Pilot SA-232 new to me

[HBTim]

New to me snag.... I will be previewing it Saturday on some Altec’s.

I did demo it at sellers place and it sounded really really good to me but they were on mid level speakers, and really don’t even know what they are. It has been completely resto’d, recapped, and ready to go...

also, seems to be in real nice shape. I just wish it had the cage but not complaining for the price for sure.

So, I hope to be “hair blown backed” on Saturday. We’ll see. I will post back my impressions after a good listen. Well, that is if anyone even has interest in that.

Either way, here are some pics.

 

[trainbuftony]

Dude, that's gorgeous. It should sound very real, and will probably be a great match with your other gear. I tend to pick up amps in this good condition when I find them but they're getting rare.
Should be real sweet

 

[gadget73]

they really did make the chassis just barely big enough to fit tubes in between the transformers on these.

For some reason I was thinking the 232's got the same gold finish my SA-260 has.

 

[BassKulcha]

Congrats on the pick up. That will sound amazing with the Altecs—

they really did make the chassis just barely big enough to fit tubes in between the transformers on these.

For some reason I was thinking the 232's got the same gold finish my SA-260 has.

The earlier 232s had the gold finish (at least mine does—), the later ones had silver.

It's a tight fit, but strangely enough, I found it pretty easy to work on (I did a full recap and changed many out of spec resistors...)

 

[kirk57]

Supposed to be one of the best sounding EL84 amps out there.

 

[trainbuftony]

Supposed to be one of the best sounding EL84 amps out there.

People say that regarding just about every 6bq5 amp. (6v6 amps too) and I think it's because the level at which we naturally listen, 12-15watt amps are just starting into their harmonic distortion which is very pleasant.
Drive a 6550 to the same distortion level, and you'll want to listen from across the street.
In an average size room, for average listening a push pull 6v6, or 6bq5 class amp is just about right. Must be why they sold so many of them...

 

[Dave451]

Nice amp in excellent condition--enjoy!

 

[BassKulcha]

People say that regarding just about every 6bq5 amp. (6v6 amps too) and I think it's because the level at which we naturally listen, 12-15watt amps are just starting into their harmonic distortion which is very pleasant.
Drive a 6550 to the same distortion level, and you'll want to listen from across the street.
In an average size room, for average listening a push pull 6v6, or 6bq5 class amp is just about right. Must be why they sold so many of them...

The SA-232s PT was oversized to drive the SP-210 preamp through an umbilical. Would that contribute to any improvements sonically? I've heard the same thing about the SA-232 (and the SP-210 as well), and since I have both of them, well, I want to believe it

 

[trainbuftony]

The SA-232s PT was oversized to drive the SP-210 preamp through an umbilical. Would that contribute to any improvements sonically? I've heard the same thing about the SA-232 (and the SP-210 as well), and since I have both of them, well, I want to believe it

No way to know for sure, short of testing the two next to one another, and most folks who have the ability to do that, would probably really rather do different things...
Testing amplifiers is tedious and laborious, and mentally taxing work. It's much more pleasant to put on an album and just enjoy the music.

 

[HBTim]

Oh wow... Thank you to everyone. I am even more excited now! I will make sure to get a demo on it with some 604b's this Saturday. Wife is out of town and I am going to do some audio nuttery.

I will try to get a video of it for fun sake.

I imagine the Fisher 400CX2 will complement the 232? Should I look at a different pre amp to preview?

 

[gadget73]

The SP210 only uses a few ma of current. I doubt the power trafo is grossly oversized just to get that done but not being shy on the power supply is certainly not a bad thing. My best sounding amps have arguably overkill power supplies.

I worked on a 210 for someone, paired it with my SA-260 just because I needed some way of powering it. It was a decent preamp but nothing in it really hogs the current. I didn't measure it but if it uses more than 6 ma I'd be surprised. I didn't really do any critical listening so I can't offer any real opinions. I had it here to troubleshoot some nasty noises that turned out to be the usual bad caps and resistors along with a missing ground from when it had been taken out of it's console application and made stand-alone. It left working, but if it were mine I would have changed every cap and resistor in it just to make it as right as it could be. Many of those resistors were off, and I found the same situation in my SA-260 and the FA-590. Not sure what resistors Pilot was using but they do not appear to have been anything special.

