Sonys Final Masterpiece, The Amazing TA-N1 and TA-E1 Amp and Preamp
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- Опубліковано 2 сер 2024
- This was the final tour du force for Sony. Two pieces with very low production numbers that were "price no object".
Link to the screwdriver set folks keep asking about.
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Link to the listing on our website.
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On Vintage Knob.
www.thevintageknob.org/sony-TA...
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Link to 80-ES review
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I remember hearing this combination at an audio shop, with the speakers that went with them.
From what I can recall, the sound that came out didn’t shout at you, but was very enjoyable and sweet.
You could easily sit down late at night, with a glass of wine and just close your eyes while enjoying the music.
Honestly the build quality alone doesn’t look dated at all!! It is amazing. I love Sony. They’ve always been ahead of the curve.
Right? Looks like it could be current model and fit right in.
Those pieces are just astounding... being that Sony's USA Headquarters are not far from you in northern New Jersey, my bet is that they were shown years ago at Vegas and Indianapolis, & then years later some wayward employee found them in a storage closet...
Wow! The level of engineering in these units is impressive. Thank you for bringing us these two masterpieces.
Glad you like them!
And what do they sound like? We dunno but the 1/4'' Aluminum top plate is cool... yeah. right.
Good engineering is timeless.
Amazing build quality.
Wish SONY still made these halo flagship products.
My father was a sony repair and education tech for nearly 40 years. It's correct to assume these units didn't turn any profit, the main reason for them to be produced was to show off sony proprietary components probably mainly the transistors, ICs and build quality, if not to prove that Sony was capable to exceed industry standards but to solidify its market domination in audio.
27,000uf filter caps!!!
Hey Fernando, thanks so much for sharing this beautiful set. They pulled all the stops for them. Riken resistors, Elna Silmic capacitors, tons of what appear to be silver mica capacitors, lots of thick gauge solid copper bus bars for the lowest possible impedance, and look at how beautifully the circuit boards are constructed! Seriously one of the best ever built. Even TOTL equipment of today can barely keep up. This set made no financial sense for Sony, especially when they supposedly only build one hundred of each. This was likely a long time Sony Engineer’s pipe dream brought to life, probably as a retirement gift to the company and himself.
I love this series, it’s like a real time / interactive TVK museum. I’d really love to see more and more. You have a beautiful shop and have some great people working for you. I talk with Ben from time to time and he has a serious head on his shoulders. You’re lucky to have him working with you. Hope to see more videos soon!
Thanks for your words of encouragement Connor. Yes Ben is a rockstar and and fun to work with. I like your comment about how this set being some engineers pipe dream gift. lol. Cheers mate.
Drooling...quite simply drooling🤤👍👍
Thank you for featuring these magnificent components! Appreciate you spending the time to create a channel and share these fantastic pieces.
Our pleasure! Glad you enjoyed it. Pls subscribe!!
Gorgeous! Can't wait for you to visit some VFETs. Many who have heard the high-end VFET amps have said they're amongst the best ever.
I owned these two models along with the SCD-1 circa 2003, they are absolutely amazing
Sorry I didn't have the SCD1 for the video. Should have held on to it.
You mean aStOUND-ing!
denon pma110 or sony???? need some advice
@@radeon789 Denon
@@dougg1075 why?
Sony made this amazing HIFI system to promote the Super Audio CD which was meant to replace the CD. The first units were presented in 1999.
Makes sense. The SC1 was beautifully made but it certainly not at the level of the amp and pre. I guess they expected to sell many more units (which they did) so they had to keep a reasonable price point and profit margin.
@@SkyFiAudio😂
Dude they made the scd777es to accommodate the demand ! Makes no sense what you claim here.
Also I know you never sold the setup as it's still for sale !
Simply beautiful pieces of HiFi. Sony were never afraid to push their own boundaries to show that a volume manufacturer, could still produce unique products that were truly great.
