Hi-Fi Blog... Page 10 - 2026

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January 2026 Blog

PC Desktop Computer Issues In 2026: You Must Buy New To Upgrade.
Older Users may feel a little 'unaware' of what is Required, so we research it for ourselves. We use a Desktop PC & have since Overpaying for our First One at 'PC World', where the media's idea back in 2000 was to get Service Waranties, a Waste Of Cash if ever. We'd Buit our Custom one within 2 years & be sure the 2000 one was worth 10% to sell on. Back then it was Windows 98 & for where we put the Case Unit, the Wire for the Mouse was only long enough to be used Left Handed, whiich is Odd ifyou're Right Handed in Pen Use & Typing. But better to be Ambidextrous really & skills Mouse-wise never realky suited Right Hand use so it stays into 2027. The Big Problem is Windows has gone far toomuch into AI & The Windows11 "We Must Have" requires a certain New Motherboard & RAM. To geta n Idea ofthe Current Scene, to look at "Dell" Computers. A friend got one a few years vback& it was better than you'd expect it to be, if rather Modest in Spec. Tosee what The Current Minimum Spec Is on their latest PC gives the idea. Be awarethere are Older Models with Less Spec, but the "Dell Slim Desktop" is the Newest One at £679, if you can Spend over £3000 to fill it up with exras & Warranties, which are perhaps noot what you'd ever need. Loking at Windows10 to Upgrade, it says certain values plus the "UEFL Secure Boiot" feature in the Main Processor on the Motherboard & TPM Ver 2, which older Motherboards won't have, Minimum Specs the Microsoft page states are very Modest, but see the AI Copilot section giving 'Real world' values, like Intel Core Ultra (5, 7 etc) 200v series, to require 16GB RAM at a time when RAM as DDR5 unitsare very expensive, just by chance of course. a 256GB SSD storage (Solid State Device}. SSD seems to have been the Boot Drive format a while now, it seems older SATA 3.5" HDD drives may not be supported even. Then the Microsoft Account it forces you to have to save Settings & make you think Cloud Storage is a good iidea, oh boy. The MS Account we had to get to get W10Extended Support & it's no big deal. The Dell Slim Desktop at £679 initially seems a Great Buy, based on what a Motherboard, Processor & Fan, plus Power Supply, Case, basic Mouse & Keynoard. The RAM & SSD could cost you £400 alone, Motherboard, Processor & Fan maybe £200 soas a Package it's not bad. But Look Deeper. The PCI-e slots are limited, making any expension hard. Where is a Sound Card? There is nothing beyond a Front Headphone Jack, not even the 3.5mm Line Level Jacks. Where is the CD/DVD drive which may not get much use but it's still very useful? None Supplied. You can buy a Soundcard & DVD-CD Drive but will the Power Supply or Motherboard be able to fit them? No SATA connections mean you can buy a PCI-e board to take them, but will the Power Supply have enough power or cables? 180w to 280w. The Dell Slim Desktopis good with 16GB RAM as one 16GB unit & 1TB SSD Storage, Intel Core Ultra 5 225. Older models with 8GB cost £140 to upgrade to 16GB & a 1TB SSD Storage drive' is about £120 extra to upgrade from a 256GB. The Amount of Extras they offer is Bewildering, a real Cash Cow. The Dell site shows the Rear of the £679 one, not easy to make it very big & see te Moulded On Screws supposedly for the Power Supply! This Unit. A Picture of The Insides is on the£479 'Build Your Own' page has someone Complaining "No SATA sockets", not that they are mentioned. Insides, but there is One.. Sockets are One Long PCI-e x16 socket & 2 of the short PCI-e x1 sockets. All 3 Sockets in Limited Space, so Odds Are the Bigger Soundcards, Display Cards & whatever woon't fit. It's a Decent Starter Set Up, but not a Power User or Gamer unit, those will likely cost you over £1000 via Dell. Our Verdict. We'd find it very liimiting, £679 may seem a Good Buy but Limitations of things We'd Miss. For The Money we'd be better off getting a new Motherboard, Power Supply, Processor & RAM ourselves. To Find the Right Motherboard is the Challenge. We already have Recent Display, Keyboard & Mouse. Looking Further Inside, to see what a 2025-26 Computer has, to help Moterboard searching. Has one SATA with an unused space for another. Still has the old CMOS 3v CR 2032 Battery. Cabling is more Minimal, the long socket & short socket Power Supply can't see too clearly what it is. Three PCIe sockets spaced as the general spacing some Boards can overspill with big Heatsinks, maybe a thing of ago now. Two RAM DDR-5 sockets. A Beeper to Beep at you constantly. Two Blocks probably Wireless & Bluetooth. A smaller Heatsink the Display driver. One Fan in a Airflow unit that will likely be too Fast & Noisy as Resonant. It's a Minimal& Efficient looking Motherboard, really not so Different from ones in 2012. The Power Supply's Outputs are Unknown, might still be the same as Ours if Computers & Phones love Changiung things for No Reason. It's just to be Aware of what there is to go looking for Something More Custom.

The Frustration Of Reading Hi-Fi Forums & Facebook Hi-Fi Groups.
Others may find them of some use, but to us, they are just Frustrating & Annoying. To see one where the poster finds a high grade 1968 Sansui 3000A. This 1968 version we've had Three of & they generally are in nicer grade. To see them ask if it's had the Pointless 1971 Upgrades. One says bring it up on a Variac which is a thing we Never Use as often Transistor amps have Regulators that won't work until full voltage applied. Frustrating reading the comments which clearly Don't Know this Complex amp. We've had One of the '3000' too, one we have here & it has had a lot of issues but is now Extra Good if it took ages to even get it playing right. As you'll find in these Forum type pages, one says "I've Had Two" yet that's all they say, so with No Proof you're Not Believed. Will they bother to Google Search to find Our Site? They paid $200 for it suggesting the seller had looked on ebay to see prices on these. Status Unknown, it may not work, may be damaged from years ago or might be playable, but not without a Pro Tech looking at it first. 1968 capacitors used to still work 12+ years ago but they are getting too old now. What will the Buyer do with this Complex amp that is difficult to Bias? Hopefully they'll just sell it on to someone more aware, rather than making a mess of it. No Shame in realising an amp is Too Much, we got that 1962 Lux(man) Valve Receiver that's 100v only. Currently it sits with no work done beyond cleaning & a service to a degree. Maybe to just sell it on as it is would be a better idea, it's a First Model Released & in good original complete grade, but 100v only. Online you find People asking those who have No Idea for their Opinions. Generally those who Do Know haven't got the time or the energy to deal with Questions. The Frustrating Thing with Forums is they only know Standard Questions in a Booksmarts way. Try asking them anything complex or outside of the box type thinking & you'll get silence. It's why this Hifi Site exists, some of these Blogs are us working out things for ourselves.

