Sony TA-1150 YOWSER!!

J

Jeanluc

Active Member
Day 3 with my new Sony TA1150 vintage play toy. WOW. I an duly impressed.
I have a handful of 70's vintage pieces, Sony TA2650,Sherwood 9400, Pioneer SA7700, Sansui 5050, Sanyo Plus 55, all of which get play time pushing my Forte I, TW 1A or B&W 610 speakers.

While each exhibits its own unique flavor, they all have that telltale sweet 70's vintage hi-fi quality, to a greater and lesser degree, that is so alluring. Yeah, yeah, I know, I cannot really determine what the true sound is without a full recap and whatnot to fully hear the units as the engineers intended...But I think you all know the sound to which I refer.

Enter the Sony TA1150, an altogether differant animal from other vintage i have heard. Bought off the 'bay supposedly 100% functional; arrived with a dead left channel and interior dust as thick as cake frosting (This is the 3rd straight 'bay buy not as described for me). Deoxit to the rescue once again. Gave it the D'bath and removed a great deal of the dust.

My O' my, this thing is more akin to a modern day finicky audiophile grade amplifier then any other vintage I've encountered. As I've read about here at the AK, I can see why it is thought that early Sony was voiced to compete with McIntosh. I own an MC2205.

I'd say the 1150 shares an emphasis of the midrange and a lack of concern with soundstage that I think marks part of the signature of the 2205. The 1150 has a very neutral, clean, lean and detailed sound that nobody would describe as having note of vintage warmth. Not so much detail as to be etchy, but I'm hearing into the recording further then I'm used to With the Sony, Forte/TW1A set up. My critical listening is done on a Spectra 33/Bedini 150 mkIi combo so I have a good idea what's in these recordings.

This little 35w bugger is picky about recordings. My recently acquired kyocera R851 loves everything I throw at it. Great soundstage. Nice inner detail. Incredible low end. Most people would much prefer its commanding attitude. The Sony is far more snooty. I find myself tweaking every recording: the Kyocers not so much.

Additionally, this baby is just loving the vinyl. Nice balance of frequencies. VG detail. The records sound differant. Somehow they seem more confident. It has really taken to my at440mla w/120e stylus. Of course I'm still basking in the newness of it all. Some would say its just a crush but I think I may be in love.

Any of you all have a similar experience with early Sony? I dig my 2650. It's got that HiFi thing in spades yet is of a very differant nature. Could anyone enlighten me as to what is going on engineering wise with the 1150 that the 2650 or the other same era pieces I mentioned just don't seem to have?

Thanks
 
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Comp trans output

Hey. Thanks for the response and the link. If you would and can, help me out a little bit. What does a complimentary transistor output design accomplish and why would it be a preferable to a more traditional from the period, say that utilized in my TA2650? Would Sony have dropped it for monetary reasons?

I suppose I'm trying to wrap my head around what is this design doing that I'm liking so much. Obviously other then what I can simply hear for myself
Thanks again
 
Complimentary transistors refers to having NPN and PNP pairs to drive the positive and negative swings in the signal. Around 1972, high power PNP transistors were rather expensive and didn't match the characteristics of NPNs very well.
Here's a short article about it:
http://www.radio-electronics.com/in...uasi-pseudo-complementary-symmetry-output.php

I have a Sony 3130F power amp from that period, and it uses quasi-complimentary design, 2 NPNs. Complimentary is the common design these days for class AB amps, like your 1150.
 
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http://www.hifiengine.com/library/sony/ta-1150.shtml with both the operators manual and service manual.

You probably have a great match with your cartridge. You also have a preamp output on the unit should you want to try another amps aux. The manual says that speaker wattage should be matched for the 50w output and not less.

A lot of people don't like sony for few reasons but I've always admired their advertised specs and quality. I still have a couple of original walkman radios that really sound great! ( and by no means a comparison to your unit.) I just like to put the head phones on once in awhile and get surprised all over again.
 
Sony has from it's beginnings been about quality design. Their ES stuff (which the early TA line is an unofficial member) is good as it gets circuit design wise.
 
Jeanluc said:
Day 3 with my new Sony TA1150 vintage play toy. WOW. I an duly impressed.
I have a handful of 70's vintage pieces, Sony TA2650,Sherwood 9400, This little 35w bugger is picky about recordings.


this is an old thread but I saw one of these amps on Ebay recently for under $100 and wanted to check the power output, and was surprised to see it only 35 WPC. I'm seeing this with a lot of vintage "integrated amps" i.e. pre and power amp in one set, but no radio receiver

the integrated amps are coming out of the woodwork now, and are a dime a dozen, they are bringing less than other receiver type vintage amps (i.e. ones that have am/fm radio receivers in them along with an amp). Although the integrated amps "look" more high end, powerful, and professional with no radio in them, I'm appalled by their pathetically low power ratings for solid state, of only 30-50 watts or so, or 70 watts. It seems the dedicated pre and power amp pairs had more power, and more value, and although these integrated amps look the part, they have less power than a $200 Pioneer silver face receiver.

it appears that perhaps the integrated amps were a way to dress up the lower power receivers to make them look higher end, by taking the radio receivers out, costing less to mfg., and yet charge more for them new because they looked the part of a rackable DJ sound system amp- and sell more of the same amps circuits, as done by the big stereo co's of the time. I have talked in detail and at length with a very experience stereo repairman who has been in the business since the 1970's when these were new- and he said basically all the big names i.e. Pioneer, Sony, Harmon Kardon, San Souci, Marantz, Yamaha, Kenwood, Onkyo, etc. used the same final output amp circuits and designs.

