5Hero

Overall Rating
 3 of 5

Value Rating
 3 of 5

Used product for
More than 1 year

Price Paid:  $400.00 from Independent audio de

Summary:
Bought one of these about 8 years ago from an audio dealer where it had been used for demonstrating Pioneer speakers. It cost me £400 but aside from a couple of small scratches it came with the box, manuals, remote, cables. The balanced sound sold it to me, along with the look of the power meters on the amp. At the time it was better than the amp I had been running, the difference in clarity was like night and day so I was happy.

There seems to be polarised opinion on these, whether they sound soft and gentle or harsh and ear-bleedingly glassy. Mine was at the soft and gentle end, I used it on many speakers and it never had the harsh, flat sound that many Technics amps suffer from - it did like soft dome tweeters better than metal ones though. It was almost valve-like although it lacked the overall warmth. Soundfield and imaging was quite good when you sat down to listen at low/mid volumes, better than most budget amps.

Mine developed a channel volume inbalance which was cured by changing the volume control for an Alps, at the same time I changed the op-amps in the pre-amp for better audio grade ones and this did improve the sound noticeably, especially the speed of the bass. Later on one of the input sockets broke, changed all of them for gold ones, spare parts from Technics are very expensive, when you can actually get them..

One thing which always bothered me was that when driven over mid volume, there was a noise - almost like an elecrtical switching interference superimposed on top of the music peaks, barely audible but certainly there throughout the time I owned it. Nobody else ever noticed this, I was the only person who could hear it. In retrospect the amp outputs were mosfet modules, I guess this was just the mosfet circuits switching, not as quiet as dedicated transistors and coupled with my music and speakers it noticed more.

Power output was fair but I found it hard to believe the 85w/ch printed in the manual. Mine would begin to sound pushed at around mid scale on the power meters, roughly mid sound levels on most speakers. It never ever clipped or distorted, even when I drove it very loud but wouldn't really like going there, the dynamics and low end bass would suffer long before the lofty heights of the 100w line on the power meters. It fared much better power-wise on 8 ohm speakers than on 4 ohm, if the speakers are quite sensitive then you might not have an issue. Not a massive amount of low end so I always ran it on floorstanders for extra bass extension - it suited my Wharfedale Valdus 500's quite well, the only amp which really forgave their weaknesses.

A nice sounding amp as long as you don't expect too much, has more visual character than most budget gear and looks more expensive than it really is. In retrospect there's better equipment to be had for the price, like most Technics gear these tend to be overpriced on the second hand market. That said, I did enjoy mine overall, if you hear one and like it then that's all that matters.

Strengths:
Nice looks, retro style beige power meters look good when lit at night

Soft, almost (ahem) valve-like sound

Clean phono stage

Reassuringly heavy, all the weight is in the power amp though - the pre amp is light enough to blow away in the wind..

Weaknesses:
Pre and power amp aren't actually separate, will only work with the umbilical cord attached between them

A.V.B.O system is a bit of a gimmick, certainly no noticeable noise but no better than any other well designed pre-amp

Slightly limited power wise, especially on 4 ohm speakers. Will reach its liimits long before the power meter goes off the scale, not a problem if you aren't after really loud sound levels

Cooling fan can be invasive at times, switches hard on at 1w output no matter what, annoying on quiet passages with low bass

Power amp has module outputs. Fair enough, they're decent quality but they should be discrete transistor for that price, I hate to think what they cost if one blows

Similar Products Used:
Technics SU-V8

Pioneer A400

tannoyya

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
More than 1 year

Price Paid:  $0.00

Summary:
wanted one of these in 93,94 got one 10 years later quite hard to get hold of one in 94 dont think there are that many about but this amp sounds fantastic with the yamaha ns1000 , the price it was being sold for in 94 £400 how did technics sell it for £400 they should be bust by now

Strengths:
remote control
great build good parts
works well with yamaha ns1000
bargain price

Weaknesses:
none

gravelrash

Overall Rating
 2 of 5

Value Rating
 3 of 5

Used product for
More than 1 year

Visitors rate this review
1.00 of 5, 1.00 votes

Price Paid:  $90.00 from ebay

Summary:
Big bass, harsh trebles, excellent soundstage. Ultimately overly forward, harsh and tiring to listen to.