Thermistors In Older Amplifiers.
In Power Amplifiers before the Introduction of the Double and Triple Diode, a Termistor was used. Our 1st Run Germanium 1965 Trio-Kenwood TK-80U has a "TH" in the original design, if ours was updated before sale witk the later design the Silicon version used, a Double Diode & Adjust Pot. This works fine still. The Trio-Kenwood TK-60BU that is into 1966 has the Double Diode & Pot but has the Thermistor still too. It shows as a small unit on the underside of the Heatsink, a disc with two wires in a plastic cover. The Bias on this Amp isn't good as it gets too Hot & won't adjust to the correct value to run Cool as it requires the very last bit of the Adjust Pot which will never remain constant or reliable. The 1966 Akai AA-7000 uses Four Thermistors on the Top Heatsink by the Output Transistors. It shows here the Thermistor acts as a Heat Sensing device & will go from Low to High Resistance & make the Bias wrong to show as some sort of Protection Circuit. The thing is they could have worked 50+ years ago, but the AA-7000 when it used to get Hot on the Top Lid never cut out, so the Thermistors are Useless. You can buy new ones if what are the spec? If a Thermistor is Faulty it'll read an incorrect value always. Not much on Google about Thermistors if they group the similar Thyristor with the SCR device, a Silicon Controlled Rectifier as we first saw in the Teac AS-100. These are considered Hard Cut-Off devices by opinions we've seen & to see the SCR operate, to wonder 'What's The Point Of That?' The Early Thermstors we've read show about 20 ohm which is a value still buyable. They seem to be used more in Industrial Uses. Looking at Trio-Kenwood the 1968 KA-4000 & 1969 KA-6000 still use them, if not the disc versions. The 1970 KR-6170 does too, these have always Biased well on ones we've had. The 1972 KR-6200 we had recently uses a Diode STV-3 block much used on later amps. It's a 3 diode unit. The KR-6200 moves onto a Differential & Relay design. How Do They Age? Beyond 'working' or 'faulty' ones we've read that the Amplifier wasn't 'correct' the Resistance can vary but not be open circuit. On the TK-60BU they read the correct values so other ideas are required to get the Bias stage to be better. The TK-66 we had years ago was like this & way beyond our ideas to solve. Having to do some Redesign is part of Rebuilding & Recapping Vintage Amps, more so on the 1960s ones. Why manufacturers make Adjustable items that have a Potentiometer across a Thermistor carrying a Voltage that isn't reliable to adjust makes you wonder why. The Thermistor & Adjust Pot give Voltage to the Driver Transistor Collector. To age & run too Hot so it gets thrown out. As with other amps, this design is the issue & with knowing Design & Consequences of items, to do it differently as it's just not good enough. Tried our best but it still sounds Rough & Spitty, meaning a deeper rebuild requred. Thermistors not the Fault at least.

What People Mostly Use In Hi-Fi Useage.
Generally from Facebook Groups, the Late 1970s-1990s Gear is mostly what you see. You know what we're going to say, loads of ICs, MOSFETs, OP-Amps, Logic Gates & other gear that really is Unnecessary. The Main Reason is it is still possibly Useable without even Servicing which leaves a Tired Amp. The Amount of Servicing the 1977 Marantz 2385 185 watter needed & it improved it hugely from the Dull Slow Muddy Sound. All before Recapping it & redoing Repairs properly. Certain Amps will have had regular use since New, meaning 30-40 years without Repair or Service. Their Choice. The general idea is they Get One At A Good Price. You'll find Groups & Forums liking most gear as they really don't know How Much More Musical pre 1974 gear is even. These are now 50-60 years ols & our Blogs tell of the Amount of Work the 1960s ones need to give Sound way ahead of the Thin IC sound. Crisp Open Treble, Smooth Midrange & a Meaty Bass does 'hide' in Amps of this era. The Seventies-Nineties gear increasingly gets made of Plastic & Low Grade Controls that Wear or Break as Plastic goes weak & brittle as Car Restorers know well. As time goes on the Nineties gear will soon be as old as Sixties Gear. It'll just end up being Abandoned as beyond Recapping etc it can Often Be Unrepairable. The Facebook Posts show The Music they are playing, the Commercial Rock-Pop of the Seventies-Nineties, they play it on Vinyl, you don't see CDs. This gives away the Age of Hifi Buyers too. For Today's 'Music' it's played on Headphones or Earbuds, are they aware of Hifi even, does Daddy allow The Teens to play their Tunes on hisa 'Mega Bucks' system? Probably not so as with much Vintage Gear, if they don't know it they don't want or care for it. As "American Pickers" shows, they find Hifi in USA quite often. Quality Gear but left abandoned & covered in Dust. "They All Need Going Through" says Mike. Already to see some Quality Hifi on Ebay, it's ended up as Rubbish at a Recycling Yard & for Seconds it got treated as Rubbish with Damage from just a few seconds with one who doesn't understand. To wonder sometimes "Who Wants This Stuff" on seeing Robbie with all those 1950s Push Car body shells. The UK Shows you see the Shops lined with Grandfather Clocks that loudly Tick Your Life Away. Things once worth £1000-£2000+ are often unsellable or do Auction at sad prices. As with Most Old Stuff, the Items will fade away to be Unusable & few get the Rebuilds they Need & Deserve. You often hear "The Grand Kids Aren't Interested" but they're still Young. Collectors & Buyers only take interest in later years past 30 & they'll regret they didn't keep Grandad's Medals or similar.

Biasing On Older 1960s Power Amplifiers.
Two Types of Biasing: Fixed or by Adjust Pot. The Bias is set correctly on Fixed Bias, against a Thermistor or other designs. These are far more reliable. The Early Adjust Pot type is far from accurate & you're Gambling your Speakers on it possibly, with Direct Coupled ones. The Old Original ones are Working right to the End of the pot's Rotation & this is always inaccurate as the Pot is often worn as previous owners have used it back & forth, wearing it out in a similar way modern tiny front panel Volume-type controls do. You can fit the Modern trimmer pots that are aften far too small & older amps can use the 'Two Pin' versions making three pin ones need altering. Later Amps use the Bias Pot in the Middle of it's rotation, if we've still had to alter designs to Fit Bias better than right at the end & risk huge variations, such as 5mV one time & big jump to 500mV which is no good & is considered 'Unreliable'. We're finding it's best to Redesign without these Clumsy Devices & More which keeps the amp running Cool & considered Safe. Bias Circuits can cause bother, so for one deeper into design only. One amp we have, to see the later additions by someone trying to overcome bad Pots from a clumsy old repair & probably why it was abandoned.

