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A rare Sony ESPRIT trio

Geez Stoffie, you're single-handedly pushing Sony prices sky-high........

Anyway, great addition to your already superb collection!
I hope to see the innards of this one as well one day...... :angel:

And get yourself a TA-5650. You'll be in for a pleasant surprise, I can promise you that.
And, knowing you, you'll probably find a rare blackface model somewhere. ;)
 
Erik,
about Sony TA-N7B that you "missed" on e-Bay.
That was me who "got it"

*EDITED*
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Pepichek.
I have both TA-E/N7B but I didn´t pay 950 € for power amp.... Just a bit over 1000 € for both units with shipping to Sweden:-) Now I have a TA-E/N901 on the way from Denmark and for an hour ago I made a deal on Sony TA-E1 and TA-N1, don´t ask how much..... Don´t really care as there is not that many of those around...:-)))))) I will post some pictures in the middle of january in Show Us Your Sony'S!!! thread.
Happy New Year to everybody:-)))
 
Viking_One said:
Pepichek.
I have both TA-E/N7B but I didn´t pay 950 € for power amp.... Just a bit over 1000 € for both units with shipping to Sweden:-) Now I have a TA-E/N901 on the way from Denmark and for an hour ago I made a deal on Sony TA-E1 and TA-N1, don´t ask how much..... Don´t really care as there is not that many of those around...:-)))))) I will post some pictures in the middle of january in Show Us Your Sony'S!!! thread.
Happy New Year to everybody:-)))
Click to expand...

WOOOHOOO!! :banana:

Happy New Year (indeed). :D
 
Absolutely awesome gear. By the way stoffie, I was stationed in Belgium from 1985-1986 when I was in the US Air Force (Florennes Air Base), about an hour or so drive south of Brussels. Wonderful country and people. Had an fantastic time there!
 
Good to hear :) Have some family around those parts (even though I'm from the northern part of Belgium).

And so now there's also some good Sony gear to be found here :D
 
Against AK rules again... So I am changing it:-))

Anyway a question:
Does one TA-E901 and two TA-N901 counts as a rare ESPRIT trio? I´m thinking about post some pictures here I´m getting it on tuesday together with TC-K7B and maybe ST-A7B. I am not sure about this last one as seller can´t make his mind, but he´s gonna deliver those beuties personally, a long trip from Denmark to Stockholm:-)))
 
Eryk, never seen this post :)

Two ESPRIT's don't make a trio, but they do make a duo. Please do post some pictures.

I've added the TA-D900 active crossover to my collection, and plan to start using it as soon as I have time and space to work everything out. (open up speakers, disable crossover, drag down amps etc).

Here's some pics, just shy of a SE-P900 parametric equaliser, for a full stack of 'original' ESPRIT components.


DSC01360_rs.jpg


DSC01359_rs.jpg


DSC01363_rs.jpg
 
Stoffie,
If you are half as happy with the TAD-900 as I am with the Accuphase(and I'm sure that you'll be more than half happy),you'll be a happy man indeed.

I've heard nothing yet to convince me to go back to passive operation.

That Sony Espirit stack looks very stylish. :thmbsp:
The styling rivals Yamaha's 'Linear' styling.Different to that,yet similarly it doesn't look dated.
Very,very nice. :yes:
 
I can hardly wait, but I just don't have the time to do it properly right now (nor the space).

I love the styling on those (pre)ESPRIT components. Too bad the hue is somewhat different among the pre and poweramps.

As you say, timeless stuff, just like Yamaha (how I love to have a CT-1010 and CA-1010, they look SO good, and a C-1/B-1). No frills, clean cut, awesome :D
 
Stoffie said:
I can hardly wait, but I just don't have the time to do it properly right now (nor the space).

I love the styling on those (pre)ESPRIT components. Too bad the hue is somewhat different among the pre and poweramps.

As you say, timeless stuff, just like Yamaha (how I love to have a CT-1010 and CA-1010, they look SO good, and a C-1/B-1). No frills, clean cut, awesome :D
Click to expand...
My emphasis,when prioritising what I want from a component is sound quality.I often said that if a component looked like a dog turd with knobs on it,but sounded like the angels singing,I'd buy it(and love it).
The Yamahas and Sonys that we are both aware of,managed to combine visual styling with great sound quality.The best of both worlds.Have your cake,and eat it. :thmbsp:
My new L-1000Ms,by comparison have(by my impression)'odd' styling.Just 'strange'.Yet they sound beautiful.So I'm happy. :D

