That looks like a nice bit of kit. The typeface and the controls on the front panel and the tuning mechanism take me back to the integrated Sony turntable and receiver that I had in my bedroom as a teenager. Good times. It was a HP-510 that my grandparents were getting rid of because it was broken; they thought I might like to tinker with it then let me keep it after it turned out to just be a blown fuse…
The 70's silver face era was a milestone. The one aspect of that sound that is loads better than now, is the separation, and not just that fact, it's the frequency range at which the separation occurs. The left and right were more dedicated and you notice it, without really recognizing that fact. It's a very pleasant sound overall.
So pleased to see the Sony’s getting some love. I adore mine. Got it for nowt too. It beats everything I’ve ever owned, and for all the reasons you’ve mentioned. I’ve got mine hooked up to an old pair of Tannoys and it’s sublime. A perfect marriage.
Good review, Kelvin - when we challenge our preconceptions, the payoff can be a pleasant surprise! It's hard to imagine nowadays that Sony used to be a minnow among the Japanese brands. They prospered by putting a lot of money and effort into R&D, looking for better ways to do things, and making sure that their components were visually appealing.
Sony made some lovely sounding receivers back then, easily competitive with Marantz. I've played with a few of their old models... STR6055, 7045, 7055A and 7065A. They're all nice but the 6055 and 7045 were particularly sweet to my ears, akin to a tube (valve) amp. But alas they've all gone to friends.
Thanks indeed for sharing. I have an STR-6055 and an STR-6045. Top notch shape. Warm and friendly; both are. Lovely and soothing sound. Great vintage look!
My Sony Str-7045 has the same features. I wish it had a balance knob. Instead of L, R. Mine has a cabinet. Pretty good sounding! The build quality is astounding!!
This has a similar layout to my TA2000f pre-amp. Also from 1975. Audio magazine described the look as "functional and elegant anodized aluminum faceplate". Those knobs and switches will NEVER wear out. I'm still on my original bulbs..
That piece is awesome! A year and a half ago I had his little brother, the 6046A, that was also an astounding little receiver and sounds really great. It blew my mind when I first heard it, did not expect that at all...:)!
I just bought a vintage Sony CD player on the strength of one of your previous videos and I love it, so much so I'm now buying CDs again. Keep up the good work.
Thank you for that nice video! Very nice to hear other obviously experienced enthusiasts speaking good about vintage sony. I got one of these units. It's a STR-6055, wich makes it the little brother I guess. And it sort of happened the same to me. I got it, not knowingly what it may sound like... but to me it came in a little bit more than just pleasent. That's maybe because it was my first peace of vintage equipment back then. It brought a huge feeling of room into all the different genres I love listening to. You could easily make out positions in the room where one specific instrument would play, in the most interesting way. Not just left and right like the stereo-feeling I was used to felt like. It all became a three dimensional thing. Considering it's fifthy years old now, it's quite impressive that it just easily "outsounds" all the modern, expensive gear people showed me. And after I had it for some time, I started wondering what the other brands and models of that time sounded, and even after hearing quite a few other "known to be good sounding" - receivers I'm still quite happy with it. All the best
Sony STR-7055 is a budgeted version of earlier STR-6055. Speaker terminals are cheaper, the build is less thought through. These receivers sound a bit metallic in high-mid frequencies for a vintage kit which gives them a detailed crispy feeling.
Thanks for the review Kelvin...my dad bought me the str 7065 back in 1976, it was the top of the series. Still have and will have to set it up again. It received many praises from the Stereo mags back in the day...
I have the top of the European line str-6800sd. Magnificent thing, power, depth and superb controlled bass. I've run it with BC1s and now Klipsch Heresy 3s. Fantastic.
That's good to hear- I'm thinking of getting one from a vintage HuFi store in Barcelona... but there's an STR 6065 on the radar for the same price...decisions decisions...
Sony from that era made very reliable equipment which is a great asset, I've owned NAD, Rotel and Marantz amps, my 70's Sony amp outlived them all and sounds better.
Always a sucker for the silver/champagne color 70's gear! If only someone would offer a "kit" that lets you retrofit a remote volume control for these things....
Great video the Sony looks very nice have you ever had any vintage Harman Kardon AMPS i have Harman Kardon HK-6100 amp running Yamaha NS-100 speakers and they work very well together
Would love to try this one out but am happy with my Sony TA-1150D (recapped, among others silmic and nichican gold capacitors). The latter sounds better to my ears than everything I have had (NAD C325,C326,C352, Quad 303 upgraded, Crown XLS 1500, Marantz SR7000). The Quad 303 rivals the Sony TA-1150D in some regards but is not as fast or tonally correct on my IMF Super Compact's. Also happen to get my hands on a Sony STR-6064A which sounds similar to the 1150D but slightly darker, slower and less detailed but a bit more musical to my ears (not recapped yet). The headphone out sounds amazing on both latter models, especially when taken sole input through the powerinput. I used a Topping L30 as a headphone amp for a while one somewhat sensitive Sennheiser HD58X's which I thought did a good job but fed through both of these Sony made it sounds much better. Its as if there is much more power behind it; possibly because the headphone out is more or less a couple of resistors powered directly from the poweramp.
