Sony SRA-2 recording amp has me confused

Hi all,

Anyone familar with the SRA-2 tube recording amp from Sony. I picked up one from an auction and damned if I can figure out how to get the signal out to an amplifier. I plug a CD into Aux and...

The record and erase functions work fine (and the magic eyes indicators are very cool) with the matching 263D Reel Deck but I can't get a signal out. I tend to think it's user ignorance. I have the user's manual for the SRA-2 (but not for the 263D) and it is useless in regards to any trick related to the output jacks.

any clues would be appreciated.

i am resurrecting this as I am eyeing the same combo on ebay....did you have any luck?

The SRA-2 is built to work with a 2-head tape deck - one record/playback head and one erase head. The SRA-2 is only a recording amplifier; it does not amplify the output from the record/playback head when set to "play" mode. It simply switches the record/playhead head jacks to the "output" jacks.

Sony expected you to use a stereo preamplifier with a tape head input for playback. This was a common feature for amps of that time, for example, the Harmon Kardon A500.

If you have a 262-D or a 263-D tape deck with three heads (record, playback, and erase) you can ignore the output connector on the SRA-2 and just connect the playback head to your amplifier's tape head input.