A somewhat rare bird: The Sony STC-7000 "integrated tuner".

[JohnVF]

I picked up this preamp recently in trade from a friend of mine. It's been in my system for a couple of days now and I just wanted to get a little bit of word out there on it as there's not much out there on this besides a little writeup on The Vintage Knob, and it's a very nice unit.

Its seems to be a bit rare, but if you ever see one...you might want to check it out. So what's an integrated tuner? It's just a preamp and tuner combined into one apparently, and about the size of a receiver. I haven't opened it up, but there's supposedly a 5-gang tuner in there. It sounds fantastic. It sounds very much like the TA-2000 preamp, actually, which is no surprise as they're from the same time period. I had been looking for the matching tuner to go with my TA-2000a/TA-3200F combo...but was more than happy to stumble across this unit. Now if only I could find the wood case for it. Vintage Sony doesn't seem to get as much love as some of the other brands, but it is very high quality gear. Does this sound as clear and transparent as my more modern preamps? No, it doesn't actually (might come closer with a recap). But it sounds very very good and I've not been tempted to take it out of the system in the 3 days I've had it. That's about 3 days longer than a couple other vintage preamps lasted!

She's a beauty:

 

[vinyldavid]

oh my, that IS beautiful. I'd love to find one.

 

[Cactus Bob]

Very Nice!! :thmbsp:

 

[Dwartz]

That's beautiful. I have a TA-1150 amp I bought new, so this must be from about the same timeframe (1975 or so).

 

[JohnVF]

Anybody curious about what Sony can really do when they put their minds to it should really check out the Show us your Sonys thread. It's a fun read, and a place to discover many things that fly under the radar, at least in the US.

 

[JohnVF]

That's beautiful. I have a TA-1150 amp I bought new, so this must be from about the same timeframe (1975 or so).

I think this was originally from around 1970 but don't know how long they made it. It has the same knobs as the TA-2000f preamp, which I believe came from that time. My TA-2000a preamp has smooth round knobs, which predate this.

The TA-1150 is a nice looking unit. It says a lot that you bought it new and still have it! How does it sound?

 

[theophile]

Nudies? :scratch2:

 

[JohnVF]

Nudies? :scratch2:

Perv. I'll try to snap a few tonight as I'm kind of curious myself. This particular one was very well taken care of. It's actually one of the cleanest, on the outside, vintage units I've seen. It spent much of it's life in a dance studio paired with a Sony TA-3200f amp.

 

[thedelihaus]

I've had a few vintage receivers of this era pass through my hands.

Fantastic units with a rich creamy pleasant sound to them.

Jokingly (but only half-so) some folk refer to the early Sonys as the poor man's Japanese McIntosh.

 

[Raynald]

Also known as "Preceivers". Adcom made the concept famous again years later with the GTP-400/450/500 series.

Your 7000 has the ST-5130 tuner inside. 5 gangs and 8 filters IIRC. Super quiet, very warm sound. Very highly rated tuner and while those still fetch decent money alone, the STC-7000 is MUCH less common.

 

[analog addict]

Here's mine....

I'd love to find a corresponding amp like a TA-3120 or TA-3200F....:yes:

 

[JohnVF]

I'd love to find a corresponding amp like a TA-3120 or TA-3200F....:yes:

Nice to see another one! I have a TA-3200f that I run with a TA-2000a, and it's a pretty nice combination. I may eventually just use this as the tuner in that system, but as it is, it's living in my main rig and I'm having fun playing with it. It's about 10 times the size of the little Audire Legato preamp that it's running in place of.

 

[Blue Shadow]

So a GTP in adcom speak or a TP in luxman talk. I like it. Having owned a TA -2000 and with a stack of TA, TA, ST that belongs to a friend over here right now, I know that is one sweet unit. Be nice to trip over one at the thrift or on CL.

 

[JohnVF]

So a GTP in adcom speak or a TP in luxman talk. I like it. Having owned a TA -2000 and with a stack of TA, TA, ST that belongs to a friend over here right now, I know that is one sweet unit. Be nice to trip over one at the thrift or on CL.

If you've had a TA-2000 you'd probably have the same reaction I had when I put it in. "Oh...I know this sound". I have had the 2000a and 2000f and this is right there in the same camp. I thought the 2000a had a very slight edge in sound to my ears over the 200f, but it was very subtle and could have simply been the relative condition of the two units. I should compare this directly to the 2000a, but it's packed up for a move currently.

 

[MX117.MC7150]

Classic beauty. Unlike most, I prefer the fluted knobs. Believe that is the ST-5130 inside the STC-7000. Not up the ST-5000F, but still an excellent piece. The later TA-3200F will have the matching knobs. Being cap-coupled, the TA-3200F will benefit greatly from a recap, being 40 years old. Recapping my STR-6200F this summer for the same reason.

 

[Dwartz]

The TA-1150 is a nice looking unit. It says a lot that you bought it new and still have it! How does it sound?

Unfortunately, I gave it to a nephew and he somehow blew out a channel in the power amp, and broke off the power switch. He was going to throw it away, but luckily I found out and retrieved it. I used it as a preamp for a time, but it's been retired on a shelf for several years. I'd love to get it up and running - and find one of those power switches with the green LED attached.

 

[lha1992]

Nice sony!

 

[cableguy]

man, is that nice!

 

[reggaenaut]

I've had a few vintage receivers of this era pass through my hands.

Fantastic units with a rich creamy pleasant sound to them.

Jokingly (but only half-so) some folk refer to the early Sonys as the poor man's Japanese McIntosh.

Fantastic in deed. I have a lot of equipment, (ss, tube) and the heart of the system which I listen to daily is the Sony 6060F receiver- 5 gangs totally shielded.:thmbsp:

Nice one John. Your pretuner is relatively rare. I found out about that one from a post by AKER Brian. Lovely picture too.

 

[JohnVF]

Classic beauty. Unlike most, I prefer the fluted knobs. Believe that is the ST-5130 inside the STC-7000. Not up the ST-5000F, but still an excellent piece. The later TA-3200F will have the matching knobs. Being cap-coupled, the TA-3200F will benefit greatly from a recap, being 40 years old. Recapping my STR-6200F this summer for the same reason.

This is going to take the place of a ST-5000 until one fals in my lap. Which is basically what this one did, so you never know. I have plans to drastically slow my collecting and instead concentrate on getting what I have in tip top shape, which will include recapping the TA-3200f.