So a solid state amp of the era, is an amp, is an amp, no matter how it's dressed up- and the only unique character they could give these amps was, in the pre-amp and tone amp sections- and in the front panel appearance, and now much stuff you could plug into the back of them.

for how high end a Sony 1150 looks, it only has 35 watts and a Pioneer receiver with that much power sells for under $100 now. That's about what these integrated amps are going for as well.

the bottom has fallen out of the solid state vintage market as of late, and it's a buyers' market- the only ones worth a good buck are the ultra rare, ultra-high powered, and ultra-good sounding, which are few and far between in solid state

the general public has begun to wake up and realize, if you are truly serious about good stereo sound, vintage tube amps are the only way to fly- tube amp prices are up, solid state has gone down

if someone wanted to show me how good their 35 wpc solid state amp was, I don't think I'd take the time to actually drive over to listen to another SS amp of that power range, if you heard one, you heard them all. One thing I noticed about solid state amps, they need a lot of power, to sound good in the low volume levels- and it's power you will never use above the "4" setting on the volume control. If you play them for extended times at "5" or above, guess what...

it fries the output transistors out of them, due to heat, because most of these consumer grade amps, lacked cooling fans.

same reason all the flat screen TV's are burning up left and right, and power supplies going bad- they run hot.
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tracker-x said:
if someone wanted to show me how good their 35 wpc solid state amp was, I don't think I'd take the time to actually drive over to listen to another SS amp of that power range, if you heard one, you heard them all.
Click to expand...

This couldn't be further from the truth. Otherwise, your post is riddled with inaccuracies and that needs to be pointed out for posterity.
 
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xratedpez said:
This couldn't be further from the truth. Otherwise, your post is riddled with inaccuracies and that needs to be pointed out for posterity.
Click to expand...

That's an understatement! If the post was shorter it would be :boxing: to death!
 
The first system I spent time with was my fathers. The central components where a Sony STR-6055, JBL-L77's and a Gerard turntable. I still have the Sony today and it is driving ADS 810s for our TV. I love the thing and it is 35 watts per channel. I also have a Sony TA-1130. The 1130 has more power and sounds a little better. There are many variables to this, including the fact that The STR-6055 went with me from room to room and house to house as I went through college and beyond. I think the TA-1130 is in better condition for having had less hours of play.
I brought in Sansui G8000 and G9000. There is no doubt that these high power receivers deliver greater clarity and presence. I am currently listening to Sony TA-E77esd and TA-N80es with ADS L1230. This is the best so far. I have also set up my TA-1130 as a preamp with an Eico hf87. This is also an excellent system.
I am in a place where I need to clear out some gear so the Sansui G8000 is out. I will not sell my vintage Sony. There is something very special about early Sony that is with me for life. Maybe it is going home to my childhood days with the STR-6055. I love the feeling of flipping the spring loaded toggle switch to the on position but there is a tonal warmth that is just right for my ear. I would love to have a TA-2000 pre with the TA-3200f amplifier. I have a feeling if I had the TA-2000 it may take over as my main system and displace my ES gear if I use it with my Eico hf87.
 
Hello.I have a Sony TA-1130 with no sound ,found destroyed trimmers for adjustments(bias and balance)replace them but i can't adjust the 25mv and still no sound....help needed.I am Anthony and i read some things you post about this amp.,and seems to me you know this device well...?
 
Hello.I have a Sony TA-1130 with no sound ,found destroyed trimmers for adjustments(bias and balance)replace them but i can't adjust the 25mv and still no sound....help needed.I am Anthony and i read some things you post about this amp.,and seems to me you know this device well...?
 
I have a Sony TA-1150 with the walnut case/cabinet in near mint. Got it at Goodwill for $3 about eight years ago. I love this piece more than my vintage Marantz which is now a part of my bedroom system. There is a good reason it is nicknamed the Mac Killer. I believe it is the best amplifier Sony ever designed, and is one of the brightest stars of the 70s. To the member who said the TA-1130 was better because it had more power. Sony themselves back in the 70s said that the TA-1150 was their best effort to beat out the competition, by using the best and newest technology available in no other amplifier. A side by side testing against a McIntosh amplifier resulted in the Sony performing as good if not better for a fraction of the price.
 
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Nice! A TA-1150 was the first brand new amp I bought with my own money in the early 1970's. I'd just bought Large Advent speakers and the dealer produced a dealer info sheet from the Advent Corporation naming a Sony TA-1150 as one of the amps they recommended for their speakers.
 
Early to late 70's Sony equipment was very good. I have 3200F power amp and was impressed with the build quality and performance. Sony tended to have features not common on other brands for that time as well. The 70's Sony receivers and separates tend to fly under the radar, but have been inching up in prices. They had cool equipment like active crossovers with small cube DC amps to go along with the crossovers. The power amp I have has some cool features too. Gain controls, output power selector, built in speaker switching, and two inputs on a switch. It sports a pretty robust limiter circuit too. I wish I could fork out the big $$$ that the matching 2000F preamp goes for these days.
20190909_131723.jpg
 
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