And the thing about Sony, which I have always loved, is that their products were always fairly priced, and you could buy their products with confidence that they were always of a decent quality.
I agree. Still today they are making stuff that is a great value and pushes the boundaries. Look at the HAP-Z1 streamer for example.
An absolute masterpiece 😮
Indeed!! I have three systems of this combo and the built quality is amazing!!! 😍
This is a really cool review. I never saw this unit before. But since I am a Sony lover, it's a great piece of education and technology history.
Sony's best audio success IMO was their VFET amplifiers. I have three DIY Sony VFET amps and the sound is incredible.
Thanks for sharing
Some Sony ES’s engineering talent was essentially done in the US in the 90’s. Dan Anagnos was one who was a loudspeaker designer from Polk Audio who did the SS M9’s loudspeaker serise. This stuff was engineered for the audiophile world and entered the audio market back in 1995.
Lack of Complexity is a high end virtue and high quality means high current which is paramount and this is typical high end circuit topology which is likely done by an independent design engineer contracted by SONY.
❤ wow excellent piece of audio knowledge 👏 👌 never new that I've seen how far Dan has come so it's great to know about this audio history thanks for sharing buddy 👍
>Burson Audio will be able to scrutinize those 'encapsulated modules' most likely same discrete symmetrical op amp design stages (if i could replicate Burson op-amps could be dropped in here) i'm surprised you mention pre-amp component count looks sparse, seems to be nominal for high end layouts, nice to see the extra copper, stunning piece of gear you are very fortunate to have this opportunity, never separate these two pieces, thank you for sharing!
Great review as always. Lovely pieces. Nice Breitling.
Just Beautiful
Beautiful layout, inside an out..! SONY 🍾👑👏
Yes indeed!
Love these deep dives, great stuff 👍
Glad you like them! Let me know if you see anything in the shop youd like to see a deep dive on.
Nice job Fernando. Enjoyed it and informative as well
Thanks,
wow, they put some quality in these
They went all out.
The second RCA input on the power amp maybe for home theater incorporation. And the 100kHz response aims to meet the specifications of sacd. Nice review, thank you.
Thanks for the info! My dog can't even hear over 30k.
I used to have the SCD-1, TA-E1 and SSM9-ED speakers. My preamp didn’t have a SN sticker on the back and had the not for sale sticker on the bottom, that may as well of been mine!
I never got the amp, but I loved the preamp and SACD player. Like mentioned, I was afraid the SACD player would eventually fail and sold my system. Sure wish I kept the whole package and tracked down the amp!
I’ve never had anything with a quality build such as these. Thanks for making the video!
What happened to the speakers? Sold them? What’s your current speakers?
Those are serious speakers, we had a the non ED set here a few years back and the were very nicely made. Dont know what to make of that not for sale sticker. Wish someone would comment.
@@SkyFiAudio Are the Klipsch RF-7ii speakers any match to those Sony SSM9-ED speakers? I have the TA-N1 powering my Klipsch and it sounds so amazing. The stereo separation is second to none. Source is a BlueSound Node 2
Very well shot and narrated. One can dream.
Thanks Patrick. I put a little more effort on the videography on this one. Nice quiet Friday at the shop so I had extra time.
@@SkyFiAudio Those rolling bars from your lighting didn't help you. Usually comes from the light being too bright which forces the camera to go to higher shutter speeds which in turn causes the bars. Otherwise, a splendid display of gear!
Their ES stuff was amaing! A lot of bang for the buck IMHO. I'd love for them to make it again - really good quality for far less than the competition.
Its a mixed bag, some pieces are great some are marginal. Thanks for commenting sir.
I once had a ES9000 top of the line pre amp. It was a work of art, never seen anything like it, but did it sound good - NO, not at all.
