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Pilot stories

I have two Pilot HF-56 mono receivers (KT66s). This evening I was listening to them through my Snell CVs and they sound incredible - beautiful tone, and tremendous bass punch. (I was listening to a high-res FLAC recording of Orff's Carmina Burana.)

Can anyone point me to a summary of Pilot tube amps? I like my HF-56s so well that I might consider adding another Pilot model - either a stereo integrated amp or power amp.
 
"Can anyone point me to a summary of Pilot tube amps?"
------------------------------------------------------
I second that! That's exactly what I was looking for when
I wandered through here and all the associated links. (I will keep
looking though.)

I just acquired a "Model 500", which I was sure was pretty
much an SA-232 on a different shape chassis. Having never
seen but photos of the '232, I was guessing the iron all looked
similar. Once I got it in, I saw the 500 has the 12AX7's, EL84's,
and GZ34, but no 12AU7, so now I see I misjudged. It might be
a fine amp anyway, but just different. 5 caps underneath, 2 vertical
cans up top - one 2-section and one single section. Power T is
quite meaty, and OPT's are same height as power tubes as they
sit in the chassis. 8 ohm speaker taps ONLY, a molex-like "power
socket", round phono motor tap like on the '232... pilot light tap,
single 115V 2-prong outlet... 2A fuse. Ser. #339414 stamped
directly into the chassis, FWIW.

Only serious hit I got in a search netted me a description that
referred to this as a "little brother to the SA-232, of lesser quality
but still a fine amp". Of course I didn't find this until AFTER I passed
up a '232 for the 500. So far, data on this thing is in about the same
league as chicken lips. Any links or suggestions how to learn up
on this or other Pilot EL 84 amps would be :D happily welcomed. I know of
Yahoo groups, but I've had security issues there before. :dammit:
 
I've got some Pilot stuff down at the hangar, I thought that was a good place for it. I'll be listening to it later this morning as I work on the white plane.
 
216-a

I have a 216-a that i purchased on ebay about 10-12 years ago. The seller did a poor job shipping so after talking with him a few times he made right. But as regards this forum, he claimed his dad was in sales or head of sales for pilot and that the unit was from his home where he had a ton of pilot gear. The pre was probably the last piece, which he said, according to his dad, was his favorite pilot overall sonically.

I dont know the truth of any of double heresay but i sent it to off ryan inman shortly thereafter and he did a nice restore on the innards. Inman did some nice work in keeping the tone of vintage stuff, way back before he flaked out....

In any event the 216-a has been in my regular pre amp rotation since. I go back and forth on the sonic qualities, but the meters sure are cool. Operationally, there are a lot of switches, dials and controls. All of which are quite small and "tweaky". The balance control is not SOTA.

Im not too wow'd by its phono stage, but my unit may just need some tube swapping in the phono stage and/or a tune up in general.

As a piece of industrial design, compact sizing and something that is not traded too regularly the 216-a IS UNIQUE and a winner.

I too would like to get a custom wood cabinet to replace the ugly metal thing and compliment the nice brass colored face-plate.

I recently received a huge bryston for my 5.1 system..thing im going to hook it up to the 216-a and see how it does....

Right now, ive been using my fisher 400-c more often.

Ive always wondered what the pilot would sound like with some serious restoration ....ala dewick or mike samra but i hate to modify classic stuff too much. I havent looked at options but i think it would be cool to hear the unit after some super paper in oil caps and seeing if there are any functions which could be bypassed
 
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yeah, because I love them...when you love someone or something, I guess, set them free....to try other things...I also sold every piece of McIntosh gear I had...

I love the gear I have now, but it doesnt have the romance of a nice vintage Pilot and I will return at some point to Pilot ownership....Once I get back a full time teaching gig...
 
Anybody have any search term tricks to hunt for web data on Pilot gear?
Wracking my brains trying to clue up on this Model 500 console amp I picked
up. I have learned a lot about avionics, though. (*)_(*) It was made
to work directly with a tuner (at least the 5B500 that I know of).
 
Not much of a story but I rebuilt and enjoyed a 240 for a while then sold it to an AK member. With all of the trouble shooting that I did and having two pros look at it we couldn't find the source of hum in the phono section. Fine sounding amp though.

I have an AA-903 mono that I'm jonesin' to get to work on. I scheme and the caps that I need and just need to order some resistors and find the time.

John
 
Redboy said:
To be continued, I'm sure...




(and you all thought Jack was the Pilot guy around here... :smoke:)
Click to expand...

Saint Johnny said:
I got some buried Pilots too!
A 232 that I got from Nate. Which I think Nate told me came from AKer Diamondsouled, IIR.
Click to expand...

And the stories and karma just keep going round n' round.

So, the 232 that I bough from Nate a few years back, was sold to me by Nate as only 'semi-working'. As I recall he said, it had a hum he couldn't track down, and one channel was weak.
This I can not confirm, one way or another. Because when I received it, all I did was open it, to see if it had arrived unscathed on it's long trip from the land of a thousand lakes. It indeed had, considering Nate's expert packing skills. And that's just about where my story ends, as I put it on shelf and forgot about it, having never even plugged it in.

Until I was recently talking to AKer kansei, and he said he was interested in finding a 232. I told him I had one, but I can't recall where it was located exactly. We may have to dig...:D
I told him exactly what Nate had told me about it's condition, which I could not confirm. But Tom was intent on finally procuring a Pilot 232.

So, now Tom has it, and according to his last PM. There is no hum or weak channel, and whoever had done all the work underneath did an excellent job.

So, in ending, the 232 that came from Canada via Diamondsouled to Minn. via Redboy, to me in NJ, is now in the hands of kansei, who tells me that this little amp is truly, a 'keeper'!!!
 
SixCats! said:
Hi all,

I hope this note finds all my old AK friends well. I just had to write to say that to this day, my most listened to Tube Amp and Speaker combo is still my vintage Mono Pilot AA-903B (EL 84) Integrated Amp (which I pulled out of a twenty dollar Mono Pilot Console). That lil' Pilot along with my Stephens Tru-Sonic Horn Speaker still reigns supreme!

Regards,
SixCats! aka Tom
Click to expand...
Here's a little tidbit of information for the Pilot fans out there... Think of it as an insider secret.

The Pilot AA-903B (or 1030B as found in a console) has the same output transformer as found in a Pilot SM-245A, which is nearly identical to that of the venerable SA-232 (slightly different primary impedances). The 903B and 1030B are mono amplifiers, but you can usually buy two of them for much less than a single 245A or 232.

I'm just sayin'...
 
Redboy said:
Here's a little tidbit of information for the Pilot fans out there... Think of it as an insider secret.

The Pilot AA-903B (or 1030B as found in a console) has the same output transformer as found in a Pilot SM-245A, which is nearly identical to that of the venerable SA-232 (slightly different primary impedances). The 903B and 1030B are mono amplifiers, but you can usually buy two of them for much less than a single 245A or 232.

I'm just sayin'...
Click to expand...

Ouh Ohh! Nate I think you may've just started a run on 903B. If for no other reason, than to harvest the trafos.
 
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