Who Actually Bought The 1960s-1970s-1980s Hifi We Now Crave.
As Time Goes On, you forget the People around at the time. The Retro TV List Shows & Lifestyle shows give you an idea, but seeing BBC4 in June 2024 showing several 'Antiques Roadshow' from years past, to record them to watch. The First 1979 Edition we've seen clips of, but not the full show. It has British People of the Era, mostly ones 70-80 in age, You'll have forgotten what the Public was like after 45 years & to see Edwardian & First World War era people looks so different to Today's people that we see started arriving into Jobs like Doctors, such as the Indian people who replaced the Tired Horn Rimmed Glasses types that were usually Too Old to be Up To Date on things. The Public as English People were rather Narrow of thought & easily conned by stories told of Dealers offering very low prices, much of which still continues in 'Bargain Hunt' & 'Antiques Road Trip' where Half Price or less is normal. Be sure this can't be real else they'd be Banned from the shops as they basically Rob the Sellers, they pay a higher price & just Lowball prices for the camera as Seller reactions aren't what you'd get if you tried similar. The 1979 people we remember from 'Back In The Day'. ARShow has some awfully Posh sounding ones, quite a few familiar faces that stayed for years, a youthful David Battie, the Clocks guy & Guns guy who were Down To Earth & likeable & the old stalwart Arthur Negus is like Eric Knowles of today. Some of the 1979 owners could have been gone 40 years but live on when it gets Repeated. These were the Consumers of what is now Vintage Hifi. We've had Amplifiers & Receivers that were One Owner, such as a 1977 Yamaha CR-1020 bought likely for a 40 year old, it sat playing Radio 2 for a while, never getting turned over '2' on the Volume & got Sold only for House Clearing in later years. British Buyers were generally rather Reserved in their Buying Choices, the Hifi News Magazine mostly offers British Brands & to this Generation they'd not have been so keen on Japanese items. The Better Hifi sold in small amounts as it was Higher Priced & to never see ones we've had at the time, the usual items were Radiograms & Music Centres. In other Countries what is Rare in UK is not so hard to find, especially in USA as their Living Standard was higher. The British people often scrimped & saved to buy a 5w Record Player, a thing many would have long considered 'Rubbish' but now as TV shows it's Retro & sells better than Wind Up 1920s-1930s 78 Record Players. WE had a 1967 Sansui 400 receiver & it had the Owner's name on, as Blogged before. To find out who they were & when born shows the '400' was clearly his pride & joy to be sold on by Family unaware of what it was for just £20. We Rebuilt & Redesigned it to give a nice sound, it got sold to one who liked it to find a non worker in USA, but with the Wood Cabinet & getting him the control knob with the metal cap to complete the look. As with 'Bangers & Cash' to see Happy People buying all types of Cars & to see How Much Joy they give. A 1962 'Singer Vogue' we seem to remember, maybe the Family had one, a Stately looking car, well made & this one in nice grade. One of the Mathewsons called it 'Boring' which isn't fair, it's a Smart & Appealing Car, if not a Sporty car, buy certainly not boring. One bought it & sold it on soon after as they didn't like it, but the next buyer paying almost the same price were delighted with it. That's Exactly who these Cars are for & be sure the Original Owners are often the same who cherish Cars like they are Family, TV shows this often. There are Soulful People out there still, it gets less each Decade sadly & these items get forgotten just as did those around Buying them new. You can say the Brish People of the 1950s-1970s buying Electrical Items were generally only buying the Cheaper Goods, but Back In The Day it's all they could afford. They were as driven by Hifi Mags & Shop Salesman to buy Big Selling Items as few would py £136 in 1966 for the Pioneer ER-420 when the Rogers Cadet III amplifier & tuner was Half that. What will 'Us Modern People' be remembered as buying by Future Generations? Most Electrical Items are Disposable & E-Waste within 10 years with some items making 2-5 years. Will there be anuthing left for Future People to appreciate? The 1987 Episode billed as 2003, but it didn't seem right, to look at the date at the end. 1987 recorded 1986 was Pre the Yuppie & Brief Boom Years. Looking back at years we knew, still very 1960s, rather Tame, Guys with Comb Overs & Moustaches. Items shown rarely shown now as they're not much wanted however nice Furniture can be, most has nose-dived in price. 1987 people into Collecting Antiques probably no longer around if the Items will be. Some of the Chatter was very boring but shows Passion for Collecting. The Days of a Big Cabinet to store your Trinkets, it's long gone today. For 1987, you only see English People which is still mainly the ARShow of today. To see similar on early 'Dickinson's Real Deal' especially the first 2009 episode had types who Bought Items for an Investment. Big Solid Silver Serving Trays considered a 'Wise Investment' at the time, but now only worth Scrap as no use for the item. Still waiting for more Hi-Fi on ARShow, some like the early Akai AA-5000 & AA-7000 are clearly Designer items but as Rare, they've not hit the Mid Century Modern interest. 1987 being 37 years ago is as far back as 1950 was then & at the time 1950 was Ancient Times. Today people are realising 'The Best Years Have Happened' with 1970s-1990s generally considered the Peak Years if older folks will Disagree. But what will people see as Nostalgia past 2000? There's really not much, it's why 'rubbish' like Pokemon cards & Trainers are collected now.

Hi-Fi Needs To Be Kept Aired & Cool.
Put this on one of our Pages long ago, but seeing the Facebook Groups, some clearly are Not Looking After their Hifi. The usual stack of Units that mostly don't get used, but still the Amp at the base of the pile as it's the Heaviest. Ones looking for a more Home Decor look with Amps put into She;ves with what looks like very little top clearance. Understand How Heat Works. Yamana CR-2020 top regulators on the front right of the grille. See Darkened Marks on the Grille which is Overheating, not just Dust Marks. The Plastic Grille Ages. Inside these Regulators run at 80°C in open air with the lids off. This is very poor design & anything over 40°C needs better Heatsinking. With the Lid on it can read 100°C or slightly more & if it was put in a tightly spaced Shelf Unit be suire it'd rise to 120°C or more. For there being other Hot Resistors on this & other amps, be sure these will Age fast & stop working. Hifi has been poorly designed for Excess Heat since the Cost Cutting appeared by 1974. As with many Design things, they know it's Bad, but it's 'Built In Obsolescense' meaning it'll Fail & you'll go Buy A New One. Hifi is often designed to be 'Good Enough' but not last. To even see Amplifiers with a Turntable sat on top, the Heat with an item sat right on top with little clearance could mean the Amp could Warp Your Records. Amps with Class A such as the 1973 Yamaha CA-1000 if used with Poor Ventilation can hugely overheat in Class A & cause even the Large Main Capacitors to Fail & Leak, as happened with the one we had recently. To see Valve Amps going back to the 1950s stored on shelves or tucked away in Cupboards, similarly stored under the Turntable, the Heat building upwill have Warped many Records.

Why Don't They Line Up?
Not about Wantng Customers Lining Up for Rebuilds. This is about Control Knobs on Amplifiers. If set Flat you want the Line to exactly central. not 2mm off true & the Spline only allows a range of 'more off' or 'less off'. Other Amps with Screw Fixing ones can be lined up if often the 'dents' on the Plain Control Rod make it not so easy to get it Spot On as they've been off before. The 1971 Sony Receivers STR-6055 & STR-6065 were like this leaving it not lined up. Is it So Hard? It's like a Microwave, you put a Drink in 10-30 seconds & the Handle is Always at the Back. Can't anyone design it so 10 seconds is one full Revolution. Lack of thinking is often a problem, it's often based on Costs & Their Cutting, rather than thinking "They'd Like That". One solution is metal knobs with plastic inserts. You'll generally not be able to get these out, but Luck meant on us trying a replacement set for one Receiver, the middle bit came unglued as dried out so we could Reset it lined up correctly & drip some glue in to hold. If you do manage to swap them around on an amp, to mark them inside as 'B' for Bass, 'T' for Treble to not mix them up again. Little Things do matter as it gets seen 'off-true' & it gets you each time. It is possible, if trickier, to take the front panel off & loosen to alter the splined control to be rotated just a tiny bit to be True, if often the pointy bit that locks into the Hole needs altering.

