BA-F1 restore

[quadklipsh]

Thanks tarior.
Btw the two channels are not audibly different to my ears. Atleast its a blessing that i dont hear the differences and keep appreciating what i have owned.

 

[quadklipsh]

What is the audible effect of a slow transistor

 

[tarior]

Probably stoking a fire here, but I don't think that there is one. That is, with modern transistors.

 

[quadklipsh]

The fire isnt working

 

[Drayton mon]

I believe that the BA-F1, featured above, is now up for sale at £800 or best offer….
I must admit that I’m tempted to buy it, but suspect that using my, spare, Sansui AU-317 as a pre-amp (into HPM100(A)’s) might not be the best choice?
Also, the seller states that the R/H meter lamp drops out/goes dull. Might this be a simple fix, or, a sign of something more concerning?

 

[Chuck Vance]

I thought I should add a few comments as the owner of the BA-F1 which John has been restoring in the past couple of months.

Firstly to thank John for his excellent, thorough work. I've followed this thread with much interest since John started it, and it's been great having a grandstand view of the process. John has also been great at keeping me up to date via private messages, and giving me clear options when there was a decision to take on a particular issue.

Secondly, just a few listening impressions on the final product. Ideally I would partner this power amp with the CA-F1, but that's going to have to wait until one of those appears on eBay for sensible money. For the moment I'm using an Audiovalve Eclipse preamp. Speakers are Triangle Signature Theta (standmounts), and the source is a Leema Antila IIS CD player. For reference the other amps I've become very familiar with in recent years is a Chord CPM2650 and a Sony TA-F7 VFET (both integrated amps).

I will try to avoid the type of hyperbole that you find in hif-fi magazine reviews, but the Eclipse / BA-F1 combo sounds superb to my ears. From the top to the bottom of the frequency range it sounds completely balanced, and one thing I've particularly noticed is the way it seems to make the speakers 'disappear'. The soundstage seems to extend several feet from both sides of the Thetas, and also from top to bottom. The other aspect I've noticed is that the combo is not lacking in dynamics, and is very precise in the way instruments are placed within the music. The last observation is that it renders male and female voices superbly. Overall I have had the real sense that the band is playing live in the room in front of me.

So, I'm very impressed. I'm keeping my eyes out for an AU-X1 (an amp which doesn't ever seem to be advertised for remotely sensible money), as I'd be interested to compare it with this combination.

And thanks again to John for his very diligent work.

Hi,
I'm a fan of the BA-F1 as well (have one) but not looking for a CA-F1, as I already have a CA-3000/ BA-3000 combo. Questions is- in hooking up the VBA-F1 to my CA-3000, should I be using the AC or DC inputs on the BA-F1?
Thanks

 

[Hyperion]

It's up to you, the AC inputs are provided for use with sources which may have DC voltage on the output. The DC inputs would be the 'normal' ones to use.

 

[Bright_Star]

Using ac coupled is the safer option, in a nutshell, having a capacitor in the signal path serves as a protective function to block any harmful DC from getting thru that might cause any damage. Some purists might say the cap will affect the purity of the signal, and prefer DC. I suppose you can try each one and see for yourself if your ears hear any difference, if not, then play it safe and use ac-coupled.

Are you using your CA-3000 as the preamp to the F1? The CA-3000 is really nice, though I wish it had a different volume control, as on the CA-2000. The CA-3000 and AU-20000, and a few other models have a steady -3db increment around the entire dial, compare that to the numerals around a 919, 717, and so forth, basically you have to turn the volume knob up past halfway to hear the music louder, depending on the how the source was mastered. Today's music seems to be on the high side, whereas, old albums and so forth will be at a lower level, thus requiring the CA-3000 knob to be turned up.

I have a BA-F1/CA-F1 in my Sansui collection (and CA-3000), I had it serviced by someone who is good, but I have noticed it tends to go into protect mode at times, so I need to try it out some more and see if I can detect a pattern of when it happens so I can get a better idea of whats causing it.

Sansui never mentions anything in their operating manuals on how to set the volume controls on power amps, if its ok to just put them at max, 10, or if should keep it at 5 to 7, and turn the preamp volume up to compensate if need to get the volume at the level you want, though I suppose it also depends on the speakers being used and their efficiency & impedance.

 

[Jefft91]

Sansui never mentions anything in their operating manuals on how to set the volume controls on power amps, if its ok to just put them at max, 10, or if should keep it at 5 to 7, and turn the preamp volume up to compensate if need to get the volume at the level you want, though I suppose it also depends on the speakers being used and their efficiency & impedance.

I've always thought a power amp should (normally) be turned to max and use the preamp to control volume. Consider that in an integrated amp, this is how the volume is controlled. And some dedicated amps don't even have volume controls. The only reason I can think to turn the amp volume down would be to set a maximum volume due to limitations of speakers. Then the preamp could be turned up without fear of destroying a driver. But, how does one even determine that level?