SPEC-4 Opinions
- Thread starter Bigears
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They are superb little amps 
Be careful. They are a bit long in the teeth. I recommend having them gone over by a competant, experienced tech, to make sure that the time bomb is not about to go off.
I just lost mine. It was my bench amp, until I could take the time to go through it. I took too long and she couldn't hold her magic smoke in any longer. Turns out that if I had opened her up and looked, I would have seen that all 4 main caps had begun to vent at some time in the past (there was corrosion on the bottom plate and a couple of other places).
My thinking was, I would keep the unit on my bench and not my main rig, until I could go through it. This is so it would not be asked to push very hard until it was ceritfied to be able to handle it. It never got pushed over 10 WPC for quite a while. One day, it accidentally got pushed pretty significantly (should not have been enough to cause damage), and...poof.
I have everything I need to bring her back to full life, except the time. She will breathe again :yes:
Anyway, at least open her up and inspect before significant use, but don't pass her up if you can pick her up for a nice price. They really do sound sweet, apparently, even when limping.
BTW...I'm looking for a 2nd one for my main rig.
Enjoy,
Rich P
Be careful. They are a bit long in the teeth. I recommend having them gone over by a competant, experienced tech, to make sure that the time bomb is not about to go off.
I just lost mine. It was my bench amp, until I could take the time to go through it. I took too long and she couldn't hold her magic smoke in any longer. Turns out that if I had opened her up and looked, I would have seen that all 4 main caps had begun to vent at some time in the past (there was corrosion on the bottom plate and a couple of other places).
My thinking was, I would keep the unit on my bench and not my main rig, until I could go through it. This is so it would not be asked to push very hard until it was ceritfied to be able to handle it. It never got pushed over 10 WPC for quite a while. One day, it accidentally got pushed pretty significantly (should not have been enough to cause damage), and...poof.
I have everything I need to bring her back to full life, except the time. She will breathe again :yes:
Anyway, at least open her up and inspect before significant use, but don't pass her up if you can pick her up for a nice price. They really do sound sweet, apparently, even when limping.
BTW...I'm looking for a 2nd one for my main rig.
Enjoy,
Rich P
Bigears
Manager of my own day
Doc, thanks for the link. Interesting reading. As Pustel suggests, I have my concerns on the condition of this amp. I've done a fair amount of restoration on vintage gear myself so my offer will be based on anticipated work and existing damage.
What are the main differences between the SPEC 3 and 4? I see the obvious WPC difference, but frankly 250 WPC @ 0.1% thd is probably a lot closer to 150 WPC @ 0.01% than it appears and may be a marketing angle. What do you guys think?
Update:
I have the SPEC 4 here now and I just finished up a through examination including setting the DC, bias and poking around both sides of the chassis. Nothing is leaking or burned from what I can tell. The big power caps all seem solid with no bubbles or leaking. Sounds pretty sweet into my L100t3's and I did push it hard.
I realize this is not a definative analysis, but she looks pretty good. At the risk of having this tread moved, would anyone care to PM me with an idea on what something like this is worth? I don't want to go off the auction prices.
Thanks
What are the main differences between the SPEC 3 and 4? I see the obvious WPC difference, but frankly 250 WPC @ 0.1% thd is probably a lot closer to 150 WPC @ 0.01% than it appears and may be a marketing angle. What do you guys think?
Update:
I have the SPEC 4 here now and I just finished up a through examination including setting the DC, bias and poking around both sides of the chassis. Nothing is leaking or burned from what I can tell. The big power caps all seem solid with no bubbles or leaking. Sounds pretty sweet into my L100t3's and I did push it hard.
I realize this is not a definative analysis, but she looks pretty good. At the risk of having this tread moved, would anyone care to PM me with an idea on what something like this is worth? I don't want to go off the auction prices.