@@qddk9545 I had the TA-ES9000 combined with some Anthem Amps - sounded great to me. I replaced it with an Onkyo Preamp - sounded dreadful - I gave the Onkyo to a friend of mine about a year and a half later and went back to my Sony. I'm currently on a Marantz 8802A but will probably replace it with a Monolith HTP-2 when they come out.
Thankyou for sharing!
What a beautiful piece of engineering 🤩
Glad. you liked it!
Super happy to find this channel. Subscribed
Hey Thanks Ryan, happy to have you!
Awesome pieces of Audio equipment, thanks for the nice easy explanation, so easy to understand. What brand are those fancy screwdriver set? They look amazing! Thumbs up 👍 !
Amazon!
I recently did a repair/restoration on these two units along with the SCD-1 disc player for a long time customer. The player stopped playing SACDs and needed a new laser. The preamp and amp needed various things done, but beautifully made!
I own the Power Amp so would be interested to know exactly what you had to do. I currently have no issues with mine but I can't think of the day that one day it might cease because it sounds so beautiful. I leave it switched on 24/7 even when am not using it. I don't want it to go through the power ON / OFF cycles. Any advice really appreciated.
@@anthonycasey5351 What preamp are you using?
@@danlivni2097 Hi Dan I used to run it off a Rotel Pre-Amp but now it's connected direct to my Bluesound Node 2 streamer.
@@anthonycasey5351 Hi Casey, the amp is very reliable and breakdown are very rare! The parts what will need service is some capacitors. The large filter caps are fine, just the smaller caps!
The encapsulated modules are a instrumentation amplifier circuit, for balanced inputs - you could probably design a drop in replacement if you had to - its basically 6 op-amps
Would be fun playing with 0pamps' rolling...
I purchased the Sony integrated amplifier that is discontinued now like 2 years ago their flagship it was pretty good but it was like it was missing something like I can't explain it I was a little disappointed but I love Sony products too I had their Flagship head unit for the car and I just love all their stuff love their AV receiver even their cheap one is very very good for what you get obviously you can't compare the cheap Avery receiver to what he has but still really good stuff
With a weight of ten stone how do you actually nice the power amp around? Do you add the heatsinks once the amp is in place?
The actual final masterpiece from Sony were the TA-ER1 preamp and TA-NR1 (or NR10) monoblocks. The N1 and E1 were released with the SCD-1, which makes them "later" but the NR1 and NR10 were true Class A cost-no-object masterpieces.
These aren't "cost no object masterpieces"?
That NR10 is beautiful
Thats Truely an amazing set. Thanks for showing it
Glad you like it!
Never seen these components before. Never really into the home stuff, but am a fan of Sony's Mobile ES line from back in the 90's and 2000's.
Did they make nice stuff for Mobile? Which would be the best piece too look into?
You missed the fact that the boards are built on copper bass so that is super high end and make a huge difference to the build up of noise ect. but yeh you don't see that very often. Another great vid bro😊🔉👍
Just think alot off this channel really appreciate the videos. 👏 kudos
Glad you enjoyed it Tex. Stay in touch.
Hello! How can I buy those screwdrivers with holes in the handle?
I heard them in the Sony Ginza showroom. They were installed in a little theater, with the scd1 and Wilson like looking speakers
Thanks for sharing. Love your user name!!
Ive said to myself I wont ever own "Big" hifi components again.. but this system is one I would never let go if I owned it.
Great overview Fernando! Txs
Glad you liked it Michael. If it gets lots of view Ill do a listening video to follow-up.
I’m lucky to have owned the set and I feel unlucky that I sold them. Amazing sound.
Whats your experience benn with H.K. Separetes such as the Citation series?
Just gorgeous
Could it be that the amplifier is related to the Sony VFET?
Some sound demos or comment on sound characteristic would be great. Thanks
I have been meaning to do that. Thanks Sam.
Hi where can i buy this?
Saludos, excelentes vídeos, gracias por compartirlos, sigan adelante, abrazos desde Bogotá, Colombia
Muchas gracias Albert. Abrazos..
