Sony TAE-54540 Preamp
I purchased this preamp at my local flea market today for $80.00. It works excellently. Cosmetically it has some wear mostly along the top front panel where it meets the front and a few light scratches on some of the knobs. Otherwise it looks great. I like the shear number of controls and switches this unit has as I have one difficult switching need which is switching my computer's soundcard from one amp to this preamp si I can listen to music on my computer and still listen to music from other sources while I'm playing games on my computer. I also like the fact that I can take the tone controls out of the circuit if I desire to. Now I just need to find a proper amp for this at at least 20 WPC and not over 40 WPC as that's all my speakers will handle. Any suggestions on amps with just input level controls as I want a way do control the volume at the amp so I can set a max output level based on the size of the room which is 12 ft by 12 ft. The only reason I need an amp like this is my speakers like an amp with some power behind it.I am using the preamp with a slightly modified Sansui 4000. What I did is removed the signal wires going to the driver board from the low/high filter PC board and connected them to the outputs of the loudness/reverse/mono/tape monitor board that go to the volume/tone control board. I have the preamp feeding through the tape monitor input. The input level of the amp is controled by the level pot on back of the receiver. That way I can put the receiver back the way it was by only moving two wires. This way all the volume/tone controls are out of the circuit completely. It's taken some time to get used to flat sound, but I'm beginning to like it. This preamp when new probbably cost a small fortune.
The whole setup sounds very nice and does go loud.
Nice pre! From Sony's best era for sure.
See if you can find the matching TAN-5550 VFET poweramp, would make for a splendid combination (just a suggestion ofcourse, I am sure the Sansui is mightly fine)
True. How much power does it put out as I really don't want anything over 40 WPC as I'm pretty sure that's all my speakers can handle. I'm one of those who doesn't run lower wattage speakers on high wattage amps as there's always the chance of the volume knob getting bumped and sending enough juice into my speakers to blow them out. Yes the Sansui works great. My first impression of the Sony is it sounds like someone put a towel over the speakers, but I need to try it with a good pair of headphones to see just how it sounds to rule out the speakers or amp. I take into concideration that I'm not used to a flat sound yet ass I judge this preamp so I will give it some extensive listening time before I make my final decision about it. Either way I'm keeping it. I really like the muting switch which is nice for listening at real low volumes when I'm busy doing other stuff. I like the fact that this preamp has low impedance outputs which is good for driving things like pro audio equalizers which are 600 ohms impedance. I've got a dual 31 band equalizer that I may add to the preamp if I ever get the equalizer fixed. That way I can boost or cut individual frequencies to better compensate for the speakers versus just bass and treble controls. Being the crossover for my speakers (one 12 inch Magnavox woofer and horn per channel) is thrown together as far as the attenuation for the horn is concerned I will need some sort of compensation for them. THe bass and treble controls work for the time being, but I just like having the option to EQ out most imperfections in the source, preamp, amp and speakers. I have the service manual for the preamp which I try if at all possible to get for any piece of electronic equipment I buy so I have something to fix it by if it should ever break.
Somewhere between 50-60W depending on the load (8 vs 4 ohm), and it has output level controls for each channel.
Your pre might benefit from some servicing, a recap, as it's an oldie, cleaning the controls, have you gone through it or checked for leaking caps etc ?
I will post a picture of one. It's not mine as I don't have a digital camara yet. I haven't gone through it yet as it works wonderfully with no noisy pots at all. I did buy it from someone who sells this kind of stuff if that means anything. I will look at the schematic and see what if any caps I should replace. Yes that amp would do nicely if I can find one. I kind of wanted a vacuum tube amp, but I know how much work it would take to make the amp work properly and the maintainence required to keep it working.
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