Hi Kelvin, great video again. I like the way you describe sound. Can you do an Akai amplifier one day. I am not sure I have seen one of those on your channel.
I do agree it is a beautifu amplifier sonud excellent I had my in 2012 mint condition and the rose wood casing. It is from Dorothy house bins free charity shop 😁👍 at the back of shop 😁 and it all worked in mint condition .
Hi Kevin, totally agree with this review. I just bought this Sony and totally reconditioned it with good quality components. Now it wil last much longer than 5 years because these Sonys are absolutely worth it !! SONY TA 1120, TA 1120A, TA 1130, TA 1150, STR 6040, 6050, 6060, 6120, 6200, 6055, 6065, 7055A, 7065A. : These I have in collection and all of them are very good and pleasing sounding. I am not a particular Sony fan, I also listen to Sansui, Marantz, Mcintosh, Luxman vintage amplifiers/ receivers . I repair them. Anyway these vintage Sonys surprised me the most of all !!
Just picked up a 6065 amazingly it works well with a simple clean up. Getting rumbling noise on left channel fm in stereo mode only. Aux, tape and phono all sound amazing any clue what's the rumble in the FM?
I have a 6055 and it sounds great. £100 Built like a tank. All I had to do was dab the frequency dial bulb with a green marker pen. I run some equally old Kef Concorde speakers from it .
Hello there Mr Kelvin, nice to hear your reviews, I would like to ask how would you compare the sound of that sony vs the pioneer sa 506 that you have already reviewed. I have a Yamaha CR840 and I like the looks but I feel it lacks a bit of punchy in the bass and I recently spot one sony STR7065 in the radar. Kind regards from Mexico
Well I think the Sony is a bit more luxurious just a little bit more quality and vintage sounding I agree the Yamaha is often a bit base light I never found any magic in the Yamaha sound
I bought an STR7035 a couple of years ago and I noted it was rated at 24wpc (I ain’t kidding, see the Sony literature abt it). Sounds good to me and the tuner is good on FM. It only lets down on its volume/balance concentric potentiomètre which crackles and cannot be repaired without spending horrendous amount of money.
i own a STR 6800SD and a Sony TA-F55, the F55 really suprised me, there is something quite magical sounding about that amp, hands down the nicest sounding amp ive owned to date! its fairly easy to replace the tuner dial bulbs Kelvin. they use festoon bulbs.
Another proud TA-F55 owner here! Sony put a lot of thought into that amp - a switch-mode power supply, Freon-filled heat pipe cooling, short signal path and a motorised volume control. Mine's paired with an ST-J60 tuner and a Pioneer DV-575A DVD/SACD player, and it's a keeper!
Sony str7055a - has 35-40 watts, not 25. But yes, it has a plenty of power! Got str7025 that has only 18 watts, but it delivers power like 30 watts receiver. Got ta1130 and 1140 too and it's fantastic! Much better then my sansui 771 or marantz 2230!!!
I've got 2 Sony 1970s receivers and a Integrated . These I've compared with marantz, onkio , yamaha, sansui, Kenwood, realistic and Akai. The sonys I have outperform in sound quality and build quality better than the others except the Sansui and Akai.
Hi, thank's for this review of a real classic vintage Sony. I love the Sony's from the 70th. My STR 7065a, TA 2000F and a TA 3200F works all great since years. Have a nice Weekend👍
Well yes LS sevens would be fine I mean the thing with that Sony is it won’t be that fussy with Speakers it will kind of Overpower them and force her decent performance out of most
First thing to look for in these Sonys is whether the receiver actually turns off when we hit the power switch. The switch goes bad over time and keeps the receiver powered with some voltage, but it's easy to fix for another 4 decades to come.
Hi Kelvin, great channel lots of knowledge here from experience you have and share. So many good videos and reviews and you always say let talk about stuff, so I wanted to ask about headphone choices. Ive used koss, sennheiser, beyerdynamic and had kind of settled on the beyer but recently bought some samson for £20 I really I was quite surprised, for throw away money good sound cheap. Just thought as its speakers you put on your ears it might be something you'd consider doing a video on? All the best, Thanks.
NO, you will be ok, they are in Class AB like most today's gear. On average decent 50W 1970s transistor amp will draw between 35 and 45W of power at any volume, just like today's. Those in Class D or E will draw even less but not significantly, they will usually sound significantly worse though. Very few transistor amps have option to switch manually into Class A, like Yamaha CA-1000, in Class A they will draw a lot, like valve amps, say 80-150W and produce a lot of heat. But again 99% of vintage transistor amps work in Class AB.