The power supply main board from the preamp Is massive !! - beauty design and huge quality of all boards and components....All Japan made.
Wish they still made stuff in Japan these days. I guess its gotten too expensive.
I remember seeing SkyFi having these in their inventory since 2020...
You'r probably right. Time flies. Haven't been very motivated to move them on since they are so special.
Just a quick one - did you make the Binaural Buddy B&W Nautilus test video? I can't seem to find it.
Not yet!
Fernando talking about C/D AND SACD can you play both c/d and sacd on a sacd player? Thank you for your in depth reviews on your equipment very very interesting as I came across your channel about a yr too 2 yrs ago I’m currently living in western Canada.
You can play a standard cd on a SACD player. Many bluray video machines will play cds and SACDs as well.
As Casper mentioned YES. Also some CD's are dual layer with both rebook and SACD.
Super clean internals!
I would love to have them
Like the screw drivers ?
If you were to remove the base of the power amp, would this contain the class A amp PCR? This would be interesting to see.
Not sure I follow. Can you elaborate Craig?
if you want a similar amp to the TA-N1 and don't want to pay that sort of money, get an NAD 208. The NAD 208 has way more "juice" as it pushes 250 watts in to 8 ohms. And again, it's far more common and far cheaper often costing well under $1000, compared to TA-N1 often selling for north of $10,000 on the used market on the rare cases they do come up for sale. Obviously the Sony TA-N1 is a pretty good amp, but it's obviously a unicorn that only a handful of lucky and wealthy individuals will ever own, the NAD 208 is a realistic amp that almost anyone can own for about a grand or less.
NAD=New Acoustic Disaster...,no thanks.
The construction shows a great deal of attention to eliminating stray radiation and microphonics. Towards the end of analog it required this much care to achieve good specs because every wire run acted as an antenna, both radiating and receiving. The relays even blocked the signals you weren't interested in from entering the box!
Hi All, just wondering if the components degrade over time?
Wow, wow - for uploading such NSFW audio content there is a different 'Tube'!!! :-))))
Gorgeous gear.
haha. Thanks for writing Pucio.
This looks amazing. The design is similar to what the best of the best offer today. I’m sad to see Sony out of this market.
Awesome. Wish I could easily afford it.
You mentioned other products that viewers would like to see a deep dive on.
I would love to see a deep dive on the BHK 250 or any other products you might from PS Audio.
Noted!
Very cool!
Thanks Daniel.
This line was not for sale at the time.
SONY made it only for promotion/presentation of SACD, together with ED speakers.
Rep demo set, more than likely. What is the frequency response???
S/N, and dynamic range?
looks nice
26:01 same test tones?
Wow thanks for the breakdown. I might have missed it. Is the amp class A?
Actually class A/B so they run pretty cool.
El mejor equipo de la historia del audio
How about the N90ES? Had for about twenty years, still looking for a good pre-amp for it.
I purchased Graaf 13.5 about twenty years ago (Sovtek tubes, Nichicon Black Gates caps). Krell class A monoblocks + Maggies was my stereo setup at the time. Can't recommend tube gear to anyone today but I am still using Graaf preamp.
I have N90ES with E90ES Preamp. Before I was try many other amplifier with N90ES and I get good result with E90ES. This series made from 1995, before then TA-E1 and N1 but they have technically same engineering back round. For example N90ES and N1 using same gold transistors. also other many things are similar design. I made for my devices recap operation for for all capacitors and use for main supply same like N1, dual 22000uf Nichicon KG Super Through capacitors. also I replaced all carbon resistors with takman and amtrans, also all solder are resoldering with mudorf supreme silver gold solder. after revision sound amazing and I am not thinging to sell this devices never.
Can you imagine being a Sony designer/engineer for this division when everyone else in the company was frantic to get the latest average to sub par equipment at Sony out back then for the profits?
