Those Radio Shack Mini Amps ...
- Thread starter Stuart Pedaso
- Start date
Now that you mention it, they do share distinctly similar visual cues.
Fruits of a Tandy design engineer wrestling with Sansui envy, perhaps ...
in the upper left corner of your pic, is that an sa-175? (thats the one I have left - its hooked up to an onkyo analog tuner as a daily driver in my north versailles store
That is indeed an SA-175 -- the first version had switches on the bottom, below the knobs.
SA-175B and SA-175C moved the switches to the top, with the knobs below, like in Blast's pic at post #15.
This is the largest of Radio Shack's mini's, at 7"W x 10"D x 4"H. There's a funny typo in the '72 and '73 catalogs where they're listed as 7"x10"x14". That would make them 14" tall -- a monster of an amp! It was finally corrected in the '74 catalog, the last year for this model.
Last edited:
TomBig58
Super Member
I recently picked up an Optimus STA-20 for $20 because it's just so darn cute. Nice sound with the Optimus Pro7's and it even opened up a bit with some pretty efficient Kef Q10's. I'll use it along with the Kinter chip amp I usually use for testing and demo. Perfect for turntable testing.
Please confirm. Switches on the top AND no "B" or "C" designation on front or rear panel(s)?
I've got one of those SA-10 Radio shack amps on my workbench -
its perfect for playing the 30Hz test tone when centering the cone during a Rick Cobb surround replacement task!
its perfect for playing the 30Hz test tone when centering the cone during a Rick Cobb surround replacement task!
... get a surprising amount of buzz in these forums. It's commonly understood they are lo-fi, entry level audio from a bygone era. Yet there seems to be a pervasive fascination for the little things.
rcspkramp
Super Member
I's an SA-175B labeled on the front panel.
restorer-john
Addicted Member
When I was running a Tandy store we sold the SA-150 and the SA-10.
They have absolutely no redeeming sonic qualities whatsoever. They gathered more dust than customers.
Let's be serious for a second. 0.9 watts per channel at 2.5% THD and 1.8 watts per channel at 1% THD. Every radio cassette portable we sold was more powerful and sounded better. They were hilarious. We used to joke that we'd sell all our real HiFi and buy one each!
They certainly weren't in the Top 500 products and were only kept for little old ladies' church knitting groups, hooked up to a few ancient 8" crusty and faded ceiling speakers for listening to the 'wireless' (radio) or playing taped sermons on one of these little horrors:
It's possible some of the earlier ones (from the 70s) might be cute (SA-100C for instance).
If you really have a thing for mini components, seek out the Aiwa 22 series. They are actual HiFi components and perform very well. I've got a pile of them in storage someplace. They were all sold multivoltage to travellers often duty-free back in the day. The cassette decks are a write-off, the internal mechanisms simply crack up after 35 years.
This is the little A-22
And the SA-P22 system
This is another mini option, but on a whole other level. The Akai UC-5. The individual components have a one piece die-cast case and are mounted from below so the case lines are clean, no visible screws. Every terminal is gold plated, GX heads on the cassette deck, moving coil preamp with inert gas filled relay switching of inputs. Pulse power supply for the power amplifier and full discrete circuitry. A remote unit was optional. It even came with thick audiophile OFC gold plated RCAs. 1982. Components are very solid and beautiful.
Again, the cassette deck is the weak link and needs a lot of TLC to bring back to life, but they are worth it.
They have absolutely no redeeming sonic qualities whatsoever. They gathered more dust than customers.
Let's be serious for a second. 0.9 watts per channel at 2.5% THD and 1.8 watts per channel at 1% THD. Every radio cassette portable we sold was more powerful and sounded better. They were hilarious. We used to joke that we'd sell all our real HiFi and buy one each!
They certainly weren't in the Top 500 products and were only kept for little old ladies' church knitting groups, hooked up to a few ancient 8" crusty and faded ceiling speakers for listening to the 'wireless' (radio) or playing taped sermons on one of these little horrors:
It's possible some of the earlier ones (from the 70s) might be cute (SA-100C for instance).
If you really have a thing for mini components, seek out the Aiwa 22 series. They are actual HiFi components and perform very well. I've got a pile of them in storage someplace. They were all sold multivoltage to travellers often duty-free back in the day. The cassette decks are a write-off, the internal mechanisms simply crack up after 35 years.
