Sony TA-A1ES integrated amplifier

F1nut

That's interesting.

BlueFox

Also a good possibility showing why Sony got out of high-end.

mrloren

When Sony put's effort into audio they can make good to great equipment. I've owned several ES AVR's and still use an ES CD/DVD player. Even my last 5700ES AVR was good, great on music but only so, so on movies.

In the mid 90's they made these ES SS-M speakers that wee just awesome. Even at my employee price they were out of my budget, like around $500 each. One of the mechanics got a set of M7, I loved bringing a 6 pack over just so I could listen for a bit.

As for Customer service, yeah that has gone way down hill. I don't know if they still have in house ES support or not.

joecoulson

For the most part, the guts look to be matching the price.
How does it sound Drew?

Emlyn

Comparing the Sony to the Parasound HINT 6 may be apples to oranges because of all the extra features the HINT 6 has for the $1K higher price. But, bearing in mind Sony produced their integrated specifically with the HAP-Z1ES in mind their pricing on it seems fair and it was not intended to have all those extra features. I think Sony viewed this system as a two box system primarily.

Although Sony claims only 80 watts per channel it has heat sinks inside it that are a bit larger than the HINT 6 has with Parasound claiming output at more than double. And the Sony weighs more too.

To me, that means in use it is probably running in “Class A “ mode, or something effectively the same, for longer in real world use. That would also explain the high localized heat output.

Parasound also recently switched to what looks llike a similar digital volume control that Sony started using a few years ago. One thing Sony does well is innovate. But once they’ve put out something they also seem to drop marketing for it altogether. They have been adding firmware updates to their digital player consistently since it first came out. One of those updates was to enable digital output to an external DAC. I am wondering if this gear was originally intended for the Asian and Euro markets more than the US given the attention to power consumption.

Clipdat

Great post. I'm working on getting a HINT 6 in for review, so I'd be happy to share some informal comparisons here between the two. I probably won't mention such a comparison in the formal review that I write, since the Sony is discontinued and pretty obscure.

Also, like you mention, it's a bit of an apples and oranges comparison. The Parasound has more "value" on paper with the bass management features, DAC, phono stage, etc. In regards to power ratings, who knows. I don't think heatsink size is necessarily a reliable factor in determining power output. Heatsink production & costs must be a factor in a product's design though, as I frequently see manufacturers mention heatsink size/weight as a determining factor in reaching a final price point.

In regards to the volume controls, I believe that even though they look similar they are still different. The Sony's is described as "Electronic volume with a discrete buffer amp – co-developed with Sony – to enhance the overall sound quality by reducing the gain error experienced by conventional amps.". Parasound's is a "Burr Brown analog resistor ladder volume control".

halo

Drew,

Since the Sony integrated was/is advertised/described as a Class A component, but it really isn't, will you be returning it based on false advertising/claims?

Clipdat

Good one, Victor.

kharp1

All good, but, here's a question...how does it SOUND?

Clipdat

I've only run it for two days, but as usual you guys sure are eager for listening impressions!

These are my limited thoughts with under 10 hours on it:

In some ways, it sounds similar to my PS Audio Stellar Pre/DAC and S300 stack. The difference was not as dramatic as I anticipated. However, I read that PSA did voice the S300 to have some "Class A and tube-like qualities", so perhaps that is why.

As far as differences, the highs are noticeably less bright with the Sony. This could be a symptom of it not being broken in. However, in a way, this is proving to have good synergy with the KLH Albany speakers that I'm reviewing. I've not yet tried it with my PMC speakers. The sound is a bit more localized to the speakers vs the PSA stack. Again, this could simply be related to break in.

In general terms, the flow of the sound is different than the PSA stack. There's a slightly smooth characteristic to the sound. The sound has a good sense of rhythm that encourages toe tapping. I find it to be enjoyable. When given the opportunity to shine on well recorded acoustic and electric guitars, it does, with a nice palpable texture.

I'm afraid that's all I can say for now until I log some more hours on it.

Clipdat

Also I measured one area of the vents above the heatsinks to be at 112f according to my infrared thermometer. I will try putting it on the top of the rack so that there's no shelf above it and see if it runs cooler.

Clipdat

I moved it to the top shelf today and it got up to about the same temps, about 114f in the warmest spot. Imagine how hot it would get if it was really Class A! *gasp!*

Cranked it up for a bit today and it was remarkable for as loud as it was playing, that the treble wasn't bright/harsh at all. Perhaps it's a little rolled off on top, which means it pairs up well with the aluminum dome tweeter in the Albany. Not exactly sure of the cause, but there seems to be some good synergy there.

Also tried some CDs from the Njoe Tjoeb 4000 today and that was interesting. The combination of what I'm perceiving at this time to be an amplifier with a somewhat "darker" top end, paired up with the tube buffered CDP resulted in a very liquidy, warm, and smooth sound. It was almost too much of a good thing, but ultimately very enjoyable.

