SA-8100 SA-9100 What Year?

[Unican_Eric]

According to Pioneer the SA-8100 and SA-9100 came out in 73 and 74. But the power ratings differed with the following year.

SA-8100 was 44 WPC in 73 but down to 40WPC in 74
SA-9100 was 65 WPC in 73 but down to 60WPC in 74

How do we know which year our units were made?
Is it in the serial #? If so the one for my SA-8100 is UA3500732M

I understand that the small amount of WPC is insignificant but I would just like to know.

Here is a few shots of my SA-8100

 

[Dr. Strangelove]

UA would be January 1974, U=1974, A=January.

Doc

 

[Mark W.]

My SA-9100 appears to be UD so I would assume April 74 and it's rated at 60 watts then. It is a multivolt unit and (of course I know this since I bought it from the origional owner) was pruchased in a Military PX in Germany mid 1974.

I'll mention this again since nobody else seams to tlak about this but a HUGE precentage of the high end gear we all love was origionally bought by some kid in the military.

Want proof look on the back of your gear does it have this mark <EP> if so it was purchased by the Military Post Exchange system for sale in NAVY Exchanges or Army PX's stores. It is the result of General Mac Carther wanting to make sure that the military got credit for what the pumped into the economy of Japan after the war.

As a camera collector this mark is very well know but for some reason Stereo guys didn't seam to take note. Or maybe some did and I just never heard about it.

 

[Dr. Strangelove]

In addition to the <E-P> marks, US military Pioneer components were also distinguished by the D/G, R/G, RF/G, and Z/G versions/country codes.

I do not know the full story, but there are a number of Pioneer brochures that I have collected that were specific to the US Military.

I believe that Pioneer began employing a significant naming convention when serializing their components in 1954. The first two letters of the serial number would indicate the year and month of manufacture of the component. 1954 began with A, and ran through 1979 which began with Z, then 1980 began with A, through 2005 ending with Z. So, 2006 components should begin with A, right?

As far as the month, January thru December are covered by the second letter, A through L.

The 4th edition of the Pioneer Spec Bible has a table of date codes, which is correct. Previous versions of the Spec Bible had the year off by one letter, the descrepancy being discovered by an extremely anal Pioneer collector who analyzed purchase invoices that he had kept for more than 20 years against the published tables. This collector also is credited with discovering that a certain state lottery calculation of odds was off by 1, having been fascinated by permutations and combinations for a number of years.

Doc

 

[Unican_Eric]

Thanks guys for the info. Guess my 8100 is only 40WPC. Hell it seems like alot more. Gotta keep this post for future reference.

 

[VintageNut]

. This collector also is credited with discovering that a certain state lottery calculation of odds was off by 1, having been fascinated by permutations and combinations for a number of years.

Doc

well that explains it. I've been playing the lottery for years, and I have not won yet...

 

[bordeno]

"According to Pioneer the SA-8100 and SA-9100 came out in 73 and 74. But the power ratings differed with the following year.

SA-8100 was 44 WPC in 73 but down to 40WPC in 74
SA-9100 was 65 WPC in 73 but down to 60WPC in 74"

Doubt there's any difference in the power output, they just got more conservative with the ratings. Great amps.

 

[Duane]

I owned an SA9100 along with the TX9100.Bought them new in '73 and it's rated output was 65w.There were alot of rumblings in those days about rated output power and how accurate they were.

 

[Silver Face]

You can tell by the serial number on the back of your unit as to the month and year that the unit was manufactured. There are two letters at the beginning of the serial number. The first letter is the year in which the unit was manufactured. For example, "R" means 1971; "S" means 1972 and so on. The second letter identifies the month in which the unit was manufactured. January is designated by the letter "A"; February by the letter "B," and so on through the letter "L" which designates the month of December. This information is also available through StereoManuals.com.

 

[Dr. Strangelove]

The Pioneer Spec Bible is available from StereoManuals.com, and provides superb specification content on equipment from 1970 to 1985.

Doc

 

[Mark W.]

I collect Canon Cameras from 1971-86 and the same type of two letter dating is used with them. As well as some of the earlier models