SAE stuff

3dogs

3dogs

Active Member
I've always like the look of SAE's components. I remember drooling over the plain, flat black, no frills look when they were new. I'm at a stage in my life, mid life crisis maybe, that I'd like to ather some of them up. I'm not too much a fan of the "T" series though. Any pitfalls I should be aware of? I know they would be 30 year old electronics, but are there any I should avoid?
 
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I would probably aim to get an EQ or even better, a parametric equalizer, from them, I think they made a parametric EQ, be awesome but not any other types of their equipment.

The amps in my opinion are sort of like a home user pro user wanna-be, the amps sound a little blasty, but clean.

Known for EQ's

Technically I think people should buy around the pair of speakers you have. A highly fast responsive speaker like a JBL studio monitor, could use a smooth mushy amp, and an accurate preamp.

A slouchy speaker pair like old AR's need a nice sharp responding amp like a FET amp or a whole pile of power.

I think a high power SAE power amp would sound best on inefficient speakers. with JBL you would hear the amp.
 
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I am driving Polk Monitor 7's with an SAE Mark series IVDM/IB sytem as I write this. Listening to Winwoods Arc Of The Diver album on a B&O TX turntable. It sounds great but I do prefer my ART phone preamp to the SAE phono preamp. I have run KLH 6's on the same SAE gear and it sounded good too.You may want to try an ART phono preamp if you have a turntable. I picked up my SAE gear at a garage sale and had it overhauled and restored by a fellow AK'r rbuckner. He mainly does vintage Marantz and my gear was his first SAE restore. He had high praise for the build quality and ease of restore.
 
I also have the same Mark IV DM amp, ran it with an AR C-06 pre-amp to power AR M4.5 and AR-14 speakers (via an Adcom switcher). Well built and sounded very clean. But shelved the SAE after I got a Luxman M-117, soundstage opened up with more base. Found the music more engaging, too. The Luxman's higher wattage (200 watts vs. 100 for the SAE) could be the big reason for the improvement. However I've kept the SAE because it sounded really good, too.

From what I've read on the web, the older ones like the Mark series were better than the newer stuff. But they are getting pretty hard to find in decent shape. Good luck!
 
Thanks for all the replies. I'm looking to gather up a bunch of different pieces just to have because I like the look of the SAE components.
 
I repaired a SAE3100 power amp, 50 WPC, and it was built like a tank, I had to remove 17 screws just to remove the cover. Everything inside was top quality, I'd buy a SAE unit without thinking it 2 times.

The sound: Very neutral & powerful, it was like a live show in my room.
 
SAE all the way

My music system is powered by SAE, run through Klipsch and Cizek speakers. Nice sound, powerful and clean. :yes:

Its not a Mac, but a good solid Class AB amp.
 
Their MK I series IMHO went head to head with some of the best in terms of sound and quality of construction. The tuners or the period with the nixie tubes while being pricey and a little gimicky with the readout, while not talked about much nowadays, were very competitive with their competition.

I sort of got turned off of them with their later designs that seemed more suited visually in a studio or on the road than a home. I especially had and have a thing against sliders.
 
Hi I own a SAE T101 Tuner an also a mint SAE 2400 Amp it's 200 watts rms. 8ohms built around 1977/78 time frame I had it gone through about 4yrs. ago, did a recap and diode replacement an a few upgrades as well. It sounds as good and has better bass punch then my Adcom 5802 amps that I also own, there 300 watts rms at 8ohms. Adcom has a little brighter top end to it could be the it has mosfet outputs. But the SAE has more solid warm bass. That's running them both through a pair of AR 9's and JBL L200t'3 speakers. I Love SAE AMPS but when restoring them they can be fussy if you do not use the exact parts and some parts like the protection relays are getting harder to find. Hope you find the gear your looking for, you have to spend thousands of dollars on new gear to get simular or slightly better sound. Vintage gear if restored properly at today low prices makes sense. Good luck in your search. :music:
 
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I have a SAE T-102 tuner, it's really cool. Eight station preset, and handsome industrial look to it. It works and sounds excellent. I had thought about trimming the rack mount ears off to make it match the rest of my equipment. I haven't used it about 2 years.
 
I picked up a xxxib amp for cheap. It's my garage stereo amp. I also have 5000 that I bought new, sitting in its original box in the attic. May have to pull it out and see how good it does with VPI table. I think there's a Hafler eq in the attic also.
 
I have the mark ixb pre amp and mark ivdm 100wpc amp. they are great pieces although i am trying to find how to fix the lights for the power meters on the ivdm and how to fix a bad ground on the ixb
 
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