johnda
Addicted Member
In today's world of new miniature amplifiers there is one vintage amplifier that has been a favorite of a lot of folks. Putting out only 1.8 watts/channel it was available for people without much money to get a start in high fidelity. It started out as the SA-150 with a silver front and then became the SA-155 with a black front. It was under a few names over its lifetime, Radio Shack, Optimus, RCA, but was always the same unit underneath. What was really cool about this little gem was the fact that it included a phono input for ceramic and MM cartridges, a tuner line input and a CD/aux line input. The amplifier even had a tape out line.
The weak point was that the speaker outputs were RCA phono jacks that were used to connect the amp to Radio Shack speakers that also used phono jacks.
I decided to purchase one for myself to use as a computer sound system amplifier, because its small size allowed me to use a drawer in my computer desk. I got mine through EBay for $35 with free shipping and when I received it, was very happy to see that it was in very clean shape and there was no corrosion to be found anywhere. I purchased a set of RCA connectors and wired them to 18 gauge speaker wire and then connected a set of Optimus ProX7 speakers. Although the amp is very low powered, the audio was quite loud enough to be used at my desk.
What is really interesting about this amplifier is that you can use it with a better amp and let it be the preamp because of the line out connection. I can imagine using this little gem with a nice tube amplifier to power a good sounding system.
Added Note: It also has a mini jack on the front panel that allows you to connect an MP3 player, such as an iPod, to play sound files. That is quite a bit of flexibility for such a small box and this amp is an example of the time when the good thinkers worked for Radio Shack!
The weak point was that the speaker outputs were RCA phono jacks that were used to connect the amp to Radio Shack speakers that also used phono jacks.
I decided to purchase one for myself to use as a computer sound system amplifier, because its small size allowed me to use a drawer in my computer desk. I got mine through EBay for $35 with free shipping and when I received it, was very happy to see that it was in very clean shape and there was no corrosion to be found anywhere. I purchased a set of RCA connectors and wired them to 18 gauge speaker wire and then connected a set of Optimus ProX7 speakers. Although the amp is very low powered, the audio was quite loud enough to be used at my desk.
What is really interesting about this amplifier is that you can use it with a better amp and let it be the preamp because of the line out connection. I can imagine using this little gem with a nice tube amplifier to power a good sounding system.
Added Note: It also has a mini jack on the front panel that allows you to connect an MP3 player, such as an iPod, to play sound files. That is quite a bit of flexibility for such a small box and this amp is an example of the time when the good thinkers worked for Radio Shack!
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