Thanks
HiFi'end
Slice-o-Pioneer
Hello there fellow Pioneer fiends. I got really, and i mean REALLY lucky. Let me explain a bit first. I am a service technician so i average around 7-9 service calls a day that require me to usually enter peoples homes. I've seen & experienced just about every crazy scenario u can imagine from the disgusting living habits of some, to the domestic abuse nonsense, and i'm just trying to get their surround sound and remote set up for them , with a clear picture. Amongst all these situations are a large number of folks who are either "Throw away everything, it wont match the new house" type of people, or just people who have been meaning to take that old broken amp,speaker, turntable etc to the goodwill, but haven't got around to it.. Until i happen to take it off their hands that is. Anyhow, most of my vintage audio gear, i'd say atleast 95% of it was gien to me by the customers i service on a day to day basis. And in this case in point, this nice lady gave me a Spec 4, Spec 1, and i hope this won't offend anyone, also gave me a Kenwood 5400 along with a pair of Bose 901 with the vintage cabinet/grill look with the stands! I would have gotten a pioneer audio rack she said if that service call was a week earlier. She had just tossed it to the curb! I almost cried just thinking about that poor rack. I still cried tear of joy when i got my new babies to add to the family, when everything checked out ok and then powered up and put sweet sounds of music that made me flashback to a more innocent time when getting goosebumps meant something good had just happenned... Ooops, i zoned out their with that flashback feeling. Anyhow.. I love all my vintage audio gear, from my H.H Scott tube pre-amp, to my Soundcraftsmen MA-5002 power amp. But the Spec's are my favourite of the bunch. so pretty to just look at you know the sound is just as sweet. That one of my "babies" in my avatar. Thats the best thing about my job. Somedays its like a treasure hunt. and the specs are treasures u ask me. Especially when they're given to you Almost got a spec 2 on several ebay deals, but a spec 3 i've never come across...wasn't the spec 3 only sold overseas or something like that?
Just wanted to end this novel (; by saying this is forum, the whole Audiokarma experience has been really kind, cool, and informative on so many aspects and levels. Real relaxed. Unlike a certain other audio enthusiast forums i've visited... This is a good thing. Thanks to all.
Almost got a spec 2 on several ebay deals, but a spec 3 i've never come across...wasn't the spec 3 only sold overseas or something like that? Just wanted to end this novel (; by saying this is forum, the whole Audiokarma experience has been really kind, cool, and informative on so many aspects and levels. Real relaxed. Unlike a certain other audio enthusiast forums i've visited... This is a good thing. Thanks to all.
Bigears
Manager of my own day
SPEC 4 in the HOUSE!
Based on my initial impressions of this wonderful amp and the strong recommendation from the Pioneer group here, I pulled the trigger and laid out a nice sum of green for this little gem.
I was lucky enough to be able to spend some quality time with this unit before I bought it. I gave it a good cleaning, did the DeoxIT MCL on the gain controls, set the DC and the bias current and even cleaned the chassis before I put it to the test. Played it long and loud all day Monday and that pretty much sealed the deal for me.
I have many high power amps and receivers in my collection but something about the way this unit performs convinced me I needed it and it's more than a pretty face. I don’t know if it’s the class A pre driver stage or the damping factor of 100, but this unit performs much stronger than I expected for 150 WPC.
Many thanks to Pustelniakr for his insight during the process.
Based on my initial impressions of this wonderful amp and the strong recommendation from the Pioneer group here, I pulled the trigger and laid out a nice sum of green for this little gem.
I was lucky enough to be able to spend some quality time with this unit before I bought it. I gave it a good cleaning, did the DeoxIT MCL on the gain controls, set the DC and the bias current and even cleaned the chassis before I put it to the test. Played it long and loud all day Monday and that pretty much sealed the deal for me.
I have many high power amps and receivers in my collection but something about the way this unit performs convinced me I needed it and it's more than a pretty face. I don’t know if it’s the class A pre driver stage or the damping factor of 100, but this unit performs much stronger than I expected for 150 WPC.
Many thanks to Pustelniakr for his insight during the process.
jaynemo
Member
Wall Of Silver
If I can share my Pioneer adventure, I lucked out and worked with a guy for a couple of years who bought this rig off the original owner. He knew it was fairly worthy equipment, but just didnt have the time or ambition for it, he actually said he felt kind of guilty about it because he traded a beat up piece of antique furniture for it, so he wasnt too concerned about letting it go for $500. He wife actually tried to talk him down on the price to me, because she felt he was ripping me off, but was glad to see "that damn robot" out of the house. Cosmetically the equipment was in very good shape, the Spec-4 had a left channel out. After a full restoration by the Sound-Smith on the Spec-4, Spec-1, TX-950011 & Rt-701 I really haven't had a desire to buy new gear,,,,yet. The Spec-1 was pesky as the 100 Hz tone control had an intermit, it turned out to be a ground rivet on the main tone board. Oh, did I mention along for the ride was also an SD-1100 display? Also I wont forget the Heathkit AS-101's (Valencia clones), that I offed for a good price to finance the restoration. Well, my adventures also ended up with aquiring a local pair of Legacy Focus towers which is what you see here hooked up to the Spec rack. Until I hooked these up, I never have had the chance to see the peak meters fly over 50 WPC peak, well this is certainly not the case anymore.....