February 2026 Blog

Getting Newer Computers: Why Suffer The Older Slow & Noisy Ones?
We Really Don't Like the Windows 11 AI & Mega Spying ideas that Windows are Forcing. It is Too Far from what our First Computer on Windows 98 was in Year 2000. Our Older Current Computer had an odd issue where it wouldn't even Start anything on the Screen but you could hear the Hard Drives start up. Seems the Power Supply was the Issue on it's Final Turn-Off. But What Do You Get? There is a Huge Market in Ex-Office Computers so you can get a Windows 10 Pro PC with 512GB SSD drive (Solid State Device). To go for one from 2018 just too have any Computer that was Reliable, a HP 290 G1 MT Business PC. There are-were loads of these as Cheap as £89 for a Refurbihed PC, meaning Used but Cleaned Out, if we saw Dust on the CD-DVD RW drive. To find "Refurbished" doesn't mean "Serviced" in the way we do our Computers. The Idea of getting a Windows 11 PC with all the Unwanted Junk & paying £850+ based on what Dell have to offer didn't appeal. False Economy as we at least have the Windows Updates until later in the Year, if then What? Be sure there will be Help beyond Microsoft. Our January Blog looked at what there is out there in Specs & it's really not so Different to the 2018 PC. Our Old PC was made of Custom Parts, Big Power Supply, Solid-Caps Motherboard, old Intel i3 Processor. It was a Better Spec in it's day which was 2012. Some of that Spec is not unlike the 2018 one, 8GB of Memory, in 2012 it was 4 x 2GB Memory Cards full of ICs, now the 2018 is 4 small ICs on one board as 8GB. The Biggest Difference is using the 512GB SSD 'Hard Drive'. What To Do Using It. We are 'Power Users; in PC & as in Hifi, we don't waste money on things, beyond much Gambling in Hifi. For those Who Know, getting your New PC to be your Old PC requires "AppData" files for all your Settings. We had 3x HDDs on the Computer for extra stuff like DVD-Cartoons plus a Backup HDD. The New PC is old enough to have the "L-Shaped" SATA cables plus a spare Power Plug to just Plug in the Main HDD. This HDD has been used for many years for Music, Downlloads & more to not have it on the Operating System HDD, for the Ease of Updating as just shown. To Copy the Whole "AppData" 8GB folder & move that HDD old to New Computer. Have Firefox back as it was just Hours earlier on the Old PC by putting the Profile data in the usual places. This requires Hidden & Protected Files to be Visible, beware messing with these. To set up loads of things on the New PC & have Firefox usable as well as the Quick Launch bar the same day the New PC arrived at 3pm & useable by 11pm shows the Time It Takes to Rebuild your PC, another reason why we never tried a SSD Drive before not wanting to reinstall Windows again, if had to keep reinstalling older Windows versions. Older Computing seemed all very Crude compared to 2012-2018 PCs. Looking at Dell Computers, not much has changed since 2018. The New PC is Compatible with the Dreaded Windows 11 except the Processor is a 7th Gen one not the 11th Gen it requires. You can see why many are turning to Linux & Microsoft is faling currently. The 2018 Computer In Use. First thing was to Navigate a stupid Tiny Screen a quarter of the Full Screen to be forced into a Microsoft account & PIN. Already had a MS account to get the Updates, if don't use your Real Name or Location is wise. Set it to ':Local Account & be free of foolish signing in to MS account each restart. The Fans in the Computer are Much Quieter, like they've Wised Up to the scene of Low Noise fans of years back & are much Quieter than the Old PC. With a SSD Drive Windows starts fast instead of taking 10-15 mins to get off 100% Disk Use on turn on, now it's Yours to Use in 30 seconds which is such an improvement. Browsing is Much Faster. All those with 'Slow PCs' need a SSD. But with the Windows 10 Updates ending in October 2026, to at least Get A Taste of Better Computing. The SSD makes no Noise, the HDD can be Noisy in the case frame as it Amplifies Disk Noise that our old Stack of 3 HDDs on a Meccano frame no less. The 2018-2026 PC inside is much the same, no big long Plug for Power, still the SATA on our Motherboard if 'they' keep changing things in that Dumb way. Still more to do to get it fully set up with Programs-Apps we used for Records. The Sound outputs on a 2018 are still 3.5mm jacks In & Out if the 2026 one diidn't have any, you'd need a Soundcard. Sound is really treated Poorly & the HPAudio Settibgs are very basic if at least Useable without any 'Enhancement' nonsense. Things that were Advanced 15-20 years ago are now The Normal & to turn the Compurter on & It's Ready in 30 sec is a long awaited feature. Beware the Unwanted Uploiads of Your Info to 'One Drive', a revolting infringement of Privacy under the Guise of 'Protecting You' & not so easy to Disable, even doing that has it upload more, so Uninstall it. If We'd Known These Things Years Ago, to Buy more Modern PCs but the Reviews don't mention the Speed & Quietness. Don;t Suffer Old PCs. Buying a Windows 10 PC that isn't Fully W11 Compatible may seem a waste of time, but £89 is all it cost us & will do for the while.

1977 Pioneer SX-1980 Receiver. "The Holy Grail?"
This is one of the Huge Pioneers much coveted by Pioneer fans. A Monster Receiver indeed & having seen one, they are huge lumps for sure. One on ebay for a sizeable £5000 but it's got the Original Box. To see the Rear has 'Repair Stickers' from USA, one dated 2019 shows it's been in Use rather than Stored Away. Surprisingly it has Spring Connectors for Thin Speaker Cable, be sure 270w needs much Thicker Cables, what do you do? In 1978 HFYB as 270w if no price shown. They were sold at Comet meaning any RRP meant little & they did get Heavily Discounted by 1979 as they weren't selling, big Pioneer were given away very cheaply as Comet ads showed. "The Holy Grail" says the Ad. To Collectors it probably is, biggest model & highest power one. To Those who'd play it for Music, what use is 270w when 45w on our 95dB Tannoys is more than enough power. "Boy Racer" type amp that appeals to some as do Vinyl Sporty Stripes on a Family Car as 'Wheeler Dealers' does sometimes, it appeals to a certain buyer. The Amp is Huge & build is quite like the Rotel RX1603 receiver with Oversize Round Transformer & Four Large Capacitors plus the Power Amp boards on the Back half & the Preamp & Tuner on the Front. We've seen the Rather Poor Power Suplly Boards on these, Overheating & Really Not the Spec you'd hope for. The 1977 Marantz 2385 we had was similar if it had ICs in the Preamp. Our "Other Amps" page here has a deeper look & we didn't like the Circuitry. They are making High Power amps in the age of Heavy Cost Cutting & it certainly shows, but are still better than the Generic style of 1979. The big problem is these Attractive Huge Monolith Amps are nearly 50 years old. To see it's been In For Repair at least Twice tells, they just patch it up. They need a Full Rebuild to be Safe & reliable to Use Daily. We took on the Rotel RX1603 & found it a frustrating amp for the Build Quality which was far too cost cut. Huge Amp yet they cramp the Power Supply into a small space. The Casework was still Budget Quality rather surprisingly. The Marantz 2385 was a hard one to work on with tight boards, Doubled Capacitors that we just left alone as It'd not be Tidy putting in Seperate New Capacitors. Other Big Amps have Custom Double Capacitors in a (---) shaped can that would need Custom work. As for Pioneer, the bigger SX-850 & SX-950 we considered 'Big Stupid Tin Cans' on earlier opinions. Oversized yet not having the Weight or Quality you'd expect. The Pioneer circuits considered decent designs if as always Very Cost Cut. Today buyers want LEDs & the Pioneer bulbs were often Wedge Shaped Push In types, larger versions of Bang & Olufsen type ones that were hard to find even tears ago. But for the Pioneer Scene, there are Repro Spares being made including Tuner Glass Windows as there is a demand for them. So You Think It's Worth £5000. No it's not if sellers will always try. HifiShark shows several have 'Ended' with these Hefty Prices, one forever relisted with Price Drops. Who would actually be buying these? Those who have them generally have had them when bought Very Cheaply or even since New. It's not a Realistic Market & ebay often throws up Ridiculous Prices for items that Never Sell. In Hifi Selling we paid a certain price for the Marantz 2385, serviced it, rebuilt & upgraded it yet the final Sale Price was way short of the Work Involved. If ones were offered at £500 the buyer would think it's a £5000 amp & snap it up. They'd find it was Tired Sounding & Not As Great as they'd been led to believe. The Collector Scene for a Boxed but Used one may hope for a Sealed NOS Box one so would bypass it. The Market In Hifi over the £1000 level gives a lot of choice, most Buy Modern Amps that are far from Our Interest. We'd like one of the Big SX-1250, SX-1950 & SX-1980 to try & examine. We recently had a Forerunner, the SX-1010 from 1974 & found is Sounded Nice enough if already very Cost Cut with some design that is far from Earlier Pioneer. The design of some would need much Redesign was an opinion, some of it was rather poorly made. Preamp not great, Power Supply poor & badly positioned wit the power Amp tight to get to. Saves us buying one to Work on one. To Rebuild & Upgrade one like we did on the Marantz 2385 is a big job & these Monster 150w+ Amps need Redesign for the Cost Cutting. The SX-1980 is seriously Outpriced & they're Not Selling. As we put it on Watch, the Seller kindly offers it for £4800 less than a day after listing it, they apparently have 2 of them. The Realty with an amp this Old & so Overpriced is if you want to really sell it, to Auction or be realistic to take something between £1000 & £2000 for it. We see they Ended it the next day, either they're keeping it or someone made an offer to buy direct in person. This is our Opinion, we'd not want to buy it as we just see a Huge Rebuild Spend on it. Been There & Done that with the Marantz 2385 after all.

