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Sony TA-AV670ES "ES" for 200 bucks?

D

Donkey!

AK member
Banned
So I have a chance to get a sony TA-AV670ES which is in their ES equipment line.

I looked at it's pictures and it looks neat, it is some form of early surround. It uses a teroidal power tx. Rosewood panels. I can't find much about it on the net, but it basically is something that came from a PX.

So it's foreign really. Not sold here in the states, and it's around 1990 for it's manufacture.

So, is 200 dollars a good deal. I haven't even begun to make offers with the guy.
 
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I'm not familar with that particular model, but I've watched the ES stuff before.

I've actually narrowed down my pre-amp to a Sony ES or a Sansui.

Here's a very loose general idea of what similar Sony product would go for, from my experience. And remember, it's a loose estimate.

I've typically seen them sell for just over $200 to up to $380 normally. Of course, I've seen some pieces sell as low as $180, and a member here told me he sold his ES for $800.

If the guy is asking $200, it's most likely a fair price. Check to see if it's compatible with our power supply grid.

some of these ES Sonys have a built-in DAC setup, by the way.
 
Do you think it would out preform my Yamaha A-1000.

I love my yammie, but I want something new to go with my new Klipsch KSF 8.5s :banana:

I own a pair of Klipsch speakers :music:
 
sony aboney

I don't think that any Sony audio gear can have as much juice as a Yamaha.
 
I've no idea what it puts out for power, but the "ES" in the name stands for "Elevated Standard", and would be like Pioneer Elite to Pioneer, Entegra to Onkyo, Optonica to Sharp, ect...

Will it out-perform your Yammie? I've not a clue.

Is it a nice piece of kit for around $200?

Absolutely.

Will it impart a different sound than a Yammie?

Most likely.
 
Well I think it's an 85 wpc job.

My yamaha is a brute. 140 wpc, and that's conservative.

BUt right now, I have a pioneer sx-205 pos bpc receiver driving them downstairs. And they still sound unbelievable.
 
HomerJ said:
I don't think that any Sony audio gear can have as much juice as a Yamaha.
Click to expand...

The sony ES stuff is nice- good, clean lines, quality parts, ect... very well-built stuff.

But I'll say for strength, I haven't seen a line from sony that was as "macho" as Yammie gear.

The big metered ES Sony amp doesn't have the headroom as most Yammies, and isn't as brutally strong either.

That said, it's still nice gear, and very refined, with a nice sound.
 
I always thought it's about sound quality. Not WPC. Nothing wrong with power. It's just overemphasized.
 
arrow 68 said:
I always thought it's about sound quality. Not WPC. Nothing wrong with power. It's just overemphasized.
Click to expand...

I'd say that's a good point, with one caveat-

Some speakers are pretty power hungry. Dahlquist DQ-10s, AR 9s, ect.

That may be a consideration with the 'Mob's new new Klipsch KSF 8.5s.

I'm unsure of what they need.

But if they don't need a lot of power, and are pretty efficient, I would say the Sony will sound warmer than the Yammies, if it's a typical Klipsch design.

I'd find Yammies (and I own three) to be too much for Klipsches.
 
See that's what I'm thinking. My Klipsch are very efficient. 94db for a watt and a meter.

and they aren't power hungry. My yamaha can smoke **** easily, and the problem is, it doesn't distort at all, so you can be driving speakers with the rule of no distortion means go for it.

But, the power output literally melts speakers after a while even though they sounded great playing.

I utterly destroyed my marantz HD-660s and those are some robust speakers. :tears:
 
Bar the older STR receivers (6800/7800SD and V7), the 1960s 6060/6120/6200F or the x-rare STR-GX10ES from 1989, Sony never gave much thought to receivers...
The little TA-AV will NOT be on par with the Yam' A-1000 for sure for "TA-AV" units always were on the lower side of things at Sony.

And I agree with thedelihaus: 1980s Yamahas will probably be too much zing-boom-bang for 94dB Klipschs!
 
Well that's what I was thinking. I was suspicious of it being worth 200 bucks.

I can get some old ratty marantz receiver for less then that. I don't care about looks.
 
I'd drop $350 on a sony ES series pre-amp of that era, because although Sony gear in general is on my pi$$-poor list of manufacturers, earlier efforts are good, as are most ES efforts.

Early Sony TTs are innovative and well-built. The silver faced receivers and pre-amps are solid and great-sounding- There's a 6065 here at my house that trounces much of my other, more respected gear (and I hate to admit that, but it is the truth). A few friends have found the early pre-amps and integrateds to be some of their favorites.

A good amount of the later ES stuff like CD players and amps and pre-amps were built heavy and with good components. I enjoy the ES CD players of this era, and with good chips in them.

Of course, at this time, Sony also was making utter crap. Lightweight components on par with today's Insignia and modern KLH and Sherwood quality.

My advice, since no one has first-hand experience with this Sony, is go see it.

