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I would never normally recommend that anyone go out and buy an AV amp for stereo music but this amp is an exception, it does 2 channel stereo better than any other AV amp, its punchy as hell and has a very full sound, its very detailed. they usually sound very lacking and dull, as the front channels are stripped in frequency response (80Hz to 15Khz) that's not the case here, this has a proper darlington amp, that has sound quality that's unreal. Loud? This thing distorts my large Yamaha floor standers at number 4 on the volume dial, its a very powerful amplifier, and its a real 110watts per channel not a fake one, in fact i have tested this and it actually outputs 114watts per channel However loudness is the least important thing to me actually, sound quality is the most important, and this piece of equipment delivers big time. The EQ might at first glance look like just a basic Bass/Mid/Treble control, but in the menu every frequency can be changed, its a full EQ, and a very good one too, so you will never need to add a graphic EQ to your system, although if you want to add a spectrum analyzer you can certainly do this, as the amp has a tape loop in/out. Mines connected to my HTPC (Athlon AM1) via toslink, also my Sony JB930 Minidisc recorder, and also my MSI GS66 RTX laptop, as i use this to record my FLAC mixes to minidisc, everything works perfect and i'm extremely happy with my setup. i bought 2 cheap bedside cabinets and welded them together to make a hifi cabinet, i think it all looks pretty good! The remote controller is a genius piece of kit, i havent got 3 hours spare trying to explain eveything it does, but it does just about everything, and it will control non sony equipment. its a pull down controller that has even more controls behind the panel, also a bright green backlit LCD screen. It also has 2 way communication so settings from the amp can be sent to it. The Tuner? Simply put it's the best RDS tuner ive ever used in my life, i really didnt want a DAB radio tuner as the sound quality of DAB is horrendous, the tuner in this amp is outstanding in both sound quality and features, its the most advanced rds radio ive ever seen, it scrolls every bit of information from the station youre listening to including the time, what track youre listening to, the presenter and more, the clarity is perfect on a good aerial there is no hiss whatsoever. If you are in to vinyl (im not) then this also has a beautiful sounding phono preamp too, which could be used at line level as an extra line input with a simple converter. Every digital and analog input can be renamed to what ever you like, the volume knob is motorised and completely silent, with beautiful cherry red optical illumination. Behind the front door there are a ton of settings for everything you could think of, including EQ settings/naming/radio and many more, this amp has on screen displays when connected to a TV Every input socket is gold plated, and the front headphone output has amazing sound quality, it will also power 2 sets of speakers at 4ohms, the amp gets barely warm to the touch in operation, its very efficient. Theres also a 3 setting dimmer for the VFD display mines set at 40% to prolong its life, you can also switch it off completely, the display tells you everything and is very large. Due to these receivers now being 23 years old they do have a couple of pattern problems, the first one is you MUST take the service panel off the bottom and re-solder the voltage amplifier IC's, (IC501) due to constant heating/cooling of these IC chips the solder connections break loose, these integrated circuits can hit 90c in operation, you need to set your soldering iron to 350c and use LEADED solder DO NOT use lead free solder, if these IC's short or go open circuit due to solder failure this is bad news and could possibly take out the output transistors. secondly you WILL get a problem where one of the rear channels will only pop in to action after cranking the volume up, this is caused by the surround channels relays, they may need to be replaced, or the digital volume control IC needs to be replaced. I cannot recommend this amp enough though, just buy one, you will love it. 10/10 from me.Read full review
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
First I would like to thank Simon for recommending this amp to me he knows his stuff.This av amp has a magical neutral sound but not too bright on the treble.Crystal clear clarity taught bassline & fun to use also you can use a 5.1 decoder on it to plus many more options.Andrew
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
Made at a time when Sony was making a real effort to be taken seriously in the av amplifier market. £400 at the time, but with performance FAR beyond what you would expect at the price, so an absolute steal. Many purchasers may not be aware that a substantial chunk of the money they spend on one of these goes to pay for the licensing to Dolby and DTS, so a £1600 amp is probably only £900 worth of hardware. These days there is much less competition so those manufacturers who ARE still active in the market place have become lazy and complacent (Marantz, for example). There are many massively over-priced examples out there which also perform poorly in comparison to one of these in good condition; The technology, or the implementation of it, hasn’t progressed much, if at all. If you can live with 5.1, and you can, this will beat all comers below £1400. Seriously. Rich, warm, powerful and very musical. A genuine surprise - ours is 20 years old and only recently started playing up. Impressive longevity.Read full review
Verified purchase: No
Couldn't be more happier ☺ is in great condition love it for the years is very good love it thank you 😊 ❤
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
The remote did not work on all buttons. Useless. Skipped. Lesson learned. End
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
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