Picked up a Nakamichi SR-3A Stasis receiver

vinyldavid

Collectorius Giganticus
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A hearing-damaged friend of mine had this in storage, and he was going to bring it out for use powering some speakers in his living room to add extra bass to his TV.

I offered to swap him an Onkyo home theater receiver I had kicking around for the same duties, and he said sure.

So I brought this home, not knowing what to think. I wired it up to the Klipsch Choruses and.... :thmbsp: I'm impressed. I generally don't like receivers, but this one sounds like music. It's got more "guts" than the Crown D75 I'd been running before (and rated at 45wpc vs 35wpc).

Haven't tested the phono section out yet, but I'm certainly impressed. I'll A/B it with the Crown when I get the rest of my system put back together.

I seem to recall that Nelson Pass got angry with Nakamichi over their implementation of his design into these receivers, but it's quite nice.

Here's a pic I stole off the 'gon, mine's in pretty good shape, just no place to photograph it now.

1317777008.jpg
 
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I believe that they made some design changes so it could be made cheaply and put into mass-market receivers with small powersupplies, relative to the giant monster that was the Nak PA-7 that also had a Stasis circuit.
 
oh, interesting,

when you have some spare time/space if would be interesting to see some pics of the internals of that receiver.
 
The picture's backround looks too tidy for that to be your room... :D:D:D

Great trade for you! And, hopefully for your friend as well. :thmbsp:
 
Ooh I found one of those at GW a few weeks ago, sounded really nice, but I really couldn't figure out where I'd put it lol.
 
I have no idea what I'm going to do with it either...I like the Crown D75 better still (plus my wonderful Integra pre). For a receiver, it is truly impressive.

I'll grab some pics of the internals later tonight.

The guy I got it from was happy to have something with a remote, and happy to let me have something I thought sounded good.
 
Finally hooked up my SR-3A paired with another golden oldie, the Magnavox CDB-650. I am really surprised how good this thing sounds. I wasn't a fan of the Stasis design as implemented in the PA-7 because of the heat and lack of speaker relay which is why the SR-3A languished for so long in the stacks. Hooray, the SR-3A runs cool and there is even a speaker relay.

So, if the SR-3A has a faithful Stasis circuit, it must stay in Class A for at least the first few watts which would be more than enough for 90 dB on my bookshelf speakers? Anyone know for sure??
 
Not sure on how long it stays in Class A.

My SR-3A is on long term loan to a friend driving Boston Acoustics A150's with a Technics SL-1500. It's a nice sounding setup in his small bedroom, and a huge step up from BPC he had before.
 
I realize this is an old thread...but I just acquired an SR-3a ($40!) and am more impressed than I expected. Amp section is more than capable of running my Infinity WTLCs (not easy speakers to drive) louder than I could stand in a 20X20 workroom - but the really impressive part is the clarity of the sound. Add to that the best loudness curve I have heard in decades and I have taken the sub off line as unnecessary. Add to that an amazingly clean FM tuner (my wife thought I was playing a CD) and great/easy dubbing between CD recorder and tape decks and I am a most happy camper! Hoorah for extraordinary vintage!
 
Those Nak Stasis receivers were quite nice, alright. At $40, I'd be tempted, too, but I already have a garage system that does all I need out there... just nowhere to put it. Good catch.
 
I think NP got a nice chunk of change for Nak's licence. He seemed not to know which units even got the Stassis circuit. I also believe that Nakamichi did the phono and front end with a sonic quality to blow away the rest of the competition. For a receiver it is a very good MC phono section. I know they parted ways at some point, but I do not think it was due to cheapening the Stassis circuit. The TA series units seem to have some reliability problems, due to being made in China and not in Japan.
 
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