Great front end, very quiet, Stasis Amplification is airy and dynamic, huge soundstage. Overall a very solid receiver

The fluorescent digital display on these tend to become a little faded and uneven but still quite useable. The tuner section is not as strong as the Marantz 2500.

When this receiver was first reviewed back in 1989, with it's Nelson Pass designed Stasis amplifier I considered it as an option to my Marantz 2500 but decided to save the bucks since some experts I knew told me it's 100wpc could not compare to the Marantz's 250wpc. They also said that Nakamichi had problems with the earlier SA line and they may not be as reliable as my then 10 year old Marantz had been. 15 years later I picked one up off of Ebay and was amazed at just how wrong those experts were about the Nakamichi. While it can't produce the kind of gut wrenching volume of the Marantz, the sound was so much more open and transparent that I didn't care. As far as power goes, it has plenty of dynamic power for any normal home listening without any sign of clipping even when turned all the way up. It's almost tubelike. Even at nearly twenty years of age this receiver is still perfectly quiet and clean with none of the pot noise I would get from the Marantz between cleanings. Don't get me wrong, the 2500 is a great piece of gear and even though I got nearly $1500 for it on Ebay, I do wish I'd of kept it. But, the sonic superiority of this old Nakamichi is unquestionable. I have A/B compared it with a friends 105wpc Stereophile recommended B&K seprates system running alternately, my Von Schweikert "Vortex Screens" and a pair of freshly rebuilt Celestion SL6S's which are both fairly power thirsty speakers. Both of these speakers can throw a huge soundstage, especially the Screens, but need good electonics to perform their best. The TA 4A killed the B&K's in sweetnes and clarity, image and soundstage, along with a more dynamic and tight bottom end. The Screens are a large speaker rated flat down to 27Hz and the Nakamichi just sounded more solid and clean all the way down. Yes I wish it was packing 250wpc of Stasis amplification but in the realm of all in one units I can't imagine a better sounding buy at any price or power rating. Maybe the McIntosh 4100 receiver if you can find one but even then I doubt it and you will pay a lot more than $400. The Nakamichi TA 4A isn't a Threshold separates system but it might be close. It won't make your old Cerwin Vegas sound like Martin Logans but it will make any true high end speaker sound really good. The ony real weakness is the tuner. My Marantz had a amazing tuner section that outperformed everything else I ever owned including a Nikko Gamma. If you find a TA 4A in good condition, jump on it. You won't be sorry.

Customer Service

No longer available from Nakamichi but there are a number of third party vendors on the internet that recondition the Nakamichi equipment.

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Never heard a reciever like it!

When you let the TA4A warm up, the sound is very rich and dynamic. Also, it pulls far more amperage than current receivers! This receiver is an excellant choice for vinyl!!!!!!

-none-

The Nakamichi TA4A is exceptional. I believe it is one of the finest solid-state components my ears have ever experienced. I was fortunate to hear my first TA4A through a set of TDL MONITORS!! The hair stands up on my skin just thinking about it! The TDL Monitors could surely eat more than the TA4A could throw at them, but the Dynamics offered by mating those two was phenominal. Anyone could learn to appreciate the detail of music simply by listening to a cheap recording, then a quality recording through that set-up. The cheap recording comes across life-less and dull, while the TA4A eagerly sends the musical peaks into the air with plenty of overhead. Not to mention that the Monitors have awesome bass-extension. (Transmission-line speakers need I say more.) That is truly he beauty of the TA4A, the overhead power waiting for your favorite recording! I would recommend this receiver to anybody who appreciates 2-channel stereo!!!

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Waveguide 4 speaker cable. Straightwire directional interconnects. Klipsch Heresy II. Pioneer turntable.

Powerful for 100 wpc. Does not get any better at the original list price of $1000.00 let alone what I paid for it.

NONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I bought this used. What a great piece of audio gear. This thing ROCKS!!!!!!!!! At 100wpc it is a true power house receiver with a very clean, detailed, smooth and open preamp section. Very musical for a "receiver" that is 13-14 years old. Get one if you can find one.

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NAD, ROTEL, ADCOM and MARANTZ

Stasis technology, what more can you ask for. Case design will never go out of style.

none to date

The TA-4A is a great design. Making a chassis that includes seperates in one box was a great idea. This is one of the few amps that can run my Accustat 1+1's cleanly(without costing thousands).