American record labels did not let Sony introduce SACD for a decade or so. And when SACD was introduces music lovers were addicted to MP3 already.
This was Sony at their peak. Great stuff. Aluminum must have been cheap back then :D
The best preamps have up to 4 transformers and here is 1. A bit cheap and cut costs. Separate transformers for each channel give the benefit of better channel separation than the pre with 1 transformer. The weight of this Sony is 21 kg, which shows that the money went mostly to the housing. But sure, looks nice
I agree, the power supply could have been a bit more exotic and the chassis could have been a bit less beefy.
Why is it needed more than a power transformer when this preamp has no phono amp and no HP amp?
As long as the power supply has low impedance and plenty of reserves, there's no difference between one power transformer for two channels or each channel having one.
@@SkyFiAudio the transformer is encased in ceramic housing stuffed with resin. No metal. The potentiometer is brass!! No plastic anywhere!!
I would like these for the barn
와우...멋지다.
이 당시의 소니는 엄청난 물량 공세를 했구나.
SCD-1의 느린 오픈,로딩 속도만 참을수 있다면 소리는 최고.
You have a video of the Denon S1 series ?.....also real gems
and how it sound's...?
I was wrong about Vfets but hey Mosphete amps are Rare these day .
This unit is a beast and looks bran new
From the video .
Thanks for the share someone going to love this in their living room .
The aluminum covers are for Sonys
Priotary Op-Amps?
I think so. some sort of proprietary circuit. I couldn't get a look at it from any angle unfortunately.
The gold plating on the component leads has me puzzled because it can cause embrittlement. Many components have gold plated leads, one of the processes used in aerospace electronics is a two solder pot tin dip. The first dip removes the gold plating and the second dip ensures the component leads are coated with standard 60/40 solder.
From an online search:
Gold embrittlement occurs when the gold from a contact combines with the tin or tin-lead solder, and the gold content becomes larger than 3% of total weight of the solder.
Crossing 3% causes the solder joint to become weak during thermal cycling due to decreased ductility. A weak solder joint could/will lead to a failure in your system.
It is important to understand that gold isn’t going to destroy your solder joints at all thicknesses. Typically, gold plating below 20-30 µin is considered to not cause an issue. Although, below 10 µin in the contact area is considered to be ideal.
What brand of screwdriver is that?
Amazon lol
Just had to ask, whats the model of the watch youre wearing?
Love watch questions, its simple Breitling Endurance with a custom strap.
@@SkyFiAudio Thanks for replying.. funny that right after I sent this question, I got a notification from John Devore on his new video on chronograph watches.
Stunning. No flaws at all.
A balance control would have been great!
@@SkyFiAudio My London (Wembley) made Musical Fidelity B200 Integrated Amplifier from 1990, has no balance control.
The amp have nice ooking heat sink hoeve in this case for take over the funtionality. The fins shoul be vertical no horizontal to alow good air flow.
Good point. Convection cooling would certainly be more efficient with vertical slots.. Wouldn't look as cool :-)
i used to sell Sony ES series and their cd players were in a class of their own at their price point............the ES amps were not that great though - they had that mosfet mist people talked about......but they still making those hi-end Qualia products ?
Love seeing the inside of this expensive high quality stuff.. 👌🏿 but isn‘t it kinda harmful long-term if you put your fingerprints on all the electronics inside? Maybe the fat from the fingerprints burn in over time?
Capacitor bank not that big?
Does anyone know, did Sony ever made an amplifier with an integrated DAC !?
This is the nicest Sony preamp and amp I've ever seen. To bad no one has bought this combination!! I actually love the look of it.
For sure. Check out the NR1 piece as well.
@@SkyFiAudio
If you do not want to exclude the hardcore Japanese collectors from considering the purchase of these rare, expensive items, I would suggest that in the future you handle these components, and any panels or other parts that you remove, like a fragile newborn baby Jesus, and ALWAYS wear brand new, clean White Cotton Gloves when handling them. ;-)
While watching the video I could imagine my Japanese audio collector friends cringing each time you set down the removed panels on the unprotected workbench surface (and even once on top of the metal end of the screwdriver), as well as EVERY time you touched ANY part of the internals.