Is it heavy? Is the face solid?

Open it up- many of the ES pieces feature lots of shielding inside.

Check to see if it has optical-ins and digital ins. Sony used their own proprietary chips at times, some burr-browns, and some of their competitor Phillipschips. All good chips.

Remember, the Sony ES stuff is their premier line, like Entegra is to Onkyo, Pioneer Elite is to Pioneer, or for a non-hifi comparison, Audi is to VW, Infinity to Toyota, Acura to Honda.

I'd offer $150 if it was me, and if it has the remote. I'm sure if you didn't like it, you could re-sell it on eBay for $100 to $300.
 
delihaus, be careful with generalisations about the big sony with meters (the tan77es) and comparing it with yamahas of the same era. The yamahas were at the time, poorly made, lightweight by comparision and used inferior components all the way through. How do I know? Because I have pretty much every piece of the top 1989/90 ES lineup and quite a few of the same years lineup from yamaha. The heaviest amp yamaha made in the consumer line then was the M85 a lighter cheaper badly designed version of the better outgoing model the M80- which still was no super heavyweight (but probably the best they'd made) and had all sorts of overheating issues, then came the even lighter and cheaper MX series which I have a few of too. The MX1000 cannot deliver full power into a 4ohm load without overheating- it is a lovely amp, but designed along the lines of NAD's (aka powertracker) philosophy of high peak power. It's FTC rating for 4 ohms is only 25% more than its 8 ohm rating. We couldn't even get 300 watts continuous for more than a few minutes before these units either failed or shut down. My 150watt rated per channel denon POA1500 (same weight as a MX1000) will deliver 300watts continuous all day into 4 ohms- a load of course, I aint listening to that! Bear in mind, the MX1000 was rated at 260watts per channel at 8ohms. They use a commutating supply on some of the top yamahas, not for any other reason than to save money. I use them (the smaller two brothers) for parties (MX830/630) as there is so much fresh air inside (big case, no guts) them they almost never overheat..true story! At the time of the N77es, it was AU$2399 and the M85 was AU$1899 (we sold them run out at $999) when the MX1000 came in at $1899. I'm not saying the 77es is the best amp ever (there sure are improvements that could be made), but it is sure a better power amp than anything yamaha dished out through the same era. I am not including esoterica here, as both brands would have plenty of ammunition there too- purely the top consumer range.
 
The A-1000, while nice, isn't as good as the Sony. The A-1020 is probably a closer match.

The Sony is basically an ESD1000 with a power amp. While not officially an ES, it pretty much is.

$200 is steep for a unit if you wouldn't use it. But if you do intend it to be primary, $200 is good. You should get the remote with it for that much though.
 
Damage said:
The A-1000, while nice, isn't as good as the Sony. The A-1020 is probably a closer match.

The Sony is basically an ESD1000 with a power amp. While not officially an ES, it pretty much is.

$200 is steep for a unit if you wouldn't use it. But if you do intend it to be primary, $200 is good. You should get the remote with it for that much though.
Click to expand...

The 1020 is really no different then the 1000. accept for 6 speaker outputs and power amp inputs and pre outs.

Other then that, same ****.

But this sony, does say ES all over the inerds
 
restorer-john said:
delihaus, be careful with generalisations about the big sony with meters (the tan77es) and comparing it with yamahas of the same era. The yamahas were at the time, poorly made, lightweight by comparision and used inferior components all the way through. How do I know? Because I have pretty much every piece of the top 1989/90 ES lineup and quite a few of the same years lineup from yamaha....
Click to expand...


While I couldn't honestly talk down the Yammies here (I own vintage Yammie, and like them), rest assured I'm closer in opinion to you about build quality and the like with the Sony ES (I own vintage silver sony and some Sony ES).

The Sony ES build quality is great, and as I've said, parts used are good to excellent.

As for ths Sony TA-N77ES, it's a beautiful amp, and plenty strong, but the Yammies were being made stronger, with more headroom.

This doesn't make the Yammies worse or better (feel free to come to your own conclusions about that), only different. In my opinion.

If I was looking for refinement, a warmer, more colored (and to me more musical) sound, and great build quality, I'd choose the Sony ES over the Yamaha.

If I wanted brute strength and more ample headroom to drive a demanding load, with zero coloration bordering on the clinical side (not a bad thing, if that's what you want), my choice would be the more muscular Yamaha.

Now, all that said, remember, like Kenwood with the 700 series, Yamaha also made some brutally strong and well-refined pieces too.

Member Mark (B, I think), has got I believe a centennial edition that, quite frankly, looks like it'd smoke the standard Sony ES line. The thing is massive, and beautiful, and really well-built.

But Sony could counter with some of it's Japanese or European market only rare pieces, pieces that I'm only vaguely familar with, but are true statement pieces too.

For Klipsch, I'd generally look at the Sony as a better match than the Yamaha.
 
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