Active operation gives one the ability to use am amp which may have a strength in a particular part of the sonic spectrum(think: the Kenwood Basic M2's bass)in that portion of the spectrum exclusively.
I've found that it puts a lot of pressure upon the preamp to perform,and not be the weakest-link(and they most usually are,after the Source component).
An active loudspeaker system throws a spotlight and a microscopic scrutiny upon the preceding components.Which is wonderful when everything is optimised,however things really need to be optimised.
For example,going active puts pressure upon the preamp,so you get a better preamp.That throws a spotlight upon(let's say) the phono stage,so you get a better phono stage.The purchase of the better phono stage throws a spotlight upon the cartridge,naturally a better cartridge is called-for.What does buying a better cartridge do?
Throws a spotlight upon the turntable..
All the while as you improve something 'downstream',the 'upstream' components are thrown into great exposure.
Be prepared for this when you go active..... :scratch2:.
Sometimes it may be better to start at the Source,and work your way 'downstream'.
I was thinking of putting a $2500 cartridge on my Yamaha PX-2.Instead I bought the GT 2000(for about the same outlay).When I put my Dynavector Karat onto the GT 2000(the cartridge I was going to upgrade from....)and heard just how much of it's ability that the PX-2 wasn't able to expose,I realised that the $2500 cartridge would have been completely wasted on the PX-2.
It is indeed sensible to have a spread of ability across all the components.If I had to go for a component which had the 'strength' in the system,it would have to be the Source component.
The better the 'strengths' are in the other components,the more exposed that the Source stands.
I'm only telling you this because going active throws a spotlight upon what is going-on 'upstream'.....
Good Luck friend. :thmbsp:
 
I don't find those Kenwoods to be particularly ugly (inside they are yummy for sure).

I do like a blend of looks and sound, luckily most of my gear sounds great to my ears :)

I wonder about the difference, but am pretty confident about my sources (pre is awesome, cdplayer will be replaced, turntable is great and being overhauled, cart is new etc), but am not necessarily looking for the holy grail of sound quality. I am already hugely satisfied with my system, so it's curiosity talking here.

I could just as well just leave it be a museum piece, but I do like to use all gear that I have, so... we'll have to take the plunge!
 
Stoffie, you will be a very happy guy with your D900 !

I just went full active (three ways) last weekend with a TA-D88 (my TA-D900 needs repair) and together with the three dream amplifiers Sansui BA-1000, Yamaha MX-10000 and Sony TA-N902, which form really a dream team. It's really amazing what these components can do. :music:

The SE-P900 could be a nice companion to finally equalize the frequency response, but it is also another piece in the chain, so should one rather select a speaker, whose chassis are linear by nature (which is unfortunately not the case with many even very high quality speakers) or equalize the chassis in passive way, which is a little against the active idea.

The design and quality impression of the ESPRIT components is really amazing, except the changing hue. I have a Hifi magazine at hand, where they tested an FM Acoustics, a Audio Note, the TA-E900, a Mark Levinson and another ultimate pre amp, which I forgot. They are shown all together on the front page of the magazine but in comparison to the Sony the others look a bit like four little, ugly Ladas in comparison to a Maybach ...
The title of the test was: "The best pre amplifiers in the world".

The Sony won this test together with the three times more expensive Mark Levinson ... :D

Unfortunately in another German magazine, the E900 got a slating review, because they criticized the impractical (very low) input impedance of the MC stage. This was probably the reason, why the E900 didn't fly and still goes for rather little money in Germany, which is good for us connaisseurs. :smoke:
 
Very nice vintage Sony equip you have there Stoffie!
I hope to build something as nice someday soon. I like my TA & will keep my eyes peeled for the ESPRIT logo. :yes:

Rome
 
Thanks Rome ! They are hard to find, especially in the US! But good luck anyway ;)

Mirko:
Lada's to Maybach, haha, that's some funny stuff, but true nonetheless. Also read that article, and also the other one you refer to, well I can only agree. I haven't been able to test the headamp on my TA-E900 yet, as the switches are so dirty on it, it doesn't even work half the time.
So have you tried your TA-N900's yet ?
 
Btw: I hope I don't tell one of Axel's secrets here, but the L-1000M and it's companions were made (OEMs) by Accuphase (as many other high end Kenwood pieces as well).

I have the service manual of this model (I wanted to know, what's inside) and it is really pretty symmetrical inside, typical for Accuphase ... :yes:
 
I didn't try the N900's yet, the only thing I know is, that one works and the other one has a large defect in the PLPS ...
 
Actually not that surprising about the L-1000M considering the blood line between the two companies.

I am curious what other people think about the N900's, but since almost nobody has a pair, it's hard to get opinions :D
 
I don't want to hijack Stoffie's thread,however that doesn't surprise me about the L-1000M(the two together are insanely good).
I saw a post on the 'net from a fellow named Edwin(most likely the same person who posted his comments on TVK)about the L-1000M.This Edwin stated that the amps were designed by Jeff Rowland and made by Accuphase. :scratch2:
I contacted Jeff Rowland,and asked him straight-out if there was any truth to the assertion.Amazingly he e-mailed a reply,where he stated that he had no design input into the L-1000M. :no:
He merely asked if I could send him the URL of the web-page.I did that because I appreciated his reply. :thmbsp:
I have the SM for the Kenwood also. :D

Now we can resume the discussion of Stoffie's awesome Espirit collection. :thmbsp: :thmbsp: :thmbsp: :D
 
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