MADE IN ENGLAND

SUPER CLEAN, SMOKE-FREE ALL-METAL AMP; WORKS AND SOUNDS LIKE NEW 30-days warranty; abuse (liquid damage or shorted speaker wires) excluded.

This A1-X will be tested for local Ottawa area buyer at the front door/porch with CD player, turntable and speakers. Can be shipped; keep reading.

All New Nichicon PM and Rubycon YXJ Low Impedance High-Temp rated (105C), Ultra Long life (10,000 hours at max temp) caps.

31 capacitor in total replaced, including the 4 main filter caps. This type of restoration is crucial if you want your A1 amp running smoothly for decades. The caps installed are way better than stock, high temp rating and 4X longer life. At temperatures much lower than 105C they will last at least 25 years. For the reference, the operational surface temperature of A1-X is 60 degrees C. To make it last 40 years, put a small fan next to the side of the case.

First things first, this thing produces first 16 Watts in true class A. As we music lovers all aware (and those not aware should stop reading right now, this amp is not for you), the normal home listening level is around 1 Watt at speaker output; the rest of Watts out there is just for control and headroom.

Now that's a remarkable feat of Tim Paravicini's engineering, to offer public something this affordable, slim and small, yet classy, and with such sweet and big class A sound.

There's a lot of misconception regarding class A amplifiers. They have the best sound. But, due to the heat produced (heat kills electrolytic capacitors) they are all designed to fail. The question is, when exactly? In my view, the A1 amp and its siblings in their original form were designed to play music for 5 to 10 years and then stop playing. That was the engineering/marketing idea, the consumer cannot have something this nice for too long; he/she has to buy another A1 eventually. That's why so plains, the buyers simply could not grasp this very idea of you "cannot have this all babe" Planned obsolescence in action.

When I got this amp, there was either no sound or weak sound, and almost all of original caps were on the edge of dying (30 to 70% of rated specs). This is actually normal for class A amp of this enclosed type made in the 80's. They all have to be restored at this point in time. When you bring an amp of this calibre to mercial repair shop, expect to pay $400-$500 for restoration, parts and labour. With that in mind this A1-Xis a steal at $795 listed price.

LINKS:

_a1/introduction.htm

How it looks inside before restoration:

FEATURES (purist's design):

* Speakers: A, single pair much preferred, for both sound quality and stability reasons (you can connect a second pair of speakers to the same connectors if desired, by splicing wires, red to red, black to black) * Volume control * Tape Monitor switch * Selector: Phono , CD, Tuner, Aux, Tape * Phono MM/MC switch (rear) * Gold plated RCA connectors * Ground post * Protection: fuse; no relays here * 120V, North American version

SPECS

* Production: 1984 - 1992 * Type: integrated stereo amplifier * Features: high class-A output (0.8 Amperes bias current) * Rated Power output RMS: 2x 25 watts, 8Ω (stereo) * Class-A output: 8-16 watts, 8Ω (stereo) * Power consumption: 90 watts continuous * Frequency response: 20 - 20,000 Hz * Output stage transistors: 2N3055/MJ2955 * THD: 0.5% at full power, less than 0.1% at 1 Watt * Volume control: Alps Blue attenuator * Inputs: (3x) line, (1x) tape monitor, (1x) phono * Sensitivity (Phono): 0.2mV (MC), 2mV (MM), * Sensitivity (Line): 200mV * Output terminal: 1-set (bananas/spades) * SNR: (Phono): 55dB (MC), 60dB (MM) * SNR (Line): 80dB * Surface temperature: 55-65 degrees Celsius * Dimensions: (W) 408mm ; (H) 68mm ; (D) 258mm * Net Weight: 5.8 KG, slim, small, very heavy for the size, same as old Marantz

******************************************************** Note regarding connectivity: What can you plug in? - CD player, iPod, tape deck, computer, turntable .... Use mini-jack 3.5mm to RCA cable for iPod puter

People use adapters/cables like these for phone:

****************************************************************************************** Local buyer much preferred (cash on pickup); e-transfer is possible, but unpredictable, takes from 2 min to 35 min waiting to go through. I will ship in Canada if paid by Interac e-transfer, packed nicely with PP foam/styrofoam, insured and tracked. Shipping costs: $43 ON/QC, $54 to Alberta, $62 to BC Pickup or shipping only, no deliveries.

Shipping outside of Canada is possible only if paid by instant money transfer service(MoneyGram/WU); or US cash (at current Google exchange rate) sent by Priority/Xpress registered mail, preferably with signature; nothing else. I got paid a few times like that before, no issues.

I've been collecting vintage stereos for a long time, so trades for old stereos in any condition will be considered. Heavy all-metal boxes from 70's and 80's much preferred :)

SERIOUS BUYER ONLY - SEND CELL PHONE NUMBER WHEN READY TO BUY See my other ads - Thank you!