Classic Integrated Amplifiers!

[Mart68]

My Dad owned this little Tanberg beauty:

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I got myself this in the early 90s:

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We were heavy cassette users. Even when CDs came out, I kept recording them to cassettes making my own playlists, and it was my favorite way to listen most of the time. That shows SQ alone was not my primary driver to switch from vinyl to CD. :-D

I sort of wish casette was still viable. I never had the money for the serious decks back when it was. I only ever had budget Sony and JVC.

I always wanted a TEAC. Or that Technics with the really long level meters. I forget the model but it was from around '89.

 

[DanielT]

So... well, yes, true... but sometimes there were "OEM" versions with their own little wrinkles.

Of course, I can't think of a single example offhand that's an integrated amplifier -- oh, but I'll bet I will.

I will offer a couple of non-amplifier examples.

Nakamichi made perhaps a zillion (roughly... order of magnitude, you know?) OEM variants of their two-head 500 cassette deck.
Here's a Sonab variant, e.g., Same deck, but with a unique "center channel" mixer added to the preamp/EQ electronics. Sonab may well have done the electronics, of course.



Nakamichi, of course, made many of the early "hifi" cassette decks (at least the transports -- I think), even before the era of the 500. I think, e.g., harman/kardon's early stereo decks (CAD-4 and CAD-5) were Nakamichi-made.

(rando internet photo of a CAD-4)

Similarly, a rugged Wollensak cassette transport found its way into several OEMs, Heathkit and Advent being the better known examples.
EDIT: Here's the Heathkit. source: https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-Catalogs/Consumer/Heathkit-1974-03.pdf
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... and here's the Advent, with its memorable one big VU meter.

To this day (??) I think marantz still sells the TT-15S1 turntable, which is a somewhat tarted-up variant of the erstwhile Clearaudio Emotion deck, with CA "Satisfy" arm & CA (A-T... mostly) cartridge. The "marantz" morph had/has a thicker platter and beefier feet, as well as slightly different aesthetics.

marantz:


(my TT15-S1 )

gen-u-ine CA Emotion:

My Dad owned this little Tandberg beauty:

View attachment 317754

I got myself this in the early 90s:

View attachment 317755
We were heavy cassette users. Even when CDs came out, I kept recording them to cassettes making my own playlists, and it was my favorite way to listen most of the time. That shows SQ alone was not my primary driver to switch from vinyl to CD. :-D. It took recordable CDs to usurp the throne of the Teac.

When you really, REALLY love old cassette players, reel-to-reels, cassette decks and so on you can open a museum:

Retro Audio Museum

A real museum with a unique collection of more than 700 stereo cassette decks, stereo cassette recorders, reel-to-reel tape recorders, vinyl players, amplifiers, old radios, stereo tuners, old records, compact audio cassettes, and magnetic tapes, mainly from the 80-s. Lelystad, the Netherlands...

retroaudiomuseum.com

Edit:
I was about to miss. To you pablolie because you mentioned Tandberg. Picture from said museum:

One corner of the first floor of the Retro Audio Museum (Lelystad, The Netherlands) is occupied by the Randal Scobie Tower.

This tower was built from Tandberg receivers from his private collection. Randal donated these receivers to the museum on Saturday, July 22, 2023. It is the biggest donation ever made to the museum for now. On this display, visitors can enjoy the following Tandberg receivers (from up to down, left to right):
TR 3030, TR-200, TA 300 M (amplifier), TR-1040, TR-1055, TR-1000, TR-1010, SS-12, Huldra 10, TR 2025, and TL2510 (speakers).

Tandberg. The Sound Investment.

One corner of the first floor of the Retro Audio Museum (Lelystad, The Netherlands) is occupied by the Randal Scobie Tower. [ATTACH] This tower was...

stereo2go.com

 

[restorer-john]

It took recordable CDs to usurp the throne of the Teac.

That's a fine cassette deck. Pretty much Teac/Tascam's final 'real' range of decks.

 

[simbloke]

My first amp. I still have it, working, in the shed.

The cake tin! me too ... there's a blast from the past. Very bouncy suspension from what I remember.
I went with an alternative amp though: Creek CAS 4040

it got used pretty hard (student life!). Cracking little amp though

 

[dualazmak]

All of those are absolutely gorgeous. I would need to keep them out of sight while listening, their beauty would be distracting!

Partly agree! Fortunately, in the physical layout in our listening/living room, they seldom disturb our attention/focus on music (ref. here)...

 

[DanielT]

Partly agree! Fortunately, in the physical layout in our listening/living room, they seldom disturb our attention/focus on music (ref. here)...
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Nice with HiFi stuff. Now I'm single but if I had those things when I was married I know exactly what the discussion would have been. Wife: Okay I don't mind your hifi but why can't you put them in a cupboard? Then a discussion about how then the remote controls would work and if it wouldn't get too hot for the stuff set in a cupboard followed.

I don't have to worry about such things now he he. BUT one thing that would annoy me is all the remote controls. Eight remotes , hm wonder how many of those you have that you could replace with a multifunction remote?