If I can share my Pioneer adventure, I lucked out and worked with a guy for a couple of years who bought this rig off the original owner. He knew it was fairly worthy equipment, but just didnt have the time or ambition for it, he actually said he felt kind of guilty about it because he traded a beat up piece of antique furniture for it, so he wasnt too concerned about letting it go for $500. He wife actually tried to talk him down on the price to me, because she felt he was ripping me off, but was glad to see "that damn robot" out of the house. Cosmetically the equipment was in very good shape, the Spec-4 had a left channel out. After a full restoration by the Sound-Smith on the Spec-4, Spec-1, TX-950011 & Rt-701 I really haven't had a desire to buy new gear,,,,yet. The Spec-1 was pesky as the 100 Hz tone control had an intermit, it turned out to be a ground rivet on the main tone board. Oh, did I mention along for the ride was also an SD-1100 display? Also I wont forget the Heathkit AS-101's (Valencia clones), that I offed for a good price to finance the restoration. Well, my adventures also ended up with aquiring a local pair of Legacy Focus towers which is what you see here hooked up to the Spec rack. Until I hooked these up, I never have had the chance to see the peak meters fly over 50 WPC peak, well this is certainly not the case anymore.....
Attachments
I recently picked up a Pioneer SPEC-4 and SPEC-1 pair for a grand total of $300. I must say that, apart from a few mild quirks, the SPEC-4 is an outstanding piece of equipment. I have yet to drive it much past 10W, but it's nearly deafening at that level, and sounds phenomenal.
The only problem I've noticed with the SPEC-4 thus far is that it occasionally experiences a mild volume drop-out in the right channel. It typically lasts a couple of seconds, and then returns to normal volume. Any ideas what the cause might be? Would like to ensure that the unit remains at full performance.
-Adam
The only problem I've noticed with the SPEC-4 thus far is that it occasionally experiences a mild volume drop-out in the right channel. It typically lasts a couple of seconds, and then returns to normal volume. Any ideas what the cause might be? Would like to ensure that the unit remains at full performance.
-Adam
The SPEC-4 lives again! I finally got an open space on my bench to do a piece or 2 of my own, so I thought I would wake my baby back up. It took 8 transistors, a 12 amp FB fuse (those are hard to find), a 47 ohm,1/4W resistor, and 4 main power caps ($125 for those alone).They are superb little amps
Be careful. They are a bit long in the teeth. I recommend having them gone over by a competant, experienced tech, to make sure that the time bomb is not about to go off.
I just lost mine. It was my bench amp, until I could take the time to go through it. I took too long and she couldn't hold her magic smoke in any longer. Turns out that if I had opened her up and looked, I would have seen that all 4 main caps had begun to vent at some time in the past (there was corrosion on the bottom plate and a couple of other places).
My thinking was, I would keep the unit on my bench and not my main rig, until I could go through it. This is so it would not be asked to push very hard until it was ceritfied to be able to handle it. It never got pushed over 10 WPC for quite a while. One day, it accidentally got pushed pretty significantly (should not have been enough to cause damage), and...poof.
I have everything I need to bring her back to full life, except the time. She will breathe again :yes:
Anyway, at least open her up and inspect before significant use, but don't pass her up if you can pick her up for a nice price. They really do sound sweet, apparently, even when limping.
BTW...I'm looking for a 2nd one for my main rig.
Enjoy,
Rich P
My thanks goes out to Echowars for his help in part substitution recommendations and words to the wise.
I did find myself a 2nd SPEC-4 for my main rig (I need 2 total). The only way to get one at a reasonable price was to buy a fried one. I bought enough parts to do 3 or 4 of them, so she is next on the bench (quick, before another tape deck restoration commission comes in).
Enjoy,
Rich P
Loz-Pioneer-Nut
..........it`s up to you!
Music compressed, makes me depressed. Its a good thing Hi-Fi stereo and vintage Pioneer audio has always been between my ears to impress. U play your iPod. I'll play my Pioneer
Hi Hi-Fiend
I gotta say it - I like your saying at the end
But MP3 I gotta play it - I cant pretend!
I dont want you to draw a tear
But I do play it on my Pioneer!
It maybe compressed and cause you distress
And I do confess that compressed means less!
Less clutter of the CD`s
More space for Silver P`s!! :yes: :yes: :thmbsp:
I Dont want an Ipod though - my Pioneer will definately do nicely!! :yes:
Regards
LOZ. :thmbsp: