I was going to suggest NAD. You made a good purchase. I have a NAD integrated in my garage system, also an Ebay find.
R.I.P. Toshiba SA-2500....now what?
I got my Toshiba SA-2500 receiver (25wpc) in 1980 when I was in high school. It has been in use since that time. Reviews of the unit when it came out as well as contemporary reviews on vintage web sites rate it as punching much higher than its weight class.
For the last 15 years it has lived at my cabin where most of the time the heat and AC are off (when we are not there).
The panel lights went out a few years ago and I replaced them.
Last weekend the tuner failed. I opened it up today and can’t find any obvious issues. DeOxit on the tuning fins has not helped. It has three fuses. All three are un-blown.
The amp is still functioning fairly normally but seems to be running hotter......but that might be because it has been running a pair of low end Polk Audio towers rated at 20-275(!) watts for the last 6 months or so.
Several questions:
1. Is there anything else I should check before giving up on it? I’m not an electrician.
2. The idea of a vintage replacement appeals to me but it also doesn’t make any sense really. Why spend money on more 40 year old stuff that is just as likely to have the same sorts of failures? At a vintage shop there is 50 wpc version of this same unit but it is close to $300!
3. I have no idea what to look for on the low end receiver market. I’m looking for under $300 in the 100 wpc to better drive these larger speakers. Any particular brand in the low end market that might stand out. Last year I purchased a $150 Sony that got good Amazon reviews. It sounded bad even for low end and the volume knob was binding....it went back immediately.
Any thoughts appreciated for a low end weekend cabin receiver replacement.
For what its worth I know I could just buy a tuner and plug into it. But again, it is showing signs of impending total failure so that doesn’t make sense to me either.
Sorry for the long post.
For the last 15 years it has lived at my cabin where most of the time the heat and AC are off (when we are not there).
The panel lights went out a few years ago and I replaced them.
Last weekend the tuner failed. I opened it up today and can’t find any obvious issues. DeOxit on the tuning fins has not helped. It has three fuses. All three are un-blown.
The amp is still functioning fairly normally but seems to be running hotter......but that might be because it has been running a pair of low end Polk Audio towers rated at 20-275(!) watts for the last 6 months or so.
Several questions:
1. Is there anything else I should check before giving up on it? I’m not an electrician.
2. The idea of a vintage replacement appeals to me but it also doesn’t make any sense really. Why spend money on more 40 year old stuff that is just as likely to have the same sorts of failures? At a vintage shop there is 50 wpc version of this same unit but it is close to $300!
3. I have no idea what to look for on the low end receiver market. I’m looking for under $300 in the 100 wpc to better drive these larger speakers. Any particular brand in the low end market that might stand out. Last year I purchased a $150 Sony that got good Amazon reviews. It sounded bad even for low end and the volume knob was binding....it went back immediately.
Any thoughts appreciated for a low end weekend cabin receiver replacement.
For what its worth I know I could just buy a tuner and plug into it. But again, it is showing signs of impending total failure so that doesn’t make sense to me either.
Sorry for the long post.