This is the little A-22
And the SA-P22 system
This is another mini option, but on a whole other level. The Akai UC-5. The individual components have a one piece die-cast case and are mounted from below so the case lines are clean, no visible screws. Every terminal is gold plated, GX heads on the cassette deck, moving coil preamp with inert gas filled relay switching of inputs. Pulse power supply for the power amplifier and full discrete circuitry. A remote unit was optional. It even came with thick audiophile OFC gold plated RCAs. 1982. Components are very solid and beautiful.
Again, the cassette deck is the weak link and needs a lot of TLC to bring back to life, but they are worth it.
Last edited:
OK. Very interesting.
I use one for that exact same purpose. So convenient to move a little hand size amp right to the work, without taking up precious bench space.
TomBig58
Super Member
This little Nakamichi set I have ain't too bad. It came with the WORST speakers ever! I hope Nak did a better job a little higher up the food chain. It's a model R-1 and has a matching cd/cassette unit and remote. Some info here on AK but nobody has proper specs. Here it is in a bedroom setup through a speakercraft amp and JBL 2600's...yep, it has pre-outs. I wasn't very happy without adding a little oomph behind the speakers. Both pieces are 11.5W x 10D x 5.5H.
This is something I'm keenly curious about. The Shack ran these little amps for a good stretch of time. SA-10 alone had a 20 year run. But what were the sales numbers? If they weren't moving like hotcakes, it could suggest ulterior motives. Worm on a hook perhaps? To lure customers in with intro products for an opportunity to upsell? Or at least expecting to spark aspirations of upgrading at a later date? Most of us are familiar with the seductive power of the upgrade path.
It's like viral kitten videos. Who doesn't like cute?!
Excellent post. That is indeed some beautiful gear. Denon minis seem to get respect. I've personally admired the Parasound Z series of half-rack components. Very capable stuff in small packages.
Radio Shack's mini components are of course a completely different market. Which points to an important aspect of this thread; exploring the source(s) of appeal for these little things given that few if any are expecting high fidelity performance from them. The gear described above dramatically contrasts how far removed from that lofty status they are.
But setting aside enamoring qualities such as nostalgia, cuteness, vintage visual aesthetics, workbench utility and being collection-friendly where space and/or budget are limited, we are seeing testimony suggesting these can also be valued solely as reproducers of music in work environments or commercial settings.
Makes sense. They tend to be reliable -- MTBF reported as years of continuous operation. Woodworker at the table saw is not scrutinizing the timbre of Perlman's Strad. Nor is a shopper bemoaning the rising cost of tofu concerned that Ferrante and Teicher don't sound like they're performing right there in the isle. And of course those gossiping old ladies at the church knitting circle are not bothered by lack of crisp articulation in Ellefson's bass from their crusty 8-inchers.
The finesse of an Akai UC-5 system would be wasted here. It might even be argued that, in a perverse way, an RS mini would be better suited for these venues.
Last edited:
restorer-john
Addicted Member
At the time I was with TC ('86-'91-2ish), those little amps were a relic from the past in real terms, but to Tandy Corp's credit, they kept a huge amount of product simply because they could- times were very good back then, profits were enormous and everyone was making a fortune. Our annual conferences were in resorts and we were flown in from all over Australia, wined and dined and got cash bonuses in fat cheques.
They sold in very small numbers. I don't ever remember needing to call another local store to get one transferred at short notice- put it that way. Often sold to the church kitchens, music/message on hold for telephones (with a cassette deck or tuner), fish and chip shops etc. Usually when they were 30% or 40% off. I pretty much always sold in those cases an MPA-XX PA amplifier instead, as 'stereo' was not the goal- it was reliable background music.
But, due to their simplicity and sealed cases, bugs and spiders didn't get in and they never came back for repair. I suspect many are still functioning.
Also, the later ones we had were not as pretty and genuinely HiFi looking as the earlier 1970s units.
I've had several of the little buggers but moved them on, not that I wouldn't get more given the opportunity. My favourite of the not quite so small variety has always been the STA-7. I have one of those plus several Minimus 7's (all walnut) and metal 77's, plus a set of 5's and the small lineaum LX-4.
Last edited:
that might be endemic to OZ, over here, I used to run across them all the time. 8 years ago I could pick them up for a couple bucks at auction and restore them in an hour or so. Now, I dont buy many because they are pretty much snapped up or sell at auction for what I consider retail, un-worked on. And the kicker, they always work. Many of my college kids customers like reduced form factor machines to host a turntable in the dorm room for the mini-vinyl collection.
FWIW, MCS anything is another brand that I sell everyone I fix - even tape decks. Few and far between nowadays but snapped up voraciously.
