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Knowing that I'm an audio tech, someone is offering to give me a Pioneer SPEC-4 power amp. Word is it was working when stored, but now, "nothing happens."
I have plenty of power amps, so the only reason I'd take another is if it was still respectable by current standards.
Thumbs up? Thumbs down?
Follow Ups:
The SPEC-4 is here. The power supply to the mute circuit had failed, so it was stuck in Mute mode, but I fixed the problem and gave it a much-needed major cleaning (dust everywhere). I think it's one of the best SS amps I've ever heard. Thanks for the advice of those who responded without condemning me for the fact that I was unfamiliar with these. I hadn't generally thought that SS power amp design had come this far by 1980.
Good deal on your amp! Never heard one but have always read good things. Another from that era would be the Sansui BA and matching CA series of components. Like other Japanese manufacturers of that time Sansui had a lot of home runs! I someday hope to own a set.
Right now I have been messing with some receivers, but the one I am most excited about is a Sansui 1000A I have which is currently being refurbished! From all I see a really special unit.
Good luck and keep us up to date on your progress!
Best,
Dave
Your question seems to have been answered.
Thumbs up!
Pioneer made some of the best quality stuff of that era. I have only one caveat. Some of Pioneer's earlier top end stuff tended to be very, I mean VERY!!!! bright. I found the earlier stuff, the more it cost the less I could listen to it. Their recievers were tops! Some of the separates - went over the top, top end that is.
But I have never heard the SPEC line pieces. And seeing how collected and well reviewed the SPEC line is - My vote - go for it! You really can't loose. If you get it working you may really like it. If not you can sell it for a nice price.
charles
Sound wise they're no different than the Marantz, Spectro, Crown and or JBL power amps in that era that I was using as well...However, the Sansui BA 5000 power amp was something else altogether...
If a thing's worth doing, it's worth doing well
(Proverb)
Edits: 07/07/14
NT.
.
If a thing's worth doing, it's worth doing well
(Proverb)
Here's a link that may be useful
No "audio tech" I've ever met would think twice or have to ask around if offered that particular amp.
I once asked a VERY reputable East Coast Audio restoration house, innocently, how the Pioneer Spec Gear rated compared to Mac gear of that genre, his comment, "the MAC gear not even close".....
"No "audio tech" I've ever met would think twice or have to ask around if offered that particular amp."
You're welcome to lose the attitude. I'm also on two other professionals-only lists of audio techs. None of us has seen or heard about every piece of audio equipment out there. We ask each other questions like this all the time, and no one responds the way you just did. I specialize in musical instrument amps, Hammond/Leslie, and tube amps in general. I'm also one of the only people in my region willing to tackle restorations of Vox and Farfisa combo organs. Most of the solid-state amps I'm asked to work on are PA amps made by Crown, Crest, QSC, etc... I've never paid that much attention to 1970s solid-state Hi-Fi. My apologies. Have you ever heard of a Flot-A-Tone guitar amp? Or a Gregory Reverb 1500? Or an Alamo Capri? I've restored all of those. We all have our niches. Decent people help others fill in the gaps. Jerks try to make others look stupid for asking a question.
I've been interested in audio for ... decades, and have had my own vintage electronics business for 4 years now. I quickly gave up thinking I'd ever know everything, and have since given up thinking I'd ever know even most of what I should know.
This week's examples:
- I got a tube in that was made in Chile. Really? Chile made tubes?
- Convergent Audio Technology preamp. Either this think has a little dynamic expansion (doubtful) or every other preamp I've ever heard has a little dynamic compression.
I learn an average of about 3 new things a week. In my field of "expertise." I don't call myself an expert, just knowledgeable.
So your response that you frequently converse with other techs and acknowledge your lack of omniscience is spot on, and refreshing.
I know where you are coming from. I do remember seeing the SPEC-4 amp in Dixie HiFi's rack in their showroom next to a Sansui rack. It was what they demoed all their good speakers with. I was very young then, and I am no spring chicken, so you would have had to have been a tech for a very long time to have had any experience with this amp. At the time, it had a very good reputation. From what I have read on the web, it is still highly regarded. I was too inexperienced in audio at the time for my impressions to hold weight, but it sure sounded good to me. That SPEC rack along with the Sansui rack were among my earliest objects of audio-lust. If one were offered to me, I'd grab it!
Dave
Sorry to have caused you so much butthurt. Get the amp, flip it for a ton of cash if nothing else. They are becoming unobtanium. Better?
Edits: 07/07/14 07/07/14
nt
One of the best sounding amps I ever owned, along with the matching Spec-1 pre. Had mine flly restored when I had them. Long gone. Miss the Spec Rack. Still holding on to the SD-1100 display though...
~!
The Mind has No Firewall~ U.S. Army War College.
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