These high-end pieces were pretty much assembled in sterile "clean room" lab conditions at Sony, and these Japanese collectors DO NOT want your potential fingerprints, body oils, hair, or anything else contaminating or touching ANY of the internal electronic components, PCBs, copper bus bars or pristine shielding panels, tops of the capacitors, transformers, interior aluminum panels, etc.
They are absolute fanatics about this. DO NOT TOUCH ANYTHING INTERNAL unless you absolutely have to in order to perform a necessary component replacement or repair.
I could also imagine my Japanese buddies cringing when you flipped the amplifier over onto its anodized or powder-coated heatsink on the bare workbench, LOL. Japanese techs and HiFi shops use antistatic microfiber workbench "topper" pads to protect the finish of these types of rare, high-end pieces when inspecting, repairing, or displaying them for a potential buyer at a High-End shop.
Just sayin'. :-P
But having said all that, it's a common joke or "urban legend" by the general Japanese public that Sony purposely designs and installs built-in "timers" in all of their general consumer electronics products to trigger a failure as soon as the warranty periods expire. LOL
Built like a tank!
The yellow 'not for sale' sticker means it's a sample, mostly pre production. Those were used on demotours and such stuff.
Haha, you just said the same thing. My bad for commenting too quick 🙂
Interesting. So its an early piece that was just for testing or would it have been a demo?
@@SkyFiAudio Demo piece to show what's comming next season, like a movie previeuw for selected audience. They were just like the productionversion as far as I know (I'm no technician, I set those demo's and displaystands)
Killed me watching how rough you were handling both pieces. Given the rarity and value on display I'd expect more reverence - white gloves, towels down etc. Besides that though... great video, thank you 👋
Incredible set!!! $25K! WOW!!!
Weight is because of the transformers and heatsinks. Higher wattage units use VERY large transformers because you need them for legitimate power output... unless it is class D.
Link in the comments.
I think this type of product was made (at least) partly for marketing or a "Halo Effect" - to generate good buzz for Sony in the audio magazines and get people into stereo stores to buy something more reasonable that Sony would actually make money on.
I think your right. Imagine all the tooling cost for a unit that only had 100 pieces of production? No way this made financial sense.
I own SCD-1 and TA-E1. They are masterpieces but then? What would we say about the TA-NR1 pair and its preamp companion, the two chassis TA-ER1? I also own the R1 ones 😁
Did they come before or after these?
Certainly gorgeous inside and out.
@@SkyFiAudio yes! They are beautiful and timeless. One could say these machines were released this very moment.
@@SkyFiAudio before. The first R1 components appeared late in 1987, the compact disc player CDP-R1 and DAS-R1 as separate units which I own also. In the 1992 hi-fi show called Sonimag that occurred in my hometown Barcelona, I could enjoy for the first time in my live the Premier of the complete Sony R1 series!! An unforgettable moment carved in my mind for ever. With time I became a Sony collector, practically I don't use my gear.
After R1, Sony pushed the limits further with the R10 series, a discreet evolution of the former. Much more expensive and totally dedicated to the domestic japanese market. In the Vintage Knob there's all the lineage of Sony R, ES an SACD series.
I wonder how the TA-N1 compares to the TA-NR10?
If you stop by with a pair of TA-NR10 I’ll let you know! 😉 I’m serious looking for a pair of TA-NR10’s. Due to bad auction sites I have missed the chance three times. But hopefully I’ll be lucky next time! But I do own 3 pairs of TA-E1/TA-N1 combos 😊
Yes Sony TA- N1 being massive but only for the looks never been tested abruptly in huge Party and crank it overnight with 4ohms load , i Think its just for decoration purposes