THX Certification Standards.
In the 1990s to see Home Cinema Set Ups in theDays when these were Popular with one shop we knew doing a lot of Installations of Huge Plasma TVs, Projection TVs that fixed to the Ceiling & the Multi Channel mplfier Set Ups, all hidden away in Cabinets. THX we read on their Website, THX.com which says..."For over 40 years, THX has set the standard for the audio and visual fidelity of entertainment experiences. THX Certification is a globally recognized assurance of uncompromising quality, consistency and performance. We blend art, technology, and the dynamics of real-world listening and viewing environments to ensure products deliver the artist’s true vision." For Audio Uses, a THX Amplifier was seen as something special, the TV Monitors would have been added like '4K Ultra HD TVs' assuming your Eyesight is Clear Enough to see more Detail than a usual HD TV. The THX site tells of Standards Items must reach, if not exactly what they are. On getting the Tube Technology Genesis Valve Monoblocs & Preamps, these were said to be THX ready as they were 100w. On hearing THX amps the Mega Sub Bass is the Joy of the Film Soundtrack, those Heavy Bass Rumblings. The THX site does recommend certain items, though How In-Ear Headphones can be THX gives the idea we're looking for Criteria we'll not be told of. What We Expected To Find. Power Amplifier Ratings of Power, Slew Rate & a level of Precision that they only call 'THD'. Levels of Bass under 50Hz to give the Full THX sounds. THX today seems to be like Dolby which started out as Tape Recorder-Player Hiss Reduction by boosting certain frequencies & then overall cutting them to reduce the Tape Hiss. Dolby in Tape Machines & certain record labels like Decca & DGG mentioned this in the late 1960s & by the early 1970s you see "Dolby B" on Tape Machines. Today Dolby means a Sound such as "Dolby Surround" & "Dolby Digital" compression as the Encoding Programs use for MP4 video or whatever they use today, some modern formats such as .jpg now often a photo as 'WebP' which isn't much use as only a Browser can open it, so you have to Screenshot it & save it as you want. One Amplifier rated THX "Acurus A2002" just the first we saw. 200w x2 Smart Amplifier it says. 0.03% THD & a High Dampling Factor of 500 isn't going to give that Deep Rumbly Bass unless you use False Features like Loudness. 'THX Reference Level Output' ones made to play at the same Volume as the Soundtrack was Mixed at, if Room Sizes will never match. You'll Need To Hear It. Recordings will vary so much, the idea that 1kHz can be 0dB & 30Hz can genuinely be 0dB or even +30dB to really Shake The House via the THX system isn't specified. Calibrated Products. They state..."Tuned by THX products are carefully tuned by THX engineers to optimize the performance of the existing device. Displays mirror the professional settings used by filmmakers and broadcast professionals, while audio products have high-accuracy filters applied. It is the best way to get the optimal performance out of your device." This tells that Artificial Altering of the Sound, not making designs Upgraded like we try to do. Sound Shaping started long ago, the 1965 Sony TA-1120 has it as does the "Guru" Tim De P items in 1975 created to give very low THD which mostly ruined Hifi together with the Cost Cutting era. They're using High Powered Amps & Basically 'Graphic Equalisers'. Looking Further, they say..."When tuning a device’s hardware architecture and making improvements we conduct tests for: Frequency Response, Crosstalk​, Signal-to-Noise Ratio​​, Distortion​, Output levels​​ & Directivity." These are rather mild tests that Hifi usually gets even if it's Cheaply Priced. A graph shows that THX Bass actually drops away after 100Hz which is far from what we'd considered THX Sound to be. It's on the 'Tuned by THX Audio' page. At 20Hz it's 15dB down & even 50Hz is 8dB down. No doubt their Criteria is involved, but the basic fact Deep Bass isn't that important sort of makes this Blog not quite what we hoped. But imagine if Amps of Higher Power used Domestically could put out Full Deep Sub Bass at High Levels then it could cause chaos with the Deep Bass from a Guitar Amp even being strong enough to shake Ornaments onto the Floor. As with most things in Life, You're Not Getting The Best as it'd cause huge problems. Those Cars around years ago, 1990s, with Huge Amps & they Rattled with the Heavy Bass. Where's The Midrange? On hearing these Home Cinema set ups in the dys we bought DVD-R for TV & Audio moving on from the VHS years. To comment on 'Where's The Midrange' as all we were hearing as a Short Listen was Big Bass & Extended Treble. The Voices seemed rather Recessed as in the Midrange was clearly reduced to Boost Up the Extremes on whatever Cinema Mode they used. Hifi needs comparing to Real Life, Outside Sounds & People's Voices. Sitting in the Cinema Sound Room playing a Film on DVD-BluRay you'd be Impressed by the Huge Bass but not realise the Sound wasn't exactly Realistic. One Younger Guy played us a Sub Woofer that sounded Hideous as Bass was too Thick & Exaggerated. A Sub is supposed to play 20Hz-50Hz to underplay the Main Speakers to fill the Sound Out. But they set it wrongly & were surprised to hear our comments. When your younger, any Bass is 'Cool' but it takes years to understand Correct Bass & find a Sound that is more Real. Lack of Reality is a Big Problem, all the Fake Looks on people especially Women & now depressing 'AI' Artificial Intelligence comes along. Most can't see a Picture is AI Fake, things like Animals are rather creepy looking as done wrongly, such as Koalas with 6 Toes instead of their correct amount.

How Long Have You Been Asleep? Part 2.
Continuing the Theme from a recent Blog. We have a 1966 Trio-Kenwood TK-60BU that got the Tuner Knob post vroken off & arrived Minus the Fuse Holder on the Back that looked like it had been gone a long time. The Tuner Cord was still White which is unusual as these get Darkened in use. A 1966 amp that looked a bit New in places suggests it got Damaged in it's first Year or even Months. The Way Life was back then, they might have asked about getting it fixed if Trio-Kenwood being a Japanese Company were with UK Distributors but it'd need returning to Japan to fix it. Because they had Bought a Quality Item & it wasn't cheap, a 20w Transistor receiver will have been around £100 at least. So it sat in an Attic-Loft for the rest of it's 'Sleep' until House Clearing got it Sold or Thorown away. A lot of Gear is 'recycle Yard' finds if they now realise there's Value rather than just chucking them in the Skip or Dragging along the ground by the Wire. That's a Sad One to see, damaged in a few seconds. This TK-60BU initially sounded reasonable, if further use by Running It In got it running Hot & sounding Rough with Distortion. It's been Recapped, but it has a long way to go to be Useable & Sellable. It might well be Outpriced by the Work & Time needed. A receiver we had last Summer, the 1974 Pioneer SX-1010 arrived as a Non Worker. This can be Anything & it turned out the Power Supply Board underneath was cracked from a Heavy Drop that Bent the Chassis internally & led to the Tuner Glass breaking once it was taken apart more. Board properly Reaired & Tuner Glass repro bought from the USA, it certainly was a High Stakes Amp, but we sorted it. The amp looked in High Grade inside & again it could have been Damaged very early on & sat unused nearly 50 years. The Amp we ran in for a few days yet the Transformer still ran rather Hot. No Issues causing it could be found, if it did improve & to think it'd improve far more over Weeks of Use. Hearing back from the Customer, it started to improve & run a lot cooler over a few weeks. The amp was all Recapped includin g the large Main Capacitors. It clearly needed a Longer Run In than usual.