I hooked the PSA Stellar stack back up because I need to continue evaluating the KLH speakers on the gear I started with, and that bright/forward nature of the aluminum dome tweeters was back immediately. I cranked it up to "dynamic" levels, about 80db, and on a track that had a large dynamic burst after a short period silence, it actually hurt my right rear because it was too loud/bright.

At least I know that the speaker can be "tamed" by switching to a more laid back amplifier. I was thinking that some of the brightness in the tweeter was being caused by the crossover needing more time on it, but now I'm not so sure about that, as it seems to be more related to the amp that's driving them.

Clipdat

In case anyone is interested, the PSA stack also brought a different soundstage presentation. It's a less "localized to the speaker" sound, instead, there's more information coming from between and outside of the speakers. Also, the bass was a little faster and more impactful.

Clipdat

@F1nut, I counted six relay clicks after powering on before it's ready, 7 if you count one faint one that happens immediately after one of the others. When you turn it off, there are three relay clicks.

The 6 fuses all say T2.5AL 250V next to them.

F1nut

That's crazy.

BlueFox

Amazing. What are they trying to protect? I would be scared to touch it while playing.

mhardy6647

I'll be interested to hear/read about the KLH Albanys.

Clipdat

I treated myself to a new experience tonight, and played a SACD (Tears for Fears - Songs from the Big Chair) on the Marantz SA-KI Ruby, running into the Sony TA-A1ES connected to Elac Adante AS-61 speakers.

This was my first time playing "high res" music to the Elacs and they definitely responded well to being fed quality content. I'm pleased to report that the Sony also does justice to higher end source material. What an enjoyable listening experience from this combination of gear!

I do find the Sony a bit lacking for rowdy and intense electronic music with big basslines, but it does a wonderful job for just about all other genres of music. It has a very "fluid" sound to it with plenty of body. I don't regret buying it whatsoever.

joecoulson

Thats great man - so glad you are seeing some resolving power on the Elac's like I have
Nice looking gear too!

joecoulson

this quote from you:

"In general terms, the flow of the sound is different than the PSA stack. There's a slightly smooth characteristic to the sound. The sound has a good sense of rhythm that encourages toe tapping. I find it to be enjoyable. When given the opportunity to shine on well recorded acoustic and electric guitars, it does, with a nice palpable texture."

is what I am experiencing now with that change

kwongkf

Clipdat wrote: »

Indeed. Also when powering it on there are like 6 or 7 relay clicks before it's ready. I'll count them tomorrow.

This is not normal. My TA-A1ES been here for more than 2 years, made in year 2014, only exhibits 2 clicks. One is right after pressing power on, another one is right before you can hear sound from speakers. And I have just replaced the fuses (total 8) with the freshly new Synergistic Research Orange. I can say it performs like at least 5X the price offered from other manufacturers.

Clipdat

I probably have a newer revision with more relays that engage, there's definitely more than two relay clicks. It is operating completely "normal" in the sense that all functions and features are working as intended.

Anyway, glad you are enjoying yours. What changes did you hear after swapping fuses?

Also, why are the tops of your capacitors discolored?

joecoulson

Clipdat wrote: »

Also, why are the tops of your capacitors discolored?

I was going to ask the very same question..

dorokusai

Those caps are blown.

kwongkf

Clipdat wrote: »

I probably have a newer revision with more relays that engage, there's definitely more than two relay clicks. It is operating completely "normal" in the sense that all functions and features are working as intended.

Anyway, glad you are enjoying yours. What changes did you hear after swapping fuses?

Also, why are the tops of your capacitors discolored?

No. I paint Total Contact from Perfect Path Technologies onto it. It is a graphene base tweak.
And the fuses make everything sound more direct and correct. Just like removing a barrier in the signal path.
And I also put this from Mad Scientist Audio onto the transformer. Helps a lot as well.

joecoulson

LOL !

what? $300 grease tweak?

Clipdat

"The Total Contact Enhancer is the most powerful, innovative and revolutionary next generation electrical contact enhancer. It rapidly improves and maintains the conductivity of metals as well as eliminates the oxidation indefinitely. The Total Contact Graphene Contact Enhancer develops a highly conductive bond between two surfaces to stop any degradation. It can be used for any metal-to-metal contacts, such as RCA plugs and sockets, loudspeaker leads, fuses, and more.

Micro-arcing can smear the sound of your system. Our electronic contact enhancer eliminates this micro-arcing and thus ends the distortions. This audio contact enhancer comes with layer thicknesses, measured in nanometers. Thus, it truly ‘fills in the gaps’ and gives a significant enhancement to system performance. When the enhancer is applied to the important contacts in a system, such as interconnects, speaker leads, power cords, fuses, and tube pins, it does not endure the problems that silver-based products do. Hence, our enhancer will not cause short circuits or oxidation, as its conductivity is at the macro level."

I don't see anything in their instructions about putting in on top of capacitors. That's not a conductive surface or a contact.

kwongkf

The users in Audiogon did this and they can hear difference.

pitdogg2

kwongkf wrote: »

The users in Audiogon did this and they can hear difference.

Fair enough...

joecoulson

kwongkf wrote: »

The users in Audiogon did this and they can hear difference.

I stand corrected.