When I first heard this amplifier paired with my Technics SBM-800 speakers, I was initially impressed with its exciting sound, and wide open soundstage. After a short while though, the overly heavy bass and harsh trebles started to fatigue me, and I found I kept wanting to turn the volume down. I also tried it with my Mission MS30i's and Qubic QLN111 speakers, with much the same experience.

I purchased this intending to replace my Technics SUA-700 amplifier, but I found the much smoother sound of the SUA-700 far more pleasant to listen to, despite its poorer sound staging and lack of bass control. However my partner, who is slightly hard of hearing (no, really!), really enjoyed the sound of the SUA-900, so she now uses the amplifier with the Mission MS30i's.

Reading the other reviews here, it is hard to believe that we are talking about the same amplifier.

Strengths:
Wide open sound stage
Plenty of Grunt
Great for the hard of hearing :-s

Weaknesses:
Overly forward
overpowering bass
harsh treble
tiring to listen to

Similar Products Used:
Technics SUA-700, Technics SUA-600, Pioneer A300R Precision, Denon PMA250

jtgofish

Overall Rating
 4 of 5

Value Rating
 4 of 5

Used product for
1 to 3 months

Visitors rate this review
5.00 of 5, 3.00 votes

Price Paid:  $220.00 from Ebay

Summary:
I heard this amp about ten years ago and thought it was special at the time so when one came up on ebay I could't resist buying it.
These are quite unusual sounding amps in that they fall neither into the warm and grubby sounding transistor amps like NAD and Yamaha or the clear but cold sounding ones[typical Japanese amps like Denon,Sony etc.]
They have very much their own sound,which is probably closer to some of the very high end Japanese amps like Luxman and Accuphase in terms of having very sweet,refined treble.The midrange is really different.It would be quite easy to think that it lacked body and expression and on some speakers it could sound thin and when driven hard even slightly shrill.But with speakers with warm and rich sounding mids[Spendor or stats for example] it is really suberb,with a wonderful detailed and airy quality and lacking the compressed,dirty sound that plagues most transistor amps.
The bass is simply superb-big and bouncy but also very detailed and tight.The best I have heard in any integrated amp. The big R core transformer must be the reason for this.
The real star quality of this amp is its imaging and it is this that in my opinion makes it deserving of the very best audiophile quality speakers and CD player.SACD and DVD audio sound amazing on this amp.

Strengths:
Imaging-very precise but open and airy.
Bass
Clarity
Very pure and neutral sounding midrange

Weaknesses:
Requires sympathetic speakers
Not a high current amp -much better with 8 ohm speakers than 4 ohm.
Midrange may be too delicate and gentle for many[not forceful]
Not for headbangers

Similar Products Used:
NIl

Artur

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
More than 1 year

Visitors rate this review
4.40 of 5, 5.00 votes

Price Paid:  $600.00

Summary:
This review is for the SE A 1000 / SU C 1000 combo. Except for light bass on pre-amp side I really can't complain about this Technics. This amp plays with grace with excellent midrange and crystal clear highs, bass is kind of shallow. You need to have equally good source and cables to really appreciate this amp (and any amp). If you use stock cables and some cheap sony speakers you WILL BE disappointed. Also, I don't know what is the point of this "virtual battery" as it does TOTALLY NOTHING to improve the sound. Anyway, combo plays my music (with my associated equipment) very well with a lot of detail and focus. I am not a BASS-HEAD so light bass does not bother me. My associated equipment: CD Player: NAD C541i Interconnects: DH Labs Silver Sonic BL-1 Speaker Cables: Straight Wire Encore Speakers: Dynaudio Audience 52

Strengths:
Non-fatiguing, detailed sonic presentation. You can listen to the music for hours without ever getting tired. Gorgeous, retro-style look with huge power meters.

Weaknesses:
Pre-amp is light on bass.