March 2026 Blog

Voltage Regulators: Why Are They Needed?
In Earlier Amplifiers a Regulator gave a Reduction in DC Ripple which could be a bit too High in Amplifiers using Capacitors of the 1960s era. You'll notice that No Valve Amp pre 1967 uses any Regulators, they use the often large long Red Resistors, Black ones seen oin some brands. These Drop the Voltage to the Required Voltage if they can Run a bit Hot. In the 1966 Pioneer ER-420 there are several underneath & they are mounted apart with enough ventilation clearance they are no problem. Te 12973 Yamaha CR-1000 Power Supply Board has lots of regulators & generally Transistor Amps have Regulators starting with the 1965 Sony TA-1120, 1965 Pioneer SX-600T & 1965 Trio-Kenwood TK-80U. The 1965 Sansui TR-707A & 1966 Sansui 3000 don't have regulators. The trouble with Regulators is they have Capacitors in circuit that need Charging when turned on, This can make a Noise on turn on that can fade in 1-2 seconds but isn't what you want to hear. To see on Some Designs the Regulator only drops 1-2v gets the point of them Questioned. The answer isn't for Keeping Voltages stable as there's no real need, Zener Diodes are lazy design if they do hold the Voltage to say 14v if the Zener is rated 14v. This saves bothering to design things via Resistors & to see Regulators & Zener Diodes going back to 1965-1966. Zeners first seen in the 1966 Pioneer SX-1000TA to get the Tuner voltage set. So Why Are They Needed? On Upgrading, to use Modern Parts to see the DC Ripple that might be 200mV-400mV in older amps, the Ferrograph R307/20-20 Amplifier had very high DC Ripple yet No Regulators to better it. Even more recent ones use Regulators, if why they are needed is probably more about designing cheaply with Zebers & not using such expensive Capacitors. Regulators & Zener Diodes aren't so essential in better designs, but we'd not recommend messing with them as you could bring voltages too high or cause noise. Leave advanced stuff to those who understand.

Beware Ebay 'AI' Rubbish Item Descriptions.
AI 'Artificial Intelligence' is a Menace to those who can think for themselves, but sadly it's Life Today. People don't need to make the effort anymore so ebay adds rubbish lilke this to listings. To see this one as it showed '20% VAT will apply' & see the seller looking like a UK seller is in Australia. Where are the goods? Says Collect in Person from a UK place. So why put Australian details? Experience retro high-quality sound with this Amstrand EX222 stereo receiver and amp. The brand is known for its reliable and durable audio equipment, making it a great investment for your home audio needs. This receiver and amp combo is perfect for any room in your home and will provide a seamless listening experience. But this is for a 1979 Amstrad EX 222 receiver. It has no Description in reality. These 1979 items by Amstrad are very poor, they put low quality untidy electronics in Japan styled cases. They are far from reliable as Amstrad often bought at the weekend & back in on Monday once they failed. Very Poor Quality Control if they Were Sold Very Cheaply. Amstrad continued by making Stack Systems into the 1980s that seemed more reliable & sold well, but Amstrad was a 'joke' brand like Skoda Cars were still in the 1990s if now are considered differently, probanly as the Brand was soon after bought by another, Volkswagen. AI should be Banned for Selling & giving Fake Photos. Koalas with 6 toes, Women with Unrealistic 'perfect' looks & be sure AI is in everything. The Amstrad AI comment is ridiculous & in that slimy USA style 'everything is wonderful' way of Fluff Talking. One recent buy, the 1966 Nikkio TRM-120 had AI rubbish in the listing & contacting the seller their English was very poor, so they are the types AI is for. It's Dishonest. As the Nikko review by us tells, it powered up but No Sound. It's perhaps acceptable to us, if not a general buyer, but the Way Today is to treat people like they aren't very intelligent. We read their Feedback & asked them to pack it properly in a Box, not just Bubblewrap which caused Damage on other items. They did & it arrived intact. Very tightly packed & as Royal Mail brought it, it survived, if UPS or Fedex would have treated it much harsher. The AI description was This nikko solid amplifier is in a proper working condition,nice one from Japan .Good for every occasion. The item specifics suggested it was a Dolby Surround Amp & rated as 'Used- Fully Working'. Utter Rubbish description & factually incorrect. To us, if it at least Powers Up on one of this age from 1966, it's all we'd expect. The AI World dealing with Sub-Human Stupidity is the World People Want, just like they accept the Hideous World of TV Ads & the huge over-representation of certain types undermining The Natives. One 'Bargain Hunt' presenter puts a Beach Picture in July 2024, coyly done & the first time she (Natasha) has ever shown herself more, But you're not allowed to say 'Looking Hot!' & no-one does, on instagram the same picture not getting that many more likes than her others oddly. With 'AI' You Must Read Between The Lines & judge items on what you know. It's Dishonest Trading & will just result in More Returned Items. Buy ebay don't care. We saw the Nikko, saw it was worth buying at under £100 so just took it for what we know. But if items £500+ are given the same 'Idiot AI' then either ask questions or walk on by.

"Nikko" Hi-Fi Brand 1960s Onwards.
Finding their 1966 TRM-120 initially a great amp, much the same reackaged & tidied internally as the TRM-1200 if with an unreliable IC for the Phono, a 1976 Bulletin tells how to make the IC as Transistors, which we did on our 2015 TRM-1200. These mostly seem Lower Power until the later 1970s with the HFN site detailing the "TRM" series. We've had the TRM-500 & STA-5050 receiver both from 1973. The TRM-500 we got early in our Transistor Amp buying, our 2012 review is quite brief if we certainly liked it. Nikko are not much around, online to read their Distribution wasn'y so good & they closed in the 1990s. The HFE list doesn't show too many items for a Brand that lasted at least 1966-1990. HFE says they were formed in 1933 so there should be Japan-only earlier gear from Radiograms to Valve Amps. Nikko first in the UK by 1967 with HFN adverts for the TRM-40 & a Tuner. The construction is not like other Japanese brands so must be Nikko builds, using the similar quality parts, the build is different. The TRM series has TRM-40 1966 model with TRM-40B update in 1970 with the Silver-Black fascia like TRM-1200. TRM-50 a 1970 styled 17w, others in mid 1970s style TRM-210 12w, TRM-400 12w, TRM-500 22w one we've had, TRM-600 34w looking more advanced with lots more controls, TRM-650 50w from 1978 with plainer looks, TRM-750 75w maybe 1976 styled, TRM-800 50w in 1973 style. Our 'List Of Amplifiers' shows a Pre-Power Alpha-Beta II 110w pair in 1979. The STA Receivers range from very low Power 4w to 7w, mostly 12w-25w if STA-9090 is a 60w & 9095 is a 65w, the few 'xxx5' ones continue the STA 'xxx0' series. More in different series into the 1980s-1990s with ICs & beyond our interest. Look on ebay & really not that many Worldwide For Sale or Sold in the pre 1980 ranges. A More Specialist Brand, not taking on Pioneer, Marantz etc in the 1970s if from the ones we've had, they are better sounding.

What Other "Nikko" Are There 1966 To 1973?
We've got the 1966 Nikko TRM-120 recapped & playing right as we type. For an amp still much Original beyond Recapping & losin g the 'T' Bass Filter, the Sound is really a lot better than others. Meaning Amps we've upgraded a lot & this sounds like them already. Nikko a lesser known Japanese brand, made Hifi into the 1990s. None of it that well known & therefore no real 'standout' models without looking through HFE to find ones of over 40w. 1967/68 HFYB first showing the Brand & the 1966-67 HFN mag shows adverts. TRM-40 15w at a modest £39. The TRM-120 45w at £95 was in shop ads but doesn't seem to have sold if the TRM-40 is more arounmd as priced to hit the Budget-Midprice level likely with a sound ahead of the price. Receivers were the ST-701 25w for £133 & ST-501 18w for £119 by the 1968/69 HFYB book, showing two versions of the TRM-40 silver or black later fascia. 1970 brings TRM-30 17w & ST-301 10w receiver. 1971 has new Receivers STA-7018 25w £135 & STA-1101 37w for a high £246, a futuristic looking black fascia with a square window on the left that is the Tuner Dial trying for a new style as the Akai AA-8500 has, try find one. Sadly it has ICs on Phono, Tone & Power Amp with only Transistors on the Outputs & a strange Stepped Volume on the outputs. 1972 brings the updated TRM-1200 with the black fascis & updated innards to the TRM-120. 1973 with the STA-910 receiver 45w £163. 1974 into the later era, still quality sounds, STA-7070 40w £143. There are further STA receivers as blogged above in the HFE list, some as low as 4w. The TRM-120 in 1966 was an ambitious model, got a 1969-70 update if neither sold well.

