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Calling all Optonica fans

hutchballs said:
I have one of these old tables in the garage I picked up at a thrift. It doesn't seem to work correctly, didn't give it much thought because I have 2 operational tables in use. If you or OP need any parts, pm me. I would be happy to ship ya something if it means you can get yours working as long as you pay it forward to someone else someday :)
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That's awesome! Thanks for the offer. It seems to be working great at the moment but I will keep you in mind in case something fails. Appreciate it!
 
classic carl said:
Don't you need a stock platter mat and a headshell?
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That's not a bad idea, just to have the stock parts. I've been playing a lot of albums on the current configuration and it's been sounding great the way it is currently set up. I think there is a reason why my dad replaced the parts he did back when it was still relatively new.
 
I had a SM1515 integrated amp I like very much. I gave it to a neighbor so it's still close by. That's a great score you have.
 
elcoholic said:
Here's my RP 3636 ll. I picked it up in 2015 and have really been impressed with it since day 1.
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Wow that table is sexy! I need one of those to go with my SA3636 and ST3636....

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Engineer5 said:
Wow that table is sexy! I need one of those to go with my SA3636 and ST3636....

003_zpsbmwjgnei.jpg
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It would make a nice addition. I was following a tip on some McIntosh separates at an antique store. We couldn't come to terms on the McIntosh and I was on the way out when I spotted it. I got it for 1/2 his asking price so I didn't go home empty handed.
 
I have an RP104,vertical, both sides play, full auto thingy. It used to work ok about 10 yrs. ago but now only on 1 side properly. It has had water condensation and is horrifying in complexity. I'll take another look at it one day but right now my brain doesn't need a meltdown. It is a parallel tracker and cheaply made. It never sounded better than ok, the record being not gripped or damped properly, hard to clean or change stylii .An interesting party piece, no more.View attachment 883696 SAM_5555.JPG
 
I bought a SA5905 today. I'll just say the price was very right and I'll decide later if I should keep it or not. It sounds like this may be a highly sought after unit and when I'm done with it, it will be very sweet, indeed! Right now it's trashed and needs a thorough cleaning. I am going to rebuild the wood casing this summer. It's been battered and the vinyl wood grain cover is delaminating. I will decide whether to redo it in particle board like it is and recover in vinyl wood grain or use a nice whole grain piece of wood. Doing the latter would indeed make this unit a one of a kind. The first thing will be to clean all the electrical components. Then I can put it on the scope to check circuit paths before connecting any peripherals.
 
comish4 said:
Optonica

I sold all of those units new in my store back in the day. I still have some optonica in my stash. It was always a great line that Sharp tried to get into the audio world.. Great stuff and fantastic score.:banana:
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Hi. What would you think a SA 5905 is worth these days in bad shape, average shape, good shape and mint shape. I just picked one up for a steal yesterday. It's very beat up though. I am going to make a new wood case for it this summer and I'm not sure if I'll make like OEM or use a nice one piece grain wood. I'm thinking the latter which would make this a very one of a kind. I did preliminary power on test to see if it was worth keeping and I'm glad it was. Now I need to do some serious cleaning and deoxidation before putting it on the scope for the next part of the refurb process.

See my next thread below about a brand new unopened box find on Ebay.
 
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Hi everyone. It looks like I'm now an unsuspecting Optonica fan. I was totally taken by surprise on this.

I bought a SA5905 yesterday. I'll just say the price was very right and I'll decide later if I should keep it or not. It sounds like this may be a highly sought after unit and when I'm done with it, it will be very sweet, indeed! Right now it's trashed and needs a thorough cleaning. I am going to rebuild the wood casing this summer. It's been battered and the vinyl wood grain cover is delaminating. I will decide whether to redo it in particle board like it is and recover in vinyl wood grain or use a nice whole grain piece of wood. Doing the latter would indeed make this unit a one of a kind. The first thing will be to clean all the electrical components. Then I can put it on the scope to check circuit paths before connecting any peripherals. I was just reading another AK thread about this receiver and another 5905 owner says one of the neat unique features is the ability to turn the tuner section on and off. Turning it off, makes this unit an integrated amp all on it's own! If it sounds as good as I think, perhaps I may not need/want to get that Yamaha CA2010!