 

[dualazmak]

Hello ＠DanielT,

Thank you indeed for your kind attention and interest on my DSP-based multichannel multi-SP-driver multi-amplifier fully active audio(-visual) project.

Again very fortunately, my wife has been always being the "most understanding person" and excellent supporter for my audio exploration. She (and me too) play piano, and we have nice similar tastes/preferences on classical music; she has good ears (and brain, I hope and assume!) and has been serving as most invaluable subjective "monitor" in each step of my project during the past almost five (5) years.

Since she is also CFO and CICO (Chief Interior Coordination Officer), I needed her consent and authorization for major change of audio gears including addition/purchase/DIY and physical positioning of amplifiers and 12-VU-Meter Array (ref. here), etc.

We together listened to our consistent "audio reference/sampler playlist" (ref. here and here) so many times during the project, and she always gave me invaluable positive and negative subjective feedback for the next step. It has been very nice that she always has less placebo effects than myself since she knows little about what I have implemented (hardware and/or software) change(s) in each of the project steps.

Yes, I have many remote controllers in front of me!

Once I have completed all the audio configuration including DSP EKIO's XO/EQ/Delay, I seldom use them, however, in our daily music listening sessions except for the one remote for turn-on/off of my subwoofers (YAMAHA YST-SW1000). When I point the center of my SPs, I can nicely control (on/off and others) both of the L&R subwoofers simultaneously using one remote.

For the master volume control, I only use mouse wheel up/down on PC screen with JRiver MC;

For safety concerns, I always strictly perform the simple and straightforward (so easy at least for myself) "startup/ignition sequences" and "shutdown sequences" (ref. here) where I do not use remote controllers but manually do it by up/down rotation of the excellent solid-smooth gain/volume dials of my beloved integrated amplifiers; as you may guess, I really enjoy it everyday.

Of course, only if needed, I can remotely control the gain/volume of each of the integrated amplifiers and active subwoofers (for fine tone control) on-the-fly (while listening to the music) sitting on the sofa at my listening position.

 

[MAB]

Back in the '80s, Braun/ADS released a beautiful stackable system centered around A1 and A2 integrated amps. They were designed under Dieter Rams.

World firsts and heritage products by Braun

Under the stewardship of design legend Dieter Rams, Braun created many audio firsts to promote better listening experiences for people all over the world.

www.braun-audio.com

and

and

I had the A2 amp and matching cassette. They were built like bricks. The tape drawer was fun. Sad that I was never able to enjoy the full stack plus integrated cable management!

So many of the recent micro-desktop devices stacks seem to channel this distinctive look.

 

[AdrianusG]

Back in the '80s, Braun/ADS released a beautiful stackable system centered around A1 and A2 integrated amps. They were designed under Dieter Rams.

World firsts and heritage products by Braun

Under the stewardship of design legend Dieter Rams, Braun created many audio firsts to promote better listening experiences for people all over the world.

www.braun-audio.com

and

and
View attachment 318035
I had the A2 amp and matching cassette. They were built like bricks. The tape drawer was fun. Sad that I was never able to enjoy the full stack plus integrated cable management!

So many of the recent micro-desktop devices stacks seem to channel this distinctive look

Back in the '80s, Braun/ADS released a beautiful stackable system centered around A1 and A2 integrated amps. They were designed under Dieter Rams.

World firsts and heritage products by Braun

Under the stewardship of design legend Dieter Rams, Braun created many audio firsts to promote better listening experiences for people all over the world.

www.braun-audio.com

and

and
View attachment 318035
I had the A2 amp and matching cassette. They were built like bricks. The tape drawer was fun. Sad that I was never able to enjoy the full stack plus integrated cable management!

So many of the recent micro-desktop devices stacks seem to channel this distinctive look.

Yeah, i know this stuff, they look deceptively small and sleek, until you want to pick one up, and feel how heavy and well built they are,
this is real HiFi.

Unfortunately when they were "new" there was no way i could afford them at the time, bummer

 

[dualazmak]

I fully enjoy following this nice thread.

BTW, one of the conditions/requirements for my selection of amplifiers/integrated-amplifiers was availability of at least one set of stereo XLR balanced input; I found many of the classic integrated amps did not / do not have XLR balanced input but they have mainly RCA unbalanced input.

Even though I know well that XLR balanced input would not always the "must" in HiFi audio setup, in my multichannel project I dared having policy of sticking to XLR balanced input integrated amps to be connected from XLR balanced output capable multichannel DAC unit (my selection was 8-Ch OKTO DAC8PRO).

As you can find the summary here, I finally selected ACCUPHASE E-460, YAMAHA A-S3000, and SONY TA-A1ES all of them has XLR balanced analog input. Later-on, I added YAMAHA A-S301 for dedicate/direct drive of my highly efficient metal horn super-tweeters, and A-S301 is the only one in my setup which does not have XLR balanced input (I use XLR-to-RCA adaptors of pin No.3 floated/non-connected). (The latest system setup can be found here.)