Comparing Three 32w Trio-Kenwood Amplifiers & Receivers With Others.
By a Freak Of Nature, we actually have Three 32w Amps & Receivers by Trio-Kenwood. The 1970 KR-6170, the 1968 KA-4000 & 1965 TK-80U the First Version. To play all to Compare. Two are For Sale currently (July 2024) & one is a 1965 Germanium Amp rebuilt as Silicon that's a Recent Arrival. All are Capacitor-Coupled Designs & all we Rate as Better Than Average, with the KR-6170 Upgraded most, the KA-4000 Recapped with some Upgrades & certain Transistors replaced. The TK-140U Recapped with Upgrades if beyond Silicon transistors, the Resistors Design is as Original. As is Always The Way, they are 32w but all Sound Different in Tonal Balance. We could happily listen to either on Speakers for our TV use. The KR-6170 sounds very clean if never was a very Bassy amp. The KA-4000 is a fuller Sound with a Clean Sound even on the Original Resistors design. This KA-4000 came before the KA-6000 & is a better design for being The First, the KA-6000 runs a 90v HT with Hot Dropper Resistors. The other two use 70v HT & still Dropper Resistors if not Running Hot. The KA-4000 has a solid Precise Midrange & compared better than expected in this comparison. The TK-80U the first one with the Valve-Nuvistor Tuner & Germaniums, if now as Silicon. The TK-80U has more Bass as the 1965-66 Amps usually do. The Midrange is just a little different with the KA-4000 midrange making Direct Compares show the TK-80U as having a Deeper Tone, as in More dB gain creating a Midrange just a little Deeper. The other Trio-Kenwood we have is the TK-60BU which needs more work. It had a good sound in there perhaps closer to the KA-4000 if in need of work. It's only a 20w one if it doesn't sound any less. Of the initial Three, both the KA-4000 & TK80U are extra quiet backgrounds, the KR6170 has only a slight background noise of no issue. Up The Power In Comparing. The 1969 Pioneer SX-2500, the amp that's had probably more time spent on it than even the 1973 JVC 4VN-990. Both Amps certainly got 'Called Names' more than any others & deserved it too. The SX-2500 has Quite A Different Tone to any of the Trios (read on why). Now the 72w vs 32w is the thing, we put the SX-2500 Power Amp design into the KR-6170 yet 70v HT for 32w & 92v for at least 72w doesn't seem much, Current for the Extra Voltage does tell, the Extra Weight & Confidence especially on Speakers tells. The SX-2500, only as our much redesigned version, has a Richer Fuller Bass with a Crisp Treble to compare with the Trios. The SX-2500 at 72w isn't a Tamed Design like later Amps, some 70w can really not Sound like a 70w as they are too tamed. The Bass is fuller if Tight not Thick or Boomy Sounding. After playing some Reggae, the Style of Music that gets most Play in Testing amps, 1970s Tracks in Mono or Stereo have better Bass & some are very cleanly recorded, the Jamaicans used Quality Gear as TV Reggae Documentaries show. We're looking at the KA-4000 sound to get it from the SX-2500 by the Controls. The annoying thing with Hifi is without Comparing, you could be Listening to a Sound 'not quite right' & not realise how Bassy an amp is playing at 2am, even quietly. The 72w still adds that Confidence, even on Headphones. The SX-2500 was sitting around still being used on Headphones & needed this Compare Session to understand it. Onto 1970s Rock in Stereo, Black Sabbath 'Evil Woman' the LP version gets used as a Test Track often, the Weight of the Guitar suits 72w & bass at -2 or 0 is still powerful. Last Compare is the 1965 Pioneer SX-600T Germanium Amp, now All Silicon. 25w. Sound quite different, needs +2 on Bass to sound more like the SX-2500. A more Open Sound than the SX-2500 & -2 on Treble as they are quite different. Sounds fine on Speakers as Speakers need Tone, 95dB Tannoy Golds are Flat, not the Enhanced Sounds of later Speakers. With Tone Adjusted, the 25w SX-600T packs a puch, but that's what the 1965-66 amps do, before they quickly got Dumbed Down. The SX-600T & SX-2500 were likely designed by the same person, if the SX-2500 'ruined' by others trying to lose it's Real Sound & not sell an Amp Too Good. Conclusion. All these Amps are Recapped & Upgraded by the same Ideas. Some are still much as Original on the Resistors design. We only compared Trio-Kenwood & Pioneer, two brands that are More Lively Sounding in the pre 1971 era. The Two Sansuis for another day. All could be Enjoyed on Speakers playing the Bass EQ sound of some TV shows. Our current Speakers play is the SX-600T for listening after giving it a bit more Gain after Germanium-Silicon. The Pioneers both just better the Trio-Kenwoods. An idea the KA-4000 could do better is always the deal with Comparing Amps. Which ones to Keep or Sell is an unending Dilemma & subject to Change depending on what amps we get & Hear Better In. The very recently got 45w Nikko TRM-120 sounded as good as the other 1965-66 amps & will be hard to decide between yet another 1965-66 one.

April 2026 Blog

Not All Vintage Amplifier 'Bargains' On Ebay Are Worth Buying.
In July 2024, a very sad looking 1967 Trio-Kenwood TK-66 20w Receiver, We had one before, photos on the site, and it needed a lot Rebuilding as it was very tired. By Chance or Lack of Info we get the Trio-Kenwood TK-60BE which is the Same Amp beyond the Tuner & an a bigger case. It needs the Big Rebuild too. The TK-66 looks like it's been wet for a long time, the well pained lid with a larhe rust patch & the base cover shows water leaking marks. The Fascia despite dirty might clean up or it might be Corroded. The Seller knows it's too Far Gone & puts £30 Delivered on it. Next day they 'Offer' it as being Watched for £5 less & someone jumps at it. For Parts, unless you have the similar amp, only really the Control Knobs could be worth having as they fit the TK-140X and others of the 1967-68 Trio-Kenwood range. Now we had a TK-66 about 2011 that was rough & at the time beyond us as well as having Messy Repairs. so we still have a Nice Brown Wood Effect Lid for this Model & got it out of the Loft. The Trouble Is the Rebuils to get 'Use Daily' despure a 20w is like with the TK-60BE, it's still quite a job & would outprice what it'd sell for. For 20w to not really see more than £550 in Nice Grade all Rebuilt, the Rebuild job could easily Double That depending what you find . Odds are it needs the Deeper Rebuild as oiur TK-60BE does. Even with a Nice Lid, we didn't fancy buyimg it for the fact Water Soaked will mean more Corrosion inside. They said the Power Switch was Solid to not move, to try to find one if we may have the one from 2011 as we still have the Control Knobs. Avoid Water Soaked Hifi. Wet & Left Wet or Very Damp will make an amp "Too Far Gone". Have seen Rusty ones, the Transistor legs even Rust Away & be sure all the Controls will be a Mess too. Saw one decent High Powered mp long ago, big brand Money type amp of some sort. It was Water Soaked & Rusty inside. Recent UK Bad Weather where Floods caused Huge Damage will have resulted in Insurance Claims & items thrown away, if to be Found at Recycling Yards etc. Rusty Screws & Fittings on Amplifier Backs can be a different thing. Some are not Plated too much & go Rusty-Corroded when the rest of the item looks reasonable. Items as Barn Finds, Dry but still in the Air like Cars are found will still need a lot to get them working. These sort of 'Long Sleeping' amps are Not For General Buyers & often we see they are too far gone oncluding Parts Missing that aren't findable. As Time moves on, more Vintage Hifi is coming out, the Hoarder type dry Housed gear is the Best Bet, but Damp Garage-Attic-Shed finds are often ones we'd avoid.

