lorne
Sonic Lizard
I started this thread in response to an inquiry on another thread — Echo Wars' celebrated “DC Offset and You”. 440hz was trying to dial in the offset in his A-777 and wondering if it was the same as an A-717 illustrated on a web page noted below. He also wanted to know what I thought of mine.
Inquiries regarding this model have been raised before. The response has been serious, but rather sparse. So I thought that I would review what has been said in the past, as well as call on members to throw in any fresh input they deem relevant. Hopefully someone might even come up with a — dare I say it — a schematic.
Currently, Nishi-san’s marvellous site contains the only reference to the A-717 on the net AFAIK — albeit in Japanese:
http://www.niji.or.jp/home/k-nisi/a-717.htm
In a nutshell: the A-717 was a 100 watt/8 0hms, 19.6 kilo variable bias adjusting Class-A or non-switching integrated amp. It appeared in 1987 and was produced through 1989. I have no idea about it’s export history.
It used various materials and hexagonal shaped forms throughout its construction in an attempt to control resonance and vibration. The transformers received special attention and were potted using pitch in iron cases. Relays were used in conjunction with careful layout in order to create the shortest signal paths.
The amp appeared a year after Sony layed the F-333ESX on the market and ran off with laurels for having presented a ton of build quality for a very modest price. This stimulated responses from other makers, and soon Pioneer and others were trying to unseat Sony from its throne atop the affordable, high class integrated amp. It seems that the big guys were struggling in a battle for public prestige when the Japanese economy and society was having the party of its life. In other words, Sony and Pioneer could afford their little war, and a lot of people could afford decent audio.
The A-717 had siblings:
The A-90 (1987) was far more expensive. It had a little more power and enlarged on the whole theme in order to weigh in at 29+ kilos. It was aimed at the AV crowd and came with a serious, on-board DAC.
The A-838 was a stripped down A-90 with no DAC. It too was more expensive than the 717, but at only half the price of the A-90, Nishi says that it was a notable bargain.
Here are some things that members have said in the past:
:arrow: griz780 bought one during his navy travels and liked it very much. He says it introduced him to high-end.
:arrow: Leestereo said he has an A-757 (1989) which he thinks is identical to the A-717.
:arrow: Bolly reports the Bluebook as saying it has ‘hybrid coil transformers’ (I don’t know what they are).
:arrow: PMik was more than impressed with the ‘Direct’ function. He said that overall the 717 is a very transparent amp, and it is hard to find a weakness except for the RIAA circuit. PMik points out that the successors to the silver-face series (of revered memory) are the black models that include the A-717, 757, 777, 818, 858, A-90 and 91.
:arrow: Now my 2-bits about the amp itself. It intrigues me — the whole unit as a concept and product. I like the sound, but I am wondering if this is one machine that could really benefit from fresh caps. For awhile I was alternating between my Sansui Au-alpha707Extra and the 717 until the Pioneer’s phono section packed it in. I intend to rebuild all the boards some time in the future. How can you leave an amp with a honeycombed, copper-plated chassis and iron-cased transformers in the closet?
Is 440hz’s A-777 the same machine? It looks to be, but I just don’t know. I hope that somebody out there has the definitive answer to that question. I hope that others have some things to contribute in regards to this and other older, black face Pioneer integs. If anyone can come up with ... say ... a scanned schematic? ... well I’ll be pulling the bubble packed lump out of the closet and writing a parts order.
Cheers all — Lorne
Inquiries regarding this model have been raised before. The response has been serious, but rather sparse. So I thought that I would review what has been said in the past, as well as call on members to throw in any fresh input they deem relevant. Hopefully someone might even come up with a — dare I say it — a schematic.
Currently, Nishi-san’s marvellous site contains the only reference to the A-717 on the net AFAIK — albeit in Japanese:
http://www.niji.or.jp/home/k-nisi/a-717.htm
In a nutshell: the A-717 was a 100 watt/8 0hms, 19.6 kilo variable bias adjusting Class-A or non-switching integrated amp. It appeared in 1987 and was produced through 1989. I have no idea about it’s export history.
It used various materials and hexagonal shaped forms throughout its construction in an attempt to control resonance and vibration. The transformers received special attention and were potted using pitch in iron cases. Relays were used in conjunction with careful layout in order to create the shortest signal paths.
The amp appeared a year after Sony layed the F-333ESX on the market and ran off with laurels for having presented a ton of build quality for a very modest price. This stimulated responses from other makers, and soon Pioneer and others were trying to unseat Sony from its throne atop the affordable, high class integrated amp. It seems that the big guys were struggling in a battle for public prestige when the Japanese economy and society was having the party of its life. In other words, Sony and Pioneer could afford their little war, and a lot of people could afford decent audio.
The A-717 had siblings:
The A-90 (1987) was far more expensive. It had a little more power and enlarged on the whole theme in order to weigh in at 29+ kilos. It was aimed at the AV crowd and came with a serious, on-board DAC.
The A-838 was a stripped down A-90 with no DAC. It too was more expensive than the 717, but at only half the price of the A-90, Nishi says that it was a notable bargain.
Here are some things that members have said in the past:
:arrow: griz780 bought one during his navy travels and liked it very much. He says it introduced him to high-end.
:arrow: Leestereo said he has an A-757 (1989) which he thinks is identical to the A-717.
:arrow: Bolly reports the Bluebook as saying it has ‘hybrid coil transformers’ (I don’t know what they are).
:arrow: PMik was more than impressed with the ‘Direct’ function. He said that overall the 717 is a very transparent amp, and it is hard to find a weakness except for the RIAA circuit. PMik points out that the successors to the silver-face series (of revered memory) are the black models that include the A-717, 757, 777, 818, 858, A-90 and 91.
:arrow: Now my 2-bits about the amp itself. It intrigues me — the whole unit as a concept and product. I like the sound, but I am wondering if this is one machine that could really benefit from fresh caps. For awhile I was alternating between my Sansui Au-alpha707Extra and the 717 until the Pioneer’s phono section packed it in. I intend to rebuild all the boards some time in the future. How can you leave an amp with a honeycombed, copper-plated chassis and iron-cased transformers in the closet?
Is 440hz’s A-777 the same machine? It looks to be, but I just don’t know. I hope that somebody out there has the definitive answer to that question. I hope that others have some things to contribute in regards to this and other older, black face Pioneer integs. If anyone can come up with ... say ... a scanned schematic? ... well I’ll be pulling the bubble packed lump out of the closet and writing a parts order.
Cheers all — Lorne