And you would please find the photos of my four integrated amps in my above post #38 and physical setup photos in post #65.

I really do hope much more integrated amplifiers might/will have XLR balanced analog input capabilities.

 

[Neddy]

I'd never heard of the Braun/DieterRam audio line - probably a good thing, as I'd have chased and spent money I didn't have on them!!
At one point I made something similar to that wall mount system, having had a steel frame made up in a U shape, bolted to the wall, with TT on the lower shelf and Revox tape machine above. But I found quickly that every passing bus sent 'shivers' into the turntable, and to NEVER install a shelf bracket holding heavy stuff (Revox) with hollow wall anchors, as I just barely managed to catch the Revox in mid-fall when the upper mounting screws pulled out.
How on earth I managed to leap across the room and catch it before hit hit the turntable (it did crack the plexi cover) I don't know.

For my part, my (pretty much only) integrated amp - which, frankly, if it still worked properly, I'd still be using:

 

[MAB]

I'd never heard of the Braun/DieterRam audio line - probably a good thing, as I'd have chased and spent money I didn't have on them!!

Yes, they are irresistible. Another historical thread from another member in Germany:

hifimuseum.de - Sie sind im Bereich : 1991 über die Last Edition

I recommend scouring the used market! I'm not sure why I never obsessed and bought the other matching gear, certainly for the best!

 

[AdrianusG]

Yes, they are irresistible. Another historical thread from another member in Germany:

hifimuseum.de - Sie sind im Bereich : 1991 über die Last Edition

I recommend scouring the used market! I'm not sure why I never obsessed and bought the other matching gear, certainly for the best!

There's a good web-shop, which regularly sells this Braun HiFi in good shape and condition, not cheap but good.
www.springair.de, probably way too expensive to ship to the US, but still.
For me it's easier, living in Holland though

 

[MAB]

There's a good web-shop, which regularly sells this Braun HiFi in good shape and condition, not cheap but good.
www.springair.de, probably way too expensive to ship to the US, but still.
For me it's easier, living in Holland though

That is a nice shop! Lots of nice pieces. Actually not that unreasonable... I'll stop now before I cause myself trouble...

 

[Mart68]

That is a nice shop! Lots of nice pieces. Actually not that unreasonable... I'll stop now before I cause myself trouble...

They have the Technics SB-M500. I always wanted some of those!

Knew I shouldn't have clicked the link. I can resist anything but temptation.

If you're into classic kit Germany is a wonderland.

 

[dualazmak]

In Japan, we have a nice web-shop where they fully-check/refurbish/maintain all the used gears and usually sell them with some warranties and free return option.
https://netmall.hardoff.co.jp/cate/000100010001/
I hope your web browser would properly translate the site into English.
At present, I do not know whether they would accept order from abroad or not.

Under the present currency exchange rates, the price shown in Japanese Yen would be rather reasonable/attractive for those who living outside of Japan, I assume. Today it is JPYen 149.14 per USD, JPYen 158.31 per EURO! If you would have chance to be staying in Japan, then...

 

[ahofer]

My first integrated (not sure what happened to it):

My second integrated (burnt up in a fire)

Was separates after that.

 

[mhardy6647]

(sorry the quality of those scans is so poor -- I really must re-scan that brochure some time)

I came very close to buying an Onkyo A-5 way back when... ended up buying a Yamaha CA-610II, mostly because the local (Baltimore, MD) Yamaha dealer was way less snooty than the local Onkyo dealer. The former business is still around... the latter one has been gone for a long time.

Still have the CA-610II, too.

All this being said, I wouldn't mind having an Onkyo A-5 or an A-7, but I haven't stumbled across an affordable one in my peregrinations.
The companion Onkyo tuners were nice components, too.

 

[thewas]

In Japan, we have a nice web-shop where they fully-check/refurbish/maintain all the used gears and usually sell them with some warranties and free return option.
https://netmall.hardoff.co.jp/cate/000100010001/
I hope your web browser would properly translate the site into English.
At present, I do not know whether they would accept order from abroad or not.

Under the present currency exchange rates, the price shown in Japanese Yen would be rather reasonable/attractive for those who living outside of Japan, I assume. Today it is JPYen 149.14 per USD, JPYen 158.31 per EURO! If you would have chance to be staying in Japan, then...

Japan has many shops and auctions which to a Japanese tech fan like me are paradise, only there are two big problems, their audio electronics are very often only 100V non switchable only and most cool loudspeakers are expensive and risky to ship.

 

[AdrianusG]

They have the Technics SB-M500. I always wanted some of those!

Knew I shouldn't have clicked the link. I can resist anything but temptation.

If you're into classic kit Germany is a wonderland.

Hi,

Sorry i've led you guys into temptation.
I have known this shop for many years, and yes they have really really nice stuff.

There's another one still a bit more exclusive, it's www.audioscope.net, they sell basically the same kind of stuff except you get a full 2 years of warranty on their products, same as new (and they are first class!), but the prices......