PCB Double Sided Track Is Not Tech Friendly.
On Modern Gear, the PCB track is ultra fine, narrower than a Strand of Wire & hardly enough for the Voltages & Currents. Be Sure it's "Built-In Obsolescence" because once you try to Repair It, you'll find it Won't Let You. Double Sided Boards have Track both sides. They are joined by a 'tube' of Metal in the Holw to join top & base track. Earlu Double Sided Track from the Early 1970s often has far too much Flux, making Bubbly Solder that looks like it's Bad Soldering, seen on Trio-Kenwood KA-6004 preamp & others. Other Double Sided Track as on the 1971 Leak Delta 75 will tear off rather than Unsolder both sides. To try to Resolder new parts can be done, but it's not Straightforward. You Can also find the Front & Back track Isn't Joined making the Board appear Faulty but it doesn't show. An excess of Flux can hide a Top Track that none of the other parts use so is hard to see. Saly these "clever ideas" are done to make you give up & throw away amps for Parts, because Logic is not there. The More Amps we get, the more 'Stupid Issues' crop up & it can leave an Amp sit for Months as its not worki g right & needs a certain Attitude to 'Think Outside Of The Factory The Box Was Made In" & find the fault, which chooses to annoy you. The facxt some Transistors can be hissy, the Hated 458s in many amplifiers 1967-72, the 2SC458 can be Hissy or have the cheek to go Hissy once New Capacitors are fitted. Double Sided Track just adds another annoyance really can finish an amp, if you're not patient enough & let it sit months.

Digital Clock Radio Doesn't Last So Long?
Seems to be an 2010 model so 14 years use today is actually good. Used to read fine at night but it's been getting more and more Dim to be unreadable in the day. The LED 'dots' have failed & the Snooze Button Display Brightness adjust on the Sony Dream Machine ICF-C218 makes this the Brightest setting. To see ones on ebay with the LEDs uneven says they'll not last long, an item Permanently On & it works on 12v AC from the Transformer inside with 8v DC read. There's nothing to adjust, no resistor to alter, the LED Display has worn out. In a similar way VCR Glass Displays used to Fade Away, it's Bin Time. Lucky Manufacturers, they'll get £30 out of you for similar. Thing is the Display you get used to & different colours to Red or Green don't appeal so much. Never use it for an Alarm or a Radio, so time to look for something like a Clock. Many will not bother with these & use the Mobile Phone as a Clock or Alarm, but how many times do you forget to charge it so it'll not be as reliable. So leave it for the while as we have a 1977 President Timelite that we had in the Early 1980s & bought one as a Retro piece. Blogged it before in Jan 2019, recapped it & redid the buttons foam so it works fine. Bulb worked if the Bulb like a Car Indicator never used to last long. So we have that set up, the Display is much Brighter so try that. The Sony did change GMT to BST to save doing that & it kept very good time if not perfect, 3 mins out in a year. The Timelite will do, it lasted well for our one got 1981-82 & shows in a c.1990 photo if not sure what ended it or replaced it, but a red display wasn't around in c.2010 to buy the Green light Sony one. The Timelite we had on for several months with no problems, keeping good time. an Earlier Sony ICF-205 seems to have better lights as in smoother, depending on how pictured, but seeing wear marks, don't want that. To look for a different sort of Digital Night Time Clock. Looking at the Timelite, the Numbers are quite small & where we put it. it's not so clear beng smaller. Buy an £11.50 Delivered High Grade Used one. It's like with Logiteck Keyboards, but a good Used one when the letters wear out. Our current one is more worn than the previous one now, but with the Desk Light on it, can read it so "Why Buy New". It's getting old, of course. You don't especially want newer things. Looking at Backlit Keyboards, there is a Business in selling spare keys as they break too easily. Stick with what you know. Arrived. Looks like New, the rear 'feet' bumps not worn even. Plug In & the Clock doesn't Auto-Set, so to do it Manually. The Battery underneath reads only 0.25v not 3v. Probably why it got Sold. Display on a barely used one is how it should be. Keep the old one a while to be sure, if otherwise it's e-waste as too dim. How many would realise it needs a new Memory Battery. They'd complain & return it as Faulty.

1980 Marantz PM-4 Amplifier "Esotec Series".
Always lookimng for interesting post 1977 amps, but are there any we'd actually Buy? The Trouble with Post 1980 Amplifiers is the HiFi Yearbook ended 1980 with the '1981' edition in a A4 Book Size. It doesn't show this amp so it's an Unknown to us if part of the "PM" series used into the 1990s with the 1992 PM 62 familiar to us as we bought it New then. The PM-4 is 60w with 15w Class A. Class A runs very Hot & as we found on a Yamaha CA-800, once recapped & upgraded, Class A really makes No Difference, if be sure many will argue Class A is 'far better' on an Original Amp, it certainly ages the amp for the Heat. A more Specialist type of Amp aiming for the 'High End' crowd, High End means "Overhyped" and "Expensive" in reality. So to see what Marantz are offering on this Amplofier as it looks decent. Silver lower half & a black Grille top lid with perfect symmetry on controls. Is it worth £750 as the seller asks? Phono sets the scene here, it's that IC type design with Differential & Class B design. 8 transistors instead of the usual 3 in Class A Phono stages. Must be better then. Tone again a Differential then a single Transistor. Unusual design with Passive & NFB design. Of the Era, both seem acceptavle. Power Amp is All Transistors but Double Differentials. Ridiculous amount of Diodes, 13 of them including 2 zeners, some labelled as 'Protector' as in Relay stage. That is offputting to One into the Superior Sounding 1965-67 designs. Power Supply for ± Voltages needs the usual Regulators & more Diodes beyond the AC to DC ones. Works on ±52.5v Power Amp & ±32v Preamp etc, would take ages to read what voltages are where. Well to At Least Look, it's got far too much Overdesign & Copying the same Circuit Styles used by 1977. As with Marantz usually, it'll sound 'Nice' but with a Tame Sound. We'll Watch to see what it sells for, up for offers too. It looks nice for sure, but the Circuitry isn't for us. If it even sells for £600 be sure it'll not sound too 'exciting' when we can Upgrade Earlier Amps to get much more Lively Sounds for your Money.

The TV Repair Guy Bodge Job Is Still Alive In Vintage Hi-Fi.
Basically it's Your Amp. You can do what you Like with it. There are lots of Dreamers who think they can Tackle Complex Amps & think they can make a 50 year old Amo or Receiver Safe to Use afain in the "Use Daily" way we can. Some amps can be very difficult & really test your Fault Finding Skills. The Amateue will have Their Patience Tested & may get annoyed & smash it up. The Advanced Tech in their Specialised are of Hifi will have gone past the 'Smash Up' years but still yell Spiky words as sometimes it seems like Everything That Can Go Wrong Can Go Wrong & the Forever Battle of things going missing or on the floor. To try to make Deals buying Amps that interest, if they reply saying they'll keep it & get it going when they offer it to get a Modest if Realistic Price, as in Under £100 when if it was Old but Working it could make £300. The TV Repair Guy On Hifi is a real menace, the things we've seen, Bodge Jobs, Use Anything They Have even if it's totally wrong, bits ripped from Parted Amps & used randomly with No Care. For Us, we Gamble on Buying Amps & not all work out, as in they're not worth a huge job to sell for a fraction of the work or are too far gone on closer inspection. Keep Vintage Hifi alive & go the Extra on some. To hear the amp we see as an advanced job being told they could get it going for £100 in a day is just not realistic. To try for other's opinions, if aware they'll get upset if you push too hard as you've found them out. Never ever believe they've 'Not Tested It Further' when you see they part out other Hifi parts from failed units.We may not get loads of Amp Rebuilds as the Costs put Buyers off, but Spend The Money, get it done properly & get Years Pleasure out of it. Recapped & Custom Upgrades is the thing.