How Good Is Akai?

They made some awesome sounding VHS hi-fi VCR decks in the 80's too that featured a different quicker kind of loading/start up mechanism than other VCR's.
My pride and joy once was a new TOTL AKAI VS-A77 that I purchased in 1989 after rave reviews from the UK hi-fi mags.It was a truly beautiful machine with it's built in amp/speaker connections at the rear,also had a built-in Dolby Surround decoder.I've still got it,but sadly it no longer works...happy memories.
 
mark902 said:
I have an akai aa-1050 which I find to be quite kick-ass. as well I have two of their finest cassette decks from the late seventies, the gxc-570d and the 760d. all three pieces are big fine machines.

I hear Yamaha stole the look.
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I bought my brother a 1050 in the 70's and its still running, no service. They were built well!
 
I've got a GX-730D, GXC 710, GXC-730(cassette) and a M3 cassette. ALL very good performers. The GX365D I had after I rebuilt it was better than the 730D, but I didn't care for the looks of it at the time. All have gotten at least belts in the last 2 years. Other than that and a good deoxit bath nothing done to any of them.

Build quality of the 70's units very good, well laid out, a lot of point to point wiring on the R2R's.

Larry
 
I have AM-69 integrated, SW-156 speaker, AP-206 TT, CD-62 player right now. AM-69 just a killer amp, very sweet sounding, fast and lots of real power. SW-156 speakers..well I think I will never sell them. They are surprisingly efficient speakers with soul!. AP-206 is very well made tt with nice arm. CD-62 has linear tracking mechanism and still working without any problems.

If I ever see any other Akai gear with a reasonable price, I'll never think twice..
 
Bought an Akai 8080L receiver a couple of weeks ago, built in 1972 or 1973 from the original owner and used all this time for 45 years, he told me. Never been serviced either. He gave me a test listening at his place with some crappy speakers, sounded not that good but I could have it for 40 euro. I could not find any defects on it so I decided to buy it. People this thing sounds, when connected to some decent speakers, very, very detailed, warm, punchy, crisp clear and powerful. It has an overall feel of great quality to it sound and buildwise. Knobs are heavy and solid. Light bulbs working for 45 years, they still shine like the first day IMO. Never acquired a vintage amp that surprised me this much. Maybe I was lucky. The pics that came from the seller showed a dusty cover so I guess most buyers would have been scared of what was to see on the inside. Another surprise. The inside was near spotless, except from some easy to remove dust under the vent. I read the second cofounder of the company ( surname 'Akai' giving the company it's name, meaning 'red' ) died in 1973. Maybe there the decline of the brand started but this thing sure was and is still a hell of a good receiver.
 
Great gear -not sold in large amounts in the US but for some reason there is tons of it here in NZ. I have an AM-2450 (I think that's the number) - amplifier and it has 3 x TO-3P outputs per side - meaty and well-powered. Great build quality and sound quality. I'm still assessing whether to keep or toss mine, as I am selling most of my amps to pay for overpriced super-rare novelty amps that give me heaps of trouble, lols.
 
That reference amplifier was for sale in NZ a couple of weeks ago - not sure what it went for but it looked great. I had no idea Akai made "fancier" equipment.
 
F9283A0A-2FC1-4C8E-AA38-8A45007A1FA0.jpeg I’d like to know a bit more on this set...


To celebrate it's 60th anniversary AKAI created in 1989 a dream amplifier. It was a 60 units limited edition Digital pre-power amplifier. Out of the 60 units made 30 were sold in Europe.

The AKAI DA-P 9500 pre-amplifier acts like a Digital Controller where the analog signal is converted to digital and the signal is transmitted in digital format to the power amplifier. There are 12 analog inputs, 4 digital coaxial and 4 digital optical. There is rec-out for tape, 2 vcr and 2 digital. The pre-amplifier has a digital parametric equalizer that can be controlled via the 2 way
system remote. Dimensions: 466x154x445 mm Weight: ca. 19 kg
The AKAI DA-A 9500 is a 200 w/ch (FTC 20-20000Hz 8 ohm) power amplifier that has a built in D/A converter and can be used as an independent unit for digital sources and it can be controlled with it's own remote control. Dimensions: 466x214x498 mm
Weight: 35 kg
 
I currently have an AM-2400 that works and sounds great! Also have a beautiful GXC-725D sitting on a shelf because it has a known problem (intermittently stops in play). I once had a gorgeous black faced AT-2650 Tuner that was not only beautiful to behold in operation, but pulled in stations that none of my tuners since could pull in with great clarity.

