Price Paid:  $0.00

Summary:
Have bought it non-working on ebay for $300. Repairing it is a breeze - all the parts are easily obtainable. Instead of using lamps which Sony sells for $17 apiece I replaced them with SMD LEDs - they provide even better ligh and work trouble-free for more than 2 years.
I use it with 5 speaker 4-way Sony ES towers - SS-F80ES with Extended Definition supertweeters. Their sensitivity is 87db and they aren't an easy load. But this amp make them sing - the bass at first was so tremendous that I had to put the speakers on spikes and granite to lower the bass (my room is too small, this is not the problem of the amp nor the speakers) , transients are musical, sometimes the soundstage frightens with realism, the amp is so quiet that sometimes I think that the cables to the speakers are disconnected. TA-N77ES is very detailed even at the lowest volume with such difficult load. The amp is rock stable and doesn't care not only about the load but the speaker cables too. The sound is much more delicate and precise than the vintage tube amps.
Never experienced problems with the heat other people mention despite that the amp sits in a closed rack with only about 1" left above and often plays from 9AM to 8PM non-stop while I work.
The build quality is unbelieveble - I think most of Sony ES gear made from mid 80s to mid 90s should be used in colleges as examples of the top class engineering.

piotrek

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
1 to 3 months

Visitors rate this review
3.50 of 5, 6.00 votes

Price Paid:  $600.00 from e-bay

Summary:
I've bought this amp on E-bay from second owner.Overall condition is very good,so basic electrical adjustements (offset & bias) did the job.
Well i'm really impressed of built quality and sound of this amplifier - i compared it vs
Krell,Rotel & Mark Levinson and need to say, that there is a difference in favor of those famouse ones, but really small one.....just noticable ( slower bass response i.e) BUT total amount i paid for Sony is NOT comparable - simply it is worth every cent spend on it !!!
Also - its electronical components as well as service manual are easy to get ....(still... after so many years) so....if something goes wrong servicing should be quite easy and not expensive.

Strengths:
Great MID's and HIGH's.......almost like tube amp...!!!! personally i use it to run Infinity Kappa 9a to feed mid&high section in bi amping.

Very good sound stage - deep and precise.

Really powerfull - will run ANY speaker (Kappas are not easy for amps)

Weaknesses:
Bit slow bass response (maybe replacing capacitors will cure this really small issue)
still expensive....
i did not noticed its high working temperature (will check silicone between radiator and power trans)...it is warm but not hot......even after long time of playing

Similar Products Used:
Krell KAV 500
Rotel RB 980
Mark Levinson No 29

Price Paid:  $800.00 from 1992

Summary:
I have the successor of the tan 77 the tan 80. I think they are doing very well these days compairing too other much more exepensive onces. I have two off them bridged which raised the power and makes the groud contact,s which can give problems overdone. They have no problems too drive any speaker at all so even mu SYNTHESE 1 which are hard too handle perfomed perfect. A natural sound no single spark off aggressive sound it sounds under the most complex music and it is an stable amp. I had a krell in my house for one week but it couldnt satisfy me and that was a surprise for me and for the KRELL owner . Perfect product

Strengths:
enough power too handle any speaker . Nice detailed sound and an enormus energy off the power supply which is great

Weaknesses:
I had a few problems with the amp because off the very high temperture which blow the amp in smoke which was caused by an not stable bias current. In fact there are an couple off resistors which will slowly getting higer in resist which make the bias circuit unstable . So i modified the amp with new elco,s in the voltage amp and metal film resistors in the bias section and i do replace every kind off electronic part which was out off tolerence. No that expensive mormal ring emitter transistors in the power output stage off SANKEN. I also modified the bias current on the check pins which from the service manuel is an 15 mv too an lower 5 mv. No effect on the sound but a much coller amp which can deliever longer power than with 15 mv . Also check the DC output which needs to be controlled every year or so. A good amplifier but the fact is that is is an heavy amp which was build in an too small case

Similar Products Used:
No compotition in this range

Price Paid:  $180.00 from from a friend

Summary:
Until I've purchased the Sony CDPX77ES CD player, Sony was never on my short list when looking for new equipment. After wandering around and listened to the quite some amplifiers, the TA-N77ES really made it happen! After 10+ years listening to my Elipson 1313 speakers, they performed to the max the first time. This superbly build amp does measure up to most of the so called "audiophile" tube amps. Of all amplifiers listened to, I concidder the Sony TA-N77ES only be beaten by the AITOS OTL mono blocks. (see similar products used)

Strengths:
Open natural sound, much like a tube amp. No end to the power it delivers.

Weaknesses:
Will get very warm. VU meter lights braek often and cost a bundle! Need serious body building to move the amp.

Similar Products Used:
Citation 12 Luxmann CL32/MQ3600 Denon POA6600 Denon L01-A Duson A10 Musical Fidelity P270 Lynx Vega Aitos OTL

Price Paid:  $300.00 from Used - eBay Auction

Summary:
Of the listed amps above, only the Bryston's (which I used for ten years) and the MC-300 & 500 sounded good enough to compare to the Sony. The tube stuff is just that, stuff with a capital F. I need clean and fast. The Bryston's were great. The MC-300 was OK, with the MC-500 considerably better. But the Sony is tops. Fast, clean and uncolored. Is a wonderful amp and runs much cooler than the Bryston's. It also looks considerably better. I feel it was a great step to get this thing. It is such a value, as well. I purchased for a twentieth of what I sold the MC-500 for. I will be buying more as I move to HT in the next year or two. I would give this amp a ten star rating for value. And Sony still supports it for parts and repairs (but I understand that they are bullet-proof, as are all ES equipment up to mid-90's). Happy Listening!!!

Strengths:
Sound!! This amp is so very fast and quiet. I recently sold my McIntosh MC-500 as it was never really fast enough. I used it in balanced mode and it had killer slam and could blow the bottom out of about any load and was truely wonderful across the range. But....it was slow sounding and I like them fast. So now I have an amp that sounds as good across the range and is considerably faster. Great to look at and I love those meters.

Weaknesses:
Doesn't have balanced inputs (but, it is 7 years old, at least). The meter light bulbs don't last very long and cost $17, each (and there are six). Sony needs to learn to build/buy a better light bulb. No other weaknesses that I have found.

Similar Products Used:
Bryson 2B-LP's run in bridged mode.
McIntosh MC-300
Quick Silver 80 watt monoblocks.
McIntosh MC-275II
McIntosh MC-500