Do you collect Sony ES? Let's see your collection.

If it's like the other higher range amps, then definitely get it. I have the TA-F630ESD (the "D" denoting the onboard DAC) and would be hard pressed to part with it. I'm using an HK6850 just now but the SOny will slip back in seamlessly one day. Lovely amp, great sound, cracking DAC as well given the age (1989).

EDIT: Should've said, in other words, if you don't find the triple-7, check out one of the models a rung or two down. If you like a clean sound, good power rating, excellent build inside and out, then given what you'll pay, you might as well slap the money down.

 

TSOV, I have the same deck and IMHO you have hit the jack-pot. I think I bought mine new in 1996. Last year after a good many years of just sitting I tried it an it was the same as yours (FF and RW but no PLAY). I took the front door off and with a Q tip with just a very slight touch of high concentration IPA from the drug store (I think it is 93% IPA, do not use anything less dilute or the other stuff in it might gum up the works) I cleaned the tape path, then with gloved fingers I turned all of the rollers. Instant fix. I think the mechanical parts just get too set after many years of no use, now I try to play it whenever I think about it which will probably be tomorrow thanks to your post.

I think that tapes made with the Dolby S noise reduction are great. I lost my owners manual , but have .pdf's of it and the service manual. Let me know if you need either of them. Let us know if you get it up and running.

 

That's encouraging, thank you! No manual when I bought it. I'll try to find the correct alcohol tonight and attempt your fix.

 

Well, Tony's solution did not work for me. A repair man I trust says it needs about $80 worth of work (belts, for one thing) and says the heads appear to have little mileage on them, so I'm having it done. At some point I'll add a picture to the gallery here.

 

I dont currently have any ES though I've used CD players and some the APM loudspeakers in the past. Always good.

However this Esprit pre amp and the matching power amp are a bit of grail product for me.
Reasons for wanting one are quite shallow - I have a fetish for tastefully done aqua indicators

 

I initially liked some early 80s Akai products for the same reason.

 

I've got a TA-E77ESD and a XA5ES. Excellent sounding products.

 

Me too either. Kind of an odd duck in that its an over-engineered 2-ch audio pre but an under-engineered 2-ch AV pre. Does everything well, built like the proverbial tank.

I usually pitch or recycle everything, but I can't bring myself to unload this pre. Been sitting in its box for years, no place for it. Maybe one of these days...

 

I have my TC-KA3 ES cassette deck in a local shop but the owner is stumped. Can anyone suggest the way a belt is supposed to be replaced? It's the belt that turns the motor to make the PLAY function work. Owner has it off but not out - it's wrapped around other parts he's reluctant to disassemble. If he gets it running, I will post a picture.

 

I have the exact same cassette deck. Your service shop does not seem to be up to speed on this deck. Tell him he can get a free service manual at this website:

http://elektrotanya.com/sony_tc-ka3es.pdf/download.html

Tell him to click on the underlined Get Manual that is about 3/4 down the page. If he cannot download the service manual ping me back, I have a copy. He will have to be able to view .pdf files.

 

Thanks, Tony. He says he brought someone else in for a look and that person also did not dare take it apart. Would love to get it running.

 

I have to say that I am not as familiar with your area (Albany) as I am with Westchester and NYC. I know there is a shop in Peekskill that is reluctant to repair any kind of cassette deck other than a Nak (very short sited in my opinion). There are websites that are totally devoted to cassette decks, perhaps one of them can suggest a repair location. Also PM coopmv (Stuart) who lives in CT. He had some repair work done about a year ago on his cassette deck somewhere in the tri-state area

 

Sony CD-101, worst CD transport ever built, Philips CDM-0 and CDM-1 far superior on sound, reliability and on durability. Sony ES is nice looking, too many IC chips, too much overuse of too high damping factor, too much design for the spec sheet. Not Sony's best efforts in the USA save for CD players and for MD gear. Sony's STR 6120 blows the ES receivers into the weeds in sound and in reliability, when Sony competed with anyone.

 

My current Sony ES are a Sony SCD777ES SACD/Cd player. A Sony CD9ES five disc changer. Love Sony CD players.. Wore out several Sony top of the line CD changers.
And finally a Sony 42" plasma TV. (paid $4,000 and that was with $1,000 price break, back when a 42" flat panel cost real money.And yes it is a plasma...)

I have owned Sony trash too: Sony laserdic player..POS finally got a Pioneer one way better.
Then the first all digital Sony preamp. ??1000ES. it was fun for a few weeks... then I stopped listening to music altogether. Only later realised the Sony was the problem. A 35" tube WEGA, went out after just two years.. Annoying TV.. made me stop watching TV for a few more years due to it 'just because..'
I love/hate Sony. And hate mostly for the dropping of SACD as soon as they won the SACD/DVD-A war. I guess they were too busy with the HD-DVD/BluRay war to bother with keeping SACD.

 

I have a 75ES DAT recorder that still works.

 

I have a 2001 Sony STR-DA2ES and a 1994 Sony TC-K707ES 3-head cassette deck. These are not my pics, found them on Google. All my gear is mainly Sony and Bose for the speakers. The A/V receiver is set to AUTO DECODE for the Dish Network satellite for the audio, connected via optical cable. The HDMI from the Dish Network DVR receiver is connected directly to my 2010 Sony Bravia KDL-46EX701. Unfortunately this great Sony ES A/V receiver does not have any HDMI inputs. It's neat to see the slim blue light in the center light up when a multi-channel audio program is tuned in. To watch TV I have to power up this ES receiver to listen to the audio. I NEVER watch TV using just the little speakers on the TV.




This is BEST cassette deck I've ever owned! Although it's been a while since I've used it, let alone recorded a tape on it. It has Dolby B, C and S. The cassette door is motorized too. I would always use TDK metal tapes in it, sometimes high-bias. I've recorded many a Sinatra album with it, and quite a few production music library LPs and CDs.

 

Great looking cassette deck. Looks like it was the model that came just before the one I have (TC-KA3ES). I used Sony and Maxell metal tapes back in the day.

 

The best piece of Sony ES equipment I've collected is the TA-N55ES 2-channel amp. I got it as a refurb' at the Sony Outlet Store in Pidgon Forge, TN in 1993 for $300. They gave me a 3 year warranty which I've not needed. It's never been to the shop and it's been in continuous use since in the systems I've had. It's rated at 110 WPC but it's very conservatively rated, IMO. It behaves like a 200 WPC amp. I believe 200 WPC is the reality...? I think that it bridges to 450 mono....??? Even the indicator light still works.

I have a working JA20 MD deck and a broken JA50 deck that I hope to get repaired. I have a pair of their 5-disc SACD changers, 555ES and 222ES that work fine and have never been hospitalized. My XA777ES SACD player still works fine for SACD's but has problems with CD's. I retired it for that reason. It lives in the storage room until I dispose of it somehow. That's it sitting there under the Parasound pre.

 

I have a 730 ES, 608ESD, 1000ESD,STR545, and a N110 that I am not currently using. All in great shape.

 

I had one too. It was a much better stereo than Dolby Pro Logic processor. I got mine in a pawn shop for $350. I finally sold it when I wanted an AC-3 unit in the mid-90's.