SoCal Sam
Lunatic Member
After reading and seeing Vintagestereo's Setton for the past month, I had to have a RS 660. Finding none, I settled for the next best thing, the BS 5500 amplifier. This amp is a true dual mono design with the only shared component being the electrical feed, which interestly takes a common computer cord. These cords are ubiquitous today but rare back in the day. The seller said it was TOTL, but at 100 watts a side, I suspect there might be something bigger out there.
While the internal design is fairly conventional with 20,000 uF 63 volt capacitance per side, the Pierre Cardin design elements fascinate. The marquis says "Setton Two Entirely Separate Amplifiers BS 5500". On the case, there is a Sansui-like block design to trumpet the dual mono circuitry. The unique knobs and paddles are as the 660. The meter cover is a lovely rose tint that when lit emits a warm yellow glow. Pierre wouldn't have chosen green or blue, like the rest.
In operation, the BS delights. There are two power switches. When powering on, the three lights next to the dials glow and go out one by one, like the warning lights on 70's cars used to. There is a gain control and a speaker selector for each channel but this is not a true integrated amp. There are no tone controls nor are there input selectors or a phone stage. I searched for the matching tuner and preamp on the web but found nothing. In fact, I found nothing on the BS.
Soundwise, this thing sounds surprisingly good given the emphasis on design appearance. I'm beginning to think Luxman had a hand in this as they made dual mono amps.
While the internal design is fairly conventional with 20,000 uF 63 volt capacitance per side, the Pierre Cardin design elements fascinate. The marquis says "Setton Two Entirely Separate Amplifiers BS 5500". On the case, there is a Sansui-like block design to trumpet the dual mono circuitry. The unique knobs and paddles are as the 660. The meter cover is a lovely rose tint that when lit emits a warm yellow glow. Pierre wouldn't have chosen green or blue, like the rest.
In operation, the BS delights. There are two power switches. When powering on, the three lights next to the dials glow and go out one by one, like the warning lights on 70's cars used to. There is a gain control and a speaker selector for each channel but this is not a true integrated amp. There are no tone controls nor are there input selectors or a phone stage. I searched for the matching tuner and preamp on the web but found nothing. In fact, I found nothing on the BS.
Soundwise, this thing sounds surprisingly good given the emphasis on design appearance. I'm beginning to think Luxman had a hand in this as they made dual mono amps.
