The woods resonate very well . I heard its spruce top sounds better after years of playing . The nato neck and rosewood fretboard feel very smooth . I recommend this guitar to any one thats just starting out and is on a budget. For the money you can't go wrong and besides, it's a Yamaha This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

The X202B is a great amp with a lot put into it. It's pretty much for everyone, not just metal heads (note this amp has great tone for a solid state amp). However, in my opinion, there's just too much in the amp. The amp is overloaded with presets and effects that a lot of people either will most likely not use in their career or won't even know how to use to get quality out of it. And it's not it's best without the MKII Shortboard. You really just have to play around with it if you want to find something neat, though I don't think a lot of people would even want to do that. This is a great amp. Just too much in it. I'd rather have a regular tube-amp since I don't really use a lot of the effects. If you want to cover other artists and copy their tones then buy it. If you want your own sound go with something else. I tried and tried to dial in my own tone but it never saved. another thing is its really confusing. the volume knob isn’t very good too, you go from nothing to blaring in 5 seconds its annoying. Overall, If your looking for warm, whole tones, this amp is not for you. if all your looking for is something loud with cool affects then you’ll love this amp. the 16 preset amp models all sound like you put it in a swomp and tried to play. the 9 built in affects are awesome. but that was the only high point of the amp. I suggest getting an amp with a fantastic clean channel and doing everything through pedals. I recommend you passing on this one though, its not worth it unless like I said before you want to use someone else’s sound. There are far too many other amps that exceed this one to put your hard earned money into it.