Andyboa8 is correct. I put my recapped Sony STR-7045 receiver on an ammeter and it pulls about 35 watts at a normal listening volume but as you start to crank it it will briefly hit 100+ watts current draw on peaks in the music. This is with the DC Bias and DC Balance set exactly to factory specifications. So less than your average incandescent light bulb…
I sold my recapped Sony STR-6065 for £100 which is a scandal. I sold my recapped Marantz 2270 for £900 which is a scandal too. Why? Sony STR-6065 Sounds much better than Marantz 2270, crispier with deeper bass.
There's a 6065 on my radar in pristine condition- and an STR 6800 with guarantee from a well reputed vintage HiFi store/service centre in Barcelona- no idea which is the better bet 🤔
@@colinhughclarke1856 for some reason which I don't remember I never bought the 6800. 6065 has quite metalic pronounced highs and deep bass. Not everyone's cup of tea. If you like say sound of beyerdynamic dt990 headphones you should like 6065.
OEM Sony, 2SD316, referenced here if you want to see for yourself about its specs: www.web-bcs.com/transistor/tc/2sd/2SD316.php?lan=en&sale=&info=&start=&tb=&id=&pkg=&table=&ordered=&action=&from=&to=&force=
13:41 What is a "Marantz" sound?? I thought "easy listening" was a genre of music? 13:51 "Beefy"... "Toe tapping" Those terms remind me of a lot of SONGS in my collection, but not of specific gear or kit.
Yes beefy I mean good amount of Bass Toetapping I mean good articulation of base notes you’re getting the rhythm loud and clear and like some apps that are weak in that area
THE WARM SOUND IS BOOSTED 200HZ AND 250HZ. THE NEWER STUFF CANT PRODUCE THOSE FREQUENCIES OR THERE MISSING. THE OLD TUBE AND PAPER CONE IN A PLYWOOD BOX PRODUCED MORE 200HZ
Does anyone know how I can listen to mono pressed vinyl in mono on a Str 6055 ? . There is no mono switch (only for fm) like most vintage receivers . Just has modes stereo , reverse, left and right, left, right. Just put it in left channel mode ? Does that mean mono ?
Well I think I’ve just put the record on and play it it’s certainly gonna come out one speaker The more I think about it the timetable is set out for stereo so will go into both channels I think it will just come out both channels have you tried it
The Left+Right setting on the Mode knob is exactly the same as a MONO switch/button. If you are playing old mono discs with a regular stereo cartridge there is another use for that mode knob. By selecting the LEFT Only position, the receiver will reproduce just one side of the groove. Same with the RIGHT Only position, except the receiver will output the other side of the record’s groove. On a mono record the music will be identical but one position may very well sound better or have less noise than the other depending on how the record player of the original owner of the record treated the groove. A poor/cheap record player will wear out one side of the groove worse than the other.
A 1970s vintage Sony receiver with just the right balance of musicality and neutrality? Contemporary amp manufacturers should get reaquainted with it to get schooled on getting good sound for the money.
As far as I remember those late 70's Hitachis were quite experimental with Class D and a lot of IC's everywhere so not a typical vintage gear I suppose.
@@stereoreviewx If you like more vintage stuff you might try early Teac which is compared to Sansui Eight or 881 and could be better, models like Teac AG-6000/AG-7000 or AG-6500, also early Akai like AA-8500, these were top quality gear from late 1960's and very early 1970's, built with quality in mind no matter the cost.
I just bought this same exact model from a guy in town but this one has a wood cabinet, the only thing wrong with it is the lights on the dial, I have some KEF Q10 bookshelf speakers and it sounds beautiful but I think I need bigger speakers bc I can't even go past the middle on the volume level, if this thing is only 35 watts then Im John Wayne lol
Can't you use it in Tape? It may be many things, ground loop? May be grounding issue, is the receiver grounded or does it have power with 2 wires only? Sometimes may help to plug source and receiver to different sockets or to the same. Maybe try that ground loop thing for RCA cable? And I don't think it's bad caps.
@@andyboa8107 You could be right but if he has hum noise without the signal wires in the aux mode then is definitely caps, and if the hum is only present when he plugs in the wires to aux then it could be what you mentioned..
I have an 1978 AKAI AA-1175 Receiver that I found in a thrift store years ago. It is more HIFI sounding than AKAI sounding because it is an upper quality dual amp model etc. The thing is. It has a wooden "hood" Those trafo's killed the PSU of my game computer once with their magnetic pool. After that I have both at different ends of my PC monitor. Iy was a 149 Euro PSU wich I got replaced within garanty.
