Lafayette LA-60T Transistor Stereo Amp
Oldfatdogs
Posts: 1,874
I have one close to me on craigs list really good price.Does anyone have experience with this amp.I don't have a clue about tubes but the price is right.
Post edited by Oldfatdogs on
Comments
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Don't expect too much, but it could be fun in a small package.
I'll check my old LRE catalogs tonight and post a scan if I find it (the model number isn't one that I am immediately familiar with). -
I've never heard one, but for $35, you might at well give it a try!
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Thanks Guys for the price of a meal It might be worth it.Just another toy to play with.:biggrin:
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I was thing of another amp this morning when I posted, no tubes this is transistors .Not enough coffee this morning, anyway I picked it up for a friend.Now where and how to clean it up it sat in the guys garage for a long time.Dog hair dust bunnies and cobwebs.It does power up but before I hook it up I will clean it up.
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Any Information on this will help. I have done a search just not much information on this one.Inputs for ceramic on the back what the hell is this?Anyway cool little silver faced amp,I hope its not a dud. Thanks Dan
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Ceramic is a phono input for a ceramic cartridge (think BSR console hifi record changer). Ceramic cartridges were (and still are) self-equalizing with respect to the RIAA curve, so that input/mode would essentially behave as a line-level ("AUX"-type) input. The loading is actually a bit different than a plain vanilla "line in", but it's close enough for government work.
I checked one LRE catalog (1974) before I left for work this AM and didn't find that amp. I'll check some more tonight at home as time permits and if I find it I'll post the catalog scan. -
mhardy6647 Thanks for the information, when you get the time that's fine. I took some pictures but I'm having a hard time posting them.
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you can upload them to a free photo host service such as www.photobucket.com and link to them from there... or... send me a PM (if you like) and I can PM you my e-mail address, and I can do it for you.
... Just as a couple of random examples :-)
FWIW... I've been slightly distracted this weekby going through a rather nice collection of about 400 LPs given to us last Sunday by friends in town. Gotta get them out of our "back room"! I have made real progress (i.e., some are destined for our town's annual "Friends of the Public Library" book sale - a couple of weeks hence; most of the rest are boxed and moved to the basement). -
Thanks I will try that,if i cant use photobucket I will p.m. you. Nice gift from your friends I hope you find a treasure.I'm in no hurry, if you run across some information you can pass it on then.Enjoy your LPs free music is always good. Dan
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Not exactly treasures, but some nice things. Saved from the landfill; that's a good thing.
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Attachment not found.Well I got the back end at least.I keep getting fatal error.
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In some respects, the back side is the most interesting part :-P
I am chagrined. Last night, I checked 1965, 1969, 1970 and 1974 LRE catalogs... and did not find an LA-60T. The numerically closest I got was the LA-85T. I do have a 1966 LRE catalog (and a couple of mid/late 1960s sales flyers) which I will check, but the prognosis doesn't seem too good as to finding catalog info on this amp. Sorry about that.
One comment worth making: pre-1974, the power claims made for home hifi amplifiers were not federally regulated; you'll see all sorts of "standards" - ranging from the IHF standard (which was at least fairly well defined) to ridiculous things like "+/- 1 dB" power). Think about it, one could (if one were suitably unctuous) claim that a 15 watt RMS amp was a 24 watt amp +/- 1 dB (27 watts is 2 dB more than 15 watts)!
Why am I haranguing about this? Because the "60" in the amp's name probably means "60 watts"... but in modern parlance, this would probably mean "60 stereo watts (30 wpc) into 4 ohms per the IHF spec". We'd probably condider this about a 20 wpc amplifier (proabably at about 1% THD).
Interestingly, one of the more subtle impacts of the 1974 FTC spec was that it forbade manufacturers model numbers' including the power output of the amplifier. Thus did "Sideshow Bob" Carver rate his Carver Cube M-400 power amp, if memory serves, at "201 wpc" :-)
whew...! -
Thank you for your help,I'm curious where you have found all this information I have done a search and come up short on information. I did find one website that said he has the manual.It funny the manual is a third of the cost of the amp.I always seem to find the black sheep. Again thanks, maby today I can upload the picture of the front of the thing.
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You can find threads on the pre-1974 power ratings claims probably here, but definitely at www.audiokarma.org and www.audioasylum.com It was a big deal in the 1970s... and some of us are old enough to remember the brouhaha.
Yeah, I would be very interested to see the front (if possible). -
Here is a photo I found on Audioreview.com. Of course there was no review but we have photo.
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Yeah; 10 to 15 wpc range. Good amp for a computer, garage, etc...
Cute, ain't it? -
Thats it!!! Of coarse mine is missing a knob and needs some love to make it look like that one. It is for a friends garage,more for nostalgia than output. Thanks for the picture Joe I will check out the websites later. mhardy6647 your a good man thanks again for all your help.
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mhardy6647 wrote: »
I think this is my first receiver! It looks like it. I remember the rocker switches on the right, and the way the L/R volume, balance pots are on top of each other. I actually had my stereo sounding pretty good back then with Pioneer CS-A700 speakers, and the AR-XA turntable. I sold it, and replaced it with a Sansui, and I swear the Layfette sounded better.Lumin X1 file player, Westminster Labs interconnect cable
Sony XA-5400ES SACD; Pass XP-22 pre; X600.5 amps
Magico S5 MKII Mcast Rose speakers; SPOD spikes
Shunyata Triton v3/Typhon QR on source, Denali 2000 (2) on amps
Shunyata Sigma XLR analog ICs, Sigma speaker cables
Shunyata Sigma HC (2), Sigma Analog, Sigma Digital, Z Anaconda (3) power cables
Mapleshade Samson V.3 four shelf solid maple rack, Micropoint brass footers
Three 20 amp circuits. -
For me this was a shot in the dark, I did find a guy that has the OPERATING manual and SERVICE manuals.Its a cool little amp,I just hope it works well.Once I get these I can play with it before it goes to its new home.Has anyone used this guy? http://www.manualman.com
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O.k. Lets try pictures this way. http://s1112.photobucket.com/albums/k484/Oldfatdogs/ I have a friend who might be able to make a knob.
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I think this is my first receiver! It looks like it. I remember the rocker switches on the right, and the way the L/R volume, balance pots are on top of each other. I actually had my stereo sounding pretty good back then with Pioneer CS-A700 speakers, and the AR-XA turntable. I sold it, and replaced it with a Sansui, and I swear the Layfette sounded better.
That particular unit is the LR-1500TA. Found that one on the swap pile at our town dump a couple of years back, with its manual and the additional walnut cabinet.
As to the OPs photos, yeah, that'll work, or you can embed the link in "IMG" tags (actually, photobucket'll do that for you), thus:
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Next one. -
see how easy that is? ;-)
Now you can post Lafayette **** all over the interwebs whenever you want!
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Ha I'm self taught on the computer, so for me this was a big deal.I was a heavy equipment operator, this computer doesn't handle like a case loader.:biggrin:
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Early Lafayette transistor amps have a sound all their own. A 7wpc RMS Lafayette integrated with what I believe was the Hafler "DynaQuad" circuit on board was my first amplifier. I worked for LRE in Hauppauge, NY in 1971 or so. It was in the same industrial park as the Dahlquist factory on Old Willet's Path.
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So George Did I buy a nice sounding amp or a shelf ornament?Early Lafayette transistor amps have a sound all their own
