stereofun
Super Member
The AU-555a arrived a few hours ago. It came from Florida, sligtly rusty on the inside but even moreso covered in a tough grime throughout mixed in with the remnants of an old coffee spill thats had covered the caps and main board with residue. hmmm.
I deoxed, and blew dust out, while noticing a slew of flying saucer trannys abound. My expectations sunk.
I hooked it up to my trusty modded Dennon 2800 Mk II that so far has survived several attemps of replacements by beating all contenders by virtue of it sonics. Then on to my modded Wharfedale Diamond 8.4
The Au-555a is a quasi complimentary push-pull, cap coupled design - Old school with capital O. While the tripple tone controls are not attenuated, but merely detented, the build quality of the 1971 piece is very solid with thick shielding throughout. No ic's and plasticc connectors - just solid print and what appears to be simply straight forward signal processing.
Ok - time to fire up. I begin with no signal and am surprised to find it dead quite - no scratcyness, no hissing or any popping at full volume - silent. I then load a Shirley Horn cd, crank it a little and lean back. Wau!!!!!
Its true what they say - this little meager 20 some watts amp has balls and presence. Lots of texture, punch and plain musicality. What a joy.
Sure it is a little accentuated in the upperbass/low mid as many of the "warm" sounding 1st gen solid states - but what really impresses me is the texture of the sound, especially voices that comes across with a rare authenticity. The sound is very non fatiguing and displays and "unprocessed" quality, almost as if the amp is doing everything not to stand in the way of the signal.
Overall, this totally stock (and neglected) Au-555a is a treat to listen to, not only with jazz and arcustics, but even punchier genres where there is great bass detail and power available. Definitely worth a recap job.
My reference is two fully recapped and adjusted Eight / Au-517
If anybody has trick and tips for modding / recapping, I am all ears
I deoxed, and blew dust out, while noticing a slew of flying saucer trannys abound. My expectations sunk.
I hooked it up to my trusty modded Dennon 2800 Mk II that so far has survived several attemps of replacements by beating all contenders by virtue of it sonics. Then on to my modded Wharfedale Diamond 8.4
The Au-555a is a quasi complimentary push-pull, cap coupled design - Old school with capital O. While the tripple tone controls are not attenuated, but merely detented, the build quality of the 1971 piece is very solid with thick shielding throughout. No ic's and plasticc connectors - just solid print and what appears to be simply straight forward signal processing.
Ok - time to fire up. I begin with no signal and am surprised to find it dead quite - no scratcyness, no hissing or any popping at full volume - silent. I then load a Shirley Horn cd, crank it a little and lean back. Wau!!!!!
Its true what they say - this little meager 20 some watts amp has balls and presence. Lots of texture, punch and plain musicality. What a joy.
Sure it is a little accentuated in the upperbass/low mid as many of the "warm" sounding 1st gen solid states - but what really impresses me is the texture of the sound, especially voices that comes across with a rare authenticity. The sound is very non fatiguing and displays and "unprocessed" quality, almost as if the amp is doing everything not to stand in the way of the signal.
Overall, this totally stock (and neglected) Au-555a is a treat to listen to, not only with jazz and arcustics, but even punchier genres where there is great bass detail and power available. Definitely worth a recap job.
My reference is two fully recapped and adjusted Eight / Au-517
If anybody has trick and tips for modding / recapping, I am all ears
