Sony TA-F4A Amplifier : VU meters, finally!!

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pathakajit

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Landed myself the beautiful Sony after waiting patiently for an amp with VU meters.
Spotted it lying in the middle of a stack and initially mistook it to be a power amp! Inquired about it, got it hooked up and Agreed to buy it the minute the Meters lit up :lol:

Quick cleanup at home and fired it up. Working without any problems and sounding good while doing it.
Could not resist posting pictures of the awesome looking yellow ish green illuminated meters :eek:hyeah:


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Apologies for the grainy pictures.. Will post better ones in a day or two.
 
That amp's like a Tank. What lovely build quality. Those VUs look terrific!! Sony amps sound pretty decent too so I'm sure you'll be happy with the sound as well. I wish I was born 30 years earlier :(
 
These amps are from the golden age of audio.........its hard to find such quality product now............take care of it.......
 
oh the amp looks lovely ajit. congratulations!!!. how does it sound with your SW-130 speakers? or are you using some other speakers now? wishing you have lots of great musical days ahead.
 
Robert Bose said:
I too like VU Meters
I Like the Big ones on Onkyo M series, 504 etc
I have an M5030, the VU meters are way better than on Sony
Click to expand...

The large Onkyo M series vu meters indeed look great. They remind me of old scooter speedometers.. was it the vespas or chetaks which had those speedos..

reubensm said:
That amp's like a Tank. What lovely build quality. Those VUs look terrific!! Sony amps sound pretty decent too so I'm sure you'll be happy with the sound as well. I wish I was born 30 years earlier :(
Click to expand...

Thanks Reuben. It indeed sounds pretty good and is built well. It is fairly heavy too. The chunky knobs are a pleasure to work as they 'click' into positions assuredly. The large volume knob clicks all the way around the dial.

I too wish I was born 30-40 years ago.. For more reasons than just HiFi related! ;) :lol:

kuks1 said:
oh the amp looks lovely ajit. congratulations!!!. how does it sound with your SW-130 speakers? or are you using some other speakers now? wishing you have lots of great musical days ahead.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the lovely words, kuks1!!
I am yet to try this amp with the sw130 speakers. The sw130 are terminated into din connectors for use with my Akai solid state amp... Considering de-soldering the connectors for hooking into the Sony amp..
I am currently driving old Fisher 2 way bookshelf speakers with this amp. They are a good pair of speakers with westra drivers made in w. Germany.
They do sound good :)
 
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pathakajit said:
I believe the F5A is the more powerful version of this amp. Do your F5A vu meters have the same yello-green
Illumination? What speakers do you drive with the F5A?
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It has yellow illumination. I am currently not using the TA-F5A, and shifted it to my native. At mumbai I am using Denon 720 paired with Wharf 10.1

I earlier used with Mission M31i and later with DIY FS speakers. But with none of the speakers i could not even touch 9'0 clock in the volume. Yes it is powerful.

I have got a new pair of speakers made using Peerless India drivers, which I am yet to use. In my next visit to native, I will pair these speakers with Sony Amp.
 
the best Vmeters i have seen


are on nelsons

pass labs

i have been trying really hard to fabricate copies of them
 
Congratulations! A beautiful amp indeed! Sounds as good as it looks I guess :)
As the owner of an onkyo integra m508 and m504, they have some beautifully monstrous meters besides the overbuilt innards. I don't think I need to talk about the sound. I have two of them! Sums it up! ;)
But the needles are really difficult to see from far... You have be quite close to the amps.. Enjoy your Sony :)
 
Even I love VU amps but unfortunately couldn't get one in decent condition and model. In the recent models I love Yamaha A-S3000, but that is beyond my budget :D

C2AD75A5248E4866B24E7B8EE206F6E5_12073.jpg
 
I have a TA 212 A Sony Amplifier which though not in the best cosmetic condition is very decent sounding. The phono is also very good. I wish such quality amps could be available now at reasonable prices. I have heard some people saying that if not for the Japanese most of us would not have been able to enjoy any music at home in the 70's and 80's
 
I have a Sony TA-F45 Stereo Amplifier. But unfortunatly, power supply section having an issue....transistor 2SC 2240 had gone due to the voltage selector shift to 110 volt by previous owner. But I think its a very good looking and obv. sounding also. If any forum member help me too find this transistor...it will add glory to my current audio set up
 
kuruvilajacob said:
I have a TA 212 A Sony Amplifier which though not in the best cosmetic condition is very decent sounding. The phono is also very good. I wish such quality amps could be available now at reasonable prices. I have heard some people saying that if not for the Japanese most of us would not have been able to enjoy any music at home in the 70's and 80's
Click to expand...

agree 100% about the Jap audio systems. I am yet to meet someone who doesnt have atleast one japanese component in their audio chain.
 
By a co-incidence I just got two Sony products with model number 212. The TA-212 amplifier and PS 212 A record player. I have no idea if both were part of the same rack system.

They are pairing very well together. I have a feeling that those who were listeniing to music in the 70's and 80's must have enjoyed better than us
 
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