Anyone for a quick round of "Guess the Manufacturer?"

[dickard]

Okay... I know a few things about this tuner, such as the name that's on the front and the fact that it was made in Japan. I'm not going to share any other information right away. Any guesses?










As you can see, it needs a new battery.

This is my first attempt at linking photos in my post so please be patient.

Rich

 

[dr*audio]

Lotsa Sanyo parts in there, so I'll guess Sanyo.

 

[Holst]

By the way it's sitting in that metal frame and the extenders on the switches just sez Luxman, it's a 5T50 and I'm sticking with that.

 

[dickard]

By the way it's sitting in that metal frame and the extenders on the switches just sez Luxman, it's a 5T50 and I'm sticking with that.

I was originally thinking that it was a 5T50 as well, because all of the switch gear is Alps, but then I saw the picture of the Luxman:

The two don't look very similar at all.

Rich

 

[dickard]

Lotsa Sanyo parts in there, so I'll guess Sanyo.

Doc:

Which parts are the Sanyo parts?

 

[Brian]

Oh, for the heck of it, I'll guess a NAD. With the blue ladders, I also suspect an Adcom.

 

[joemango]

It has a decent 5-gang FM front end for sure. Would have been better if the board was laid out properly.

Reminds me of Akai but I'll go with Onkyo.

 

[dr*audio]

The ICs say LA... that's a Sanyo number. The tuner says LA on it, could be a Sanyo also. That Luxman is built like a piece of spacecraft hardware!

 

[dickard]

The ICs say LA... that's a Sanyo number. The tuner says LA on it, could be a Sanyo also. That Luxman is built like a piece of spacecraft hardware!

That Luxman has a lot of circuitry, that's for sure. Amazing for a digital tuner. I guess that's why it had such a high price tag.

The mystery tuner was supposed to be a high end tuner in its day. Although it didn't cost as much as the Luxman, its retail price was still pretty high at $800, in 1980. I'm thinking now that it was merely a mediocre tuner with a high end price tag. It's funny because the bottom cover is really thick metal, which adds a lot of weight, but once that is taken off, the tuner is fairly light. Not quite BPC, and I certainly have no complaints about its performance.

I have to be honest, I really don't know who the manufacturer is of this tuner, so there will be no winner unless someone can verify. I'd say so far Dr. Audio is the most right seeing as there are Sanyo part numbers involved. I'm wondering, did Sanyo use Alps switches too? For all I know, all Japanese companies were using Alps.

Rich

 

[dr*audio]

I thought you said you know the name on the front panel? I think pretty much everyone used ALPS parts. Sanyo did make a tuner that was supposed to be very good, I think it's called the Plus 55. Any tuner with a 5 gang frontend like that should be very good.

 

[dickard]

I thought you said you know the name on the front panel?

Oh, I know the name on the front panel. I just wanted to know if anyone knew who built it, as it's from an Austrian company, yet built in Japan.

 

[Nakdoc]

The ICs are labeled "Q105" etc. The only oem that does that is Toshiba. To everyone else it is IC105. In Orion there is an ST-910 toshiba tuner for $1800

 

[dr*audio]

Onkyo calls their IC's "Q105" also.

 

[MeAN]

Is this it ?

btw, if it is it, I realized that you have it in your signature

also, it closely resembles the Sanyo T55.

cheers,
Carlo

 

[dickard]

Is this it ?

btw, if it is it, I realized that you have it in your signature


cheers,
Carlo

That's the one!

There are definitely some similarities between the Eumig and the Sanyo Plus 55. I couldn't find any internal shots of the Sanyo unfortunately, and the externals that I found were so small I couldn't make out much of anything.

Now I'm wondering if anybody knows where I can find a replacement Ni-Cad for this beast.

Rich

 

[MeAN]

Now I'm wondering if anybody knows where I can find a replacement Ni-Cad for this beast.

Well, if the voltage is still readable, you may build it using rechargeable cells (the same size of the quartz watches).. just a quick idea.. :yes:

cheers,
Carlo

 

[dr*audio]

From the Tuner Information Center:

 

[Nakdoc]

It is not a plus 55. I have the service manual. The IC compliment is different, although the ICs are labeled "Q".