Technics SA-850, TOTL 100wpc from 1984

[petes'picks]

I dont see much info on this one so I decided to post some pics and my impressions of it. I picked this one up 4 or so years ago because it had a little heft to it but the looks almost made me put it back and leave it. Cleaned sliders with faderlube and they have been perfectly quite sense then. I was very surprised the first time I heard it but hadn't used it much because of its looks, I even put it out for a garage sale at a crazy low price and luckily it didnt sell. I have heard and had dozens and dozens of receivers come through here sense then and each time I revisit it I realize thats its a much better receiver than I first gave it credit for because I was mostly infatuated with the warm fuzzy sound of my better looking 70s stuff (still am).
Its rated at 100wpc 20-20K @ .005%thd, IM .01%, 1.8db headroom, 500watts consumption. Main filter caps are 12000uf/71v with a dummy support leg, lots of IC chips in circuits but the outputs are discrete. Tuner has wide/narrow option, has a clean and full sound but I would guess this one needs alignment because dial is off a hair (89.30 tunes better at 89.35).
It has a sound close to the JVC Super A stuff I have heard. The SA-850 has bass that goes deep, stays in control and has a fullness that a lot of receivers lack from that era. I may recap this one with silmics and poly where they fit.
Not sure what the "NEW CLASS A" means, if anyone knows if it really is class A at the first few watts it would be nice to know so if our resident Technics guru SVI2004A or anyone else have any info or impressions of this receiver I would love to hear them. My SA600 may have an edge in imagining and but the SA850 is an outrageous bargin when comparing costs (when you can find one anyway) and beats it in low end propulsion.

 

[pognoot]

I picked up an SA-850 for $35 at a garage sale. I just like the looks, believe it or not. Very 1980s with that display. It sounds OK enough, I am using for a bedroom system right now with some JBL L110s.

 

[twiiii]

We sold Technics, Yamaha, Marantz, B&O,Mcintosh, and some Pioneer, Revox, Tandberg,Nakamichi, Altec, EPI, Boston, RTR and Bozak during that period. In fact we were the leading Pioneer dealer for 5 years in a row in the Rocky Mountains. The only reason we sold Technics electronics was to get the Turntables. The Technics were good units, they weren't Pioneer or Sansui however. I preferred the smoother sound of the Sansui. Pioneer was a little smoother, too. I always recommended Pioneer to my friends. Technics was the leader for a while in the Big receiver race, with their big unit rated at 300+ watts per channel. The issue with Technics was warranty service. It was just easier to exchange units when one of the big beasts crashed as the factory was slow on parts and even slower when they tried to fix their own units. They would not fix the GI's units they bought over Seas or at the PX under warranty and that was a big issue for us, so we ended up having to quietly drop the electronics. We pissed off to many customers saying we couldn't fix their units under warranty and that is bad for your reputation in the retail business.

Today is a totally different world and consumers are use to the new rules. I'm not. The idea Apple refuses to service your computer when it becomes 6 years old really pisses me off. I run their most advanced software, so why not service the unit.