Akai doesn't get a lot of respect here, and I don't mind. I've always loved under the radar gear.
 
From a former sales person's standpoint, Akai was not the brand most customers flocked to. No bonafide reason other than there was not as much buzz or ad hype generated as there was for other brands. Tape machines excepted.

In my opinion Akai components were on par with any of the 1970's stereo brand "biggies".

I recently got inside of a lowish powered (20 or so WPC) silver face, analog tuning Akai receiver from that era and it has comparatively the largest transformer relative to output power I have so far seen.
 
62vauxhall said:
From a former sales person's standpoint, Akai was not the brand most customers flocked to. No bonafide reason other than there was not as much buzz or ad hype generated as there was for other brands. Tape machines excepted.

In my opinion Akai components were on par with any of the 1970's stereo brand "biggies".

I recently got inside of a lowish powered (20 or so WPC) silver face, analog tuning Akai receiver from that era and it has comparatively the largest transformer relative to output power I have so far seen.
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Yes, totally. I have an 35wpc AA-1135 that weighs as much if not more than some of my 100w 7.1 AVRs...
 
I'm a bit of a self-proclaimed Akai fanboy.

I own 3 of their cassette decks (GXC-740D, GXC-760D, and GX-F80), and one receiver (AA-R30). Still on the hunt for a few of their other high end components.

They're well known/respected for their tape gear, but the recievers/amps/tuners are quite overlooked IMO. Quality made stuff w/great sound and great looks, but doesn't command the same love/prices as well more known brands/gear.
 
To toss a rock to your Akai garden, the lettering on the fascias of 1970s receivers like AA-1050 seems to come off easily if you rub it unlike on other brands.

I had a feeling AA-1050 would sound good. How does it compare sonically to say Yamaha CR-800 or Marantz 2270 which I had?
 
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sssboa said:
To toss a rock to your Akai garden, the lettering on the fascias of 1970s receivers like AA-1050 seems to come off easily if you rub it unlike on other brands
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This is very true although have cleaned many and haven't yet experienced it myself.

sssboa said:
I had a feeling AA-1050 sounds good. How does it compare sonically to say Yamaha CR-800 or Marantz 2270 which I had?
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I haven't owned an AA-1050 (a good mate does) but have had it's little brother the 1020 and many Akai integrated amps form the same period (AM-2650, 2450 etc). I had a Yamaha CR-800 and have had many Marantz 22xx series receivers and 10xx amps NOT including the 2270 and to me the Akai's sound better in nearly all respects, smooth yet detailed is how l would describe them.

The Akai gear does sound much more like the Marantz gear though than the Yamaha gear l have had.
 
Oldsansui441 said:
This is very true although have cleaned many and haven't yet experienced it myself.



I haven't owned an AA-1050 (a good mate does) but have had it's little brother the 1020 and many Akai integrated amps form the same period (AM-2650, 2450 etc). I had a Yamaha CR-800 and have had many Marantz 22xx series receivers and 10xx amps NOT including the 2270 and to me the Akai's sound better in nearly all respects, smooth yet detailed is how l would describe them.

The Akai gear does sound much more like the Marantz gear though than the Yamaha gear l have had.
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It's all subjective as to sound. I like those old Yamahas dearly, CR-1000 is my favourite, so crisp. I also have Sony STR-6065 from same period, and I like it a lot. Marantz 2270 is to me inferior sounding to Yamahas and Sonys, kind of bloated and soft with too much middle bass. I didn't like late 1970s Technics integrated, too light sounding. Of course I had all my gear recapped and serviced.

I just saw some insides of Akai AA-1050. Some units have transformers with coils sticking out as they do nowadays, I don't like it, some transformers buzz in vintage gear, never found it in Yamahas, most old Marantzes do buzz, and half Sonys. The build quality of Akai AA-1050 doesn't seem great overall. I wonder if traces come off pcbs like letters from the frontplate :) ? Also wonder if the relay is still available.
 
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I have a AA-V301 that surprised me with the nad 3020 type sound it has. Puts Akai on my worth test driving list for sure.
 
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