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Sonab r4000/2

lildoug

lildoug

AK Subscriber
Subscriber
Hey,
I've been intrigued by Sonab stuff for years now. I've had/still have some sets of the orthoacoustic speakers. Quirky little numbers that are pretty sweet performers. Esp in apt confines.

I've been looking for a Sonab r4000 receiver for a while and one popped up on the auction site for a doable price. I have a few issues upon firing it up.

Obviously this thing is an oddball. Every jack on the back is some squirelly din or proprietary type. I have plenty of the speaker connectors from my Sonab speakers. No problem there. The din style interconnects are a bit funny though. I bought a dongle from amazon for B&O gear meant for the aux. The channels are flipped but no big deal.

issues (that I am maybe capable of tackling):
1. All bulbs are out. Anyone have a manual for this beast? Would like to replace them.
2. The antenna jack is some alien thing I've never seen. Any idea where to source this thing? Dug around without much luck.
3. Also trying to figure out the tuning presets to no avail.

Thanks!
 

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until now, i thought they only made speakers. the descendant of the sonab speaker is the larsen, worth hearing.
 
Din antenna plug.
The pic is a B & O one. It will do the job.



There is a copy of the schematic on the net (I lost the link). I tried to upload the PDF file I have but its to large to post. If you cannot find it, I`ll try to post something here.

I have never been able to figure out how to set up the channel pre-set either. It would be nice to know.


Sonab, more than just speakers.




OK a lot of their front end stuff was made by others, but these were not.

 
Ok, did some back tracking.
You will have to join both sites but its easy and they are a good reference source.
Schematics for R4000-2 at hifi engine,
owners manual at hifi manual.

Tony
 
BTSs said:


OK a lot of their front end stuff was made by others, but these were not.

Click to expand...

Yep. Their 85S turntable was made by Nippon Gakki - also known as the Yamaha YP-500.

8e138d7540f913f1.jpg

P1020863.jpg

s-l400.jpg


A very close relative of the YP-701. They share the same service manual. And from working with my own, the only noticeable difference is the tonearm.

A55423AE-A709-4CB7-88D8-1CE84C215667_zpsmqllqukc.jpg
 
Sonab 55S is the matching turntable for this receiver. Made in France by Era, a very interesting TT.

I have a Sonab P4000, which is the amp-only version (originally made for the Australian market I think). Very nice unit. My friend has R4000. As far as I recall, to use presets you just press one of the 3 preset buttons and once it's pressed you can adjust frequency by turning it (each button is also a tuning knob). If that doesn't work, let me know, I will check.

If you don't have a DIN antenna plug, just insert bare wire into top or bottom hole of the socket and block it with a match or toothpick.

Funny story, apparently one of the tests the Sonab guys did with this receiver was driving a car over it to check if the enclosure can take it. Reportedly it could. We're planning to try that test with my friend's R4000, its condition is far from perfect anyway.
 
BTSs said:
Ok, did some back tracking.
You will have to join both sites but its easy and they are a good reference source.
Schematics for R4000-2 at hifi engine,
owners manual at hifi manual.

Tony
Click to expand...

I used to have that r3000 receiver on the bottom of the stack in the advertising picture above. The schematics were neatly tucked in an envelope and taped to the inside top of the receiver's cover at the factory, I'd imagine they did this with all the other models too.
 
Thanks for the info guys. I have a C500 Cassette deck that matches it as well. If nothing else it is visually striking, well built stuff.

I tried that with the presets to no avail. I'll get back to it this week after I get some free time. Noticed on one of the nude pics that there are sliders next to the presets under the fascia.
 
The C500 is another part made by someone else. If you ever need belts for it, Nakamichi 500 is what the C500 is based on.

Not the best positioning to bring out the "visually striking" but it does get used.
 
Yep. NAK 500 belts worked like a charm! Good sounding little deck. Confounding that the deck has rca and the receiver is din but hey.
 
Should have both types.

Seems common for the time that tape decks, receivers and integrated amps carried both.

 
Yeah. wow. You are right. missed them all this time. Thanks! sort of ignorant on this din deal.
 
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