 

[Dave451]

+1 on the 400 CX-2. I'm deeply impressed with mine. Any source I put through it just sounds better; more detail, bigger sound stage, all through the range. Got it paired with my Fisher SA-100 clone. Great combination!

 

[HBTim]

+1 on the 400 CX-2. I'm deeply impressed with mine. Any source I put through it just sounds better; more detail, bigger sound stage, all through the range. Got it paired with my Fisher SA-100 clone. Great combination!

So much agree with the 400/100 combo. I have the SA-100 and also the SA-300 depending on mood and it is pretty awesome. Like crazy good.

 

[HBTim]

Well, not too bad of a Friday night I must say...

Pilot complemented by a Fisher 400CX2 and some Altec 604b Hollywood’s

.

 

[HBTim]

Last night was eye opening.

I had always, ALWAYS, favored the 400CX2 with an SA-100 to many, many takers. At meat-ups and other get togethers, swapping in everything you can throw against it to knock it off its throne. It is the reason I bought the pair from a friend of mine. The pair was simply the best sound I had (had) ever heard. I would still think so had it not been for last night.

This Pilot... this frikin Pilot, has blown my hair back. It was unreal how open and airy everything was. The soundstage was... I had "Take Me To The Moon" (live version) by Diana Krall on and was catching myself laughing from time to time. The sound was so big that when the audience would applaud at certain times of the song ,and mostly at the end, it was incredible. The sound was so big that I thought, "Now this is soundstage"! Do not even get me started on the detail, articulation, presence of the music it gives. I will try to sum it up here.

You know that moment when you have been sucked into a song? You know... when you sit still and stare into the center of your set up into nothingness, look right through it, and you stop thinking, moving, breathing, and you just float off into who knows where but you do not want to leave it?

Ya, that was last night on every song that it played. It was like the tractor beam on Star Wars.

"There's nothing I can do, I'm gonna have to shut it down" (Han Solo) I was the Millennium Falcon and the Pilot was the Death Star.

To make sure I was not drunk (yet) or something I swapped the SA-100, fully resto'd and Mullard complements all around, back in and gave its due diligence of 30 min to get its legs stretched.

Played the same song and was really stunned. It was good, really good... BUT it just wasn't anything like the Pilot. The Pilot was better by 18 parsecs. hehe

So, I put the Pilot back in... YUP, there it was. That soul sucking black hole sound.

I will call it my "emo soul suckin' black hole thingy amp"... Ya, maybe not. But it is...

Hmmmm. I will call it The Death Star!!

The King has been dethroned. All hail King Pilot!

 

[trainbuftony]

In my experience, freshly rebuilt tube amplifiers will do just what youve described here.
They suck your brain out through your ears and leave you dumbfounded...
I think it's a fair bit of pride in workmanship, combined with a fresh chemical reaction in your electrolytic caps.
Does it for me every time.
Congratulations

 

[mcgjohn]

I have two copies of the SA 232, and two of the Fisher SA -100. Both are very good. Not sure I could really say i prefer one over the other. As long as you stick with efficient speakers both will sound quite good. Glad yours is sounding good.

 

[HBTim]

Quick question:

I have two 12AX7’s and one 12AU7.

I assume I roll the two 12AX7’s if I want to roll?

what about the 12AU7?

 

[gadget73]

the 12au7 is actually the one I'd expect to have the most effect on things. It sits outside the global feedback loop, though it does have a local loop around it.

The 12ax7's do need to be in reasonably good shape otherwise the inverter balance will be considerably off. This is a paraphase inverter, so its somewhat dependant on the tube itself to be fairly close to "bogey" specs to work right.

 

[HBTim]

the 12au7 is actually the one I'd expect to have the most effect on things. It sits outside the global feedback loop, though it does have a local loop around it.

The 12ax7's do need to be in reasonably good shape otherwise the inverter balance will be considerably off. This is a paraphase inverter, so its somewhat dependant on the tube itself to be fairly close to "bogey" specs to work right.

Ahhh, ok gotcha.

Thanks man!!