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Denon avr-1800 (still use the TA-4A to drive the Accustats)

Great sound, best Amp, timeless chassis design. This receiver looks and sounds like a classic.

Needs to be powered on for 10 minutes to heat up to realize full potential of amp and circuitry. Tone bypass button crackles a bit when cold, but dissapears after warm-up. Important to match speakers with listening preferences. (i.e rock=klipsch, classical=Revel)like most other audiophile equipment.

Superb receiver, incredible AMP. Clean signal with intense power and ability to push bass effortlessly. Nice design, heavy chassis and well vented. Sounds great at low volume as well as at high volumes. Must be mated to excellent CD player and with speakers that are warmer sounding (like Revel or B&W)to get the full "feel" of the music.

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Krell, Proceed, B&W, Revel.

Variable loudness clean clear power

could use more i/o { it does have a lots } could use a midrange control

{ TA-3A } Lots of clean accurate power. I very rarely get the volume above 3with the loudness on 3 as well. I absolutely love love love the variable loudness control. Never thought I would use the video i/o but I did and would have liked more. It has a base and treble control I keep flat by using the bypass button, if I was not using an EQ I would have liked a midrange control as well. The record out selector has also surprised me with it's usefulness as it temporally allows you to divert your signal flow without changing tour settings. I also like the shape of it square simple serious.

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Harmon/kardon, Marantz

Great detail and tight bass. If you can get one for <$500 as previously described, buy it. You definitely won''t be sorry.

The engineers should have left the video switching out and stayed with audio alone.

I bought the TA-4 in 1990 when it first came out and used it for over 5 years then gave it to my father after I upgraded to McIntosh separates. I loved it when I was using only tapes and vinyl. Heck, I humped the heavy thing on the Japanese train system for the 1 hour+ trip back to my house near Yokosuka NavSta. When I made the jump to CDs in 1992 I always felt the Nak was a little to honest for me and CDs were a little harsh and bright with it, probably more because of early digital recording techniques and poor quality players and interconnects. It is very musical and capable component and my father has been driving Klipschhorns and ESSs with it and he couldn''t be happier. His remark is that since his hearing is fading he is happy with the extra detail the Nak brings out in his classical vinyl. He experimented with a few different combinations of interconnects and speaker cables until he has the sound he loves. I agree and asked to buy it from him for use in my office. I would duplicate his cable selections and use some small B&W speakers and probably work late every night. I probably don''t have to tell you the look I got from him for that question. His closing statement was "Wait until I am deaf or dead, then you can have it back".

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Mcintosh C712, C40 preamps and MC300 amp Onkyo Integra serarates.

Amplifier section: Nakamichi's Stassis Topology is the best performing stereo amp in a reciever I've heard

It's a reciever

For those of us who would be audiophiles if we could afford to be, this is the component. For around $500, this reciever does an excellent job in defining the music. You'd have to go to a class B integrated or seperates to get better performance. Dual zone speaker selector plus a speaker off function which allows you to keep the amplifier warm without sending signal to your speakers. It has 2 channels of video switching as well. Skip the bells and whistels and buy a well made piece like this if you can find one. It's entry level high end for the value minded. Strong enough to drive any load you can throw at it. I had silver jumpers made to replace the factory chrome c clip-jumpers and it sounds much more defined. I highly recommend that tweek. The reciever can be used as a preamp or amplifier as well. Very flexible piece with good build quality. Weighs about 35 lbs.

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Harmon Kardon, Denon, Pioneer Elite

stable design, visually appealing desin after 6 years.
hot-rod power! nice vynil/record control options. heavy as a truck.

after 6 years, none.

i have had this amp too since 1995. it has performed and been pushed for many hours and still drives like a dream.

it is a very clean tuner/amp. i ran it alone powering 4 speakers *and* a non-powered sub for several years, and it threw the power at you when you needed it.

since the bases have been covered by the other posts, you can read it's quality's there. having driven this amp daily since '95, it has performed flawlessly!
-- find one and buy it.

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NAD, Marantz...

Stasis Topology, Discrete Circuitry, High Current Delivery, and balanced sound.

This receiver has been a joy to own. It is truly like owning seperates in one box. More musical than the newer models and built like a tank. Multiroom feature is great along with record out selector. You can pick these up used in the $500.00 range. I believe I paid about $975.00 Highly recomended in my book as far as receivers go.

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NAD, Rotel.