If anyone is interested, I just ran across an Ebay listing for a brand new unopened box SA5905! The story is sad. The gal that owns this is getting help from someone to help her sell stuff from her mom's house. Back in the late 70's, her dad wanted some TOTL stuff, went to the stereo shop and the salesperson sold him the 5905 and Cerwin Vega U321's. The dad brought them home, put them in his man cave basement to set up and he passed away! The boxes, unopened were left in the same spot all this time! The helper sold the speakers and has the 5905 on Ebay for what may be the decent price of $2500. With no market data, it's tough to know if this is high or low. One sold in 2020 on the Canuck Audio Mart for $1250US. I'll share this on a couple of the other AK Optonica SA5905 queries as well.
 
deng62 said:
If anyone is interested, I just ran across an Ebay listing for a brand new unopened box SA5905! The story is sad. The gal that owns this is getting help from someone to help her sell stuff from her mom's house. Back in the late 70's, her dad wanted some TOTL stuff, went to the stereo shop and the salesperson sold him the 5905 and Cerwin Vega U321's. The dad brought them home, put them in his man cave basement to set up and he passed away! The boxes, unopened were left in the same spot all this time! The helper sold the speakers and has the 5905 on Ebay for what may be the decent price of $2500. With no market data, it's tough to know if this is high or low. One sold in 2020 on the Canuck Audio Mart for $1250US. I'll share this on a couple of the other AK Optonica SA5905 queries as well.
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I saw that one...

It's incredibly uncommon to come across an SA-5905 (or the silverface version, the SA-5901) at all, but to find a NOS example? You might have better odds of winning a lottery jackpot!

We're not really supposed to discuss price in GA discussion (there's the "Dollars and Sense" section of the forum for that), but it's indeed kind of hard to put a market value on it. Optonica tends to be undervalued compared to the usual suspects in vintage (i.e - Marantz/Pioneer/Sansui), but NOS makes that one a special case...still hard to say for sure.
 
Taketheflame said:
I saw that one...

It's incredibly uncommon to come across an SA-5905 (or the silverface version, the SA-5901) at all, but to find a NOS example? You might have better odds of winning a lottery jackpot!

We're not really supposed to discuss price in GA discussion (there's the "Dollars and Sense" section of the forum for that), but it's indeed kind of hard to put a market value on it. Optonica tends to be undervalued compared to the usual suspects in vintage (i.e - Marantz/Pioneer/Sansui), but NOS makes that one a special case...still hard to say for sure.
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Oops. I thought it would be ok to mention this w/out having to go to the D&S page. But if I should, I will do so and re-edit my post to take out the price, which I thought was ok to mention since I wasn't selling this but just stating what it is on Ebay. I read the rule a couple of times and thought I would not be in violation. Please advise.
 
deng62 said:
Oops. I thought it would be ok to mention this w/out having to go to the D&S page. But if I should, I will do so and re-edit my post to take out the price, which I thought was ok to mention since I wasn't selling this but just stating what it is on Ebay. I read the rule a couple of times and thought I would not be in violation. Please advise.
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One of the mods will move it if necessary.
Don't worry about it.
 
deng62 said:
Oops. I thought it would be ok to mention this w/out having to go to the D&S page. But if I should, I will do so and re-edit my post to take out the price, which I thought was ok to mention since I wasn't selling this but just stating what it is on Ebay. I read the rule a couple of times and thought I would not be in violation. Please advise.
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You're good - it was somewhat of a heads up since it looks like you're fairly new? (Welcome to AK BTW!), but mostly regarding my own post - I could have said more, but didn't want to in the interest respecting forum rules. IIRC, mentioning price alone outside of D&S is OK but not much past that (i.e - what determines value and whatnot).

Back on topic, good luck with your own SA-5905. I have an SA-5601 myself - it needs some TLC so it's not currently in use, but what a gem it is - my favorite receiver I've come across thus far.

I've said it before and I'll say it again. Optonica is criminally underrated, and it's a shame the brand didn't last.
 
Since this thread is up from the tombs....

optonica 5406.jpg
They are very attractive. I have this and the matching RP-4705. I never thought too much of the build quality of the TT. Not that there was anything bad about it.....I bought it new in 1981 and it was my player until I put it away in 2000 for a few years (boxed up for moving). Before I knew it I was acquiring TTs left and right through around...... well I still am kind of. I would say I upped the game a bit, but not because the RP-4705 let me down. More because there were way too many TT deals to be passed upon between 2000 and 2018ish. Those days are pretty much behind us now :(
 
Tiver said:
Since this thread is up from the tombs....

View attachment 2470331
They are very attractive. I have this and the matching RP-4705. I never thought too much of the build quality of the TT. Not that there was anything bad about it.....I bought it new in 1981 and it was my player until I put it away in 2000 for a few years (boxed up for moving). Before I knew it I was acquiring TTs left and right through around...... well I still am kind of. I would say I upped the game a bit, but not because the RP-4705 let me down. More because there were way too many TT deals to be passed upon between 2000 and 2018ish. Those days are pretty much behind us now :(
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Thats one nice receiver.
Never seen one in the flesh.
 
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