Top photo: I like the way the Pioneer SA-9500 looks with my Harmon Kardon Citation 14 tuner. It's not too often that different manufacturers use the same color and texture of metals. These two match quite well.I don't usually "borrow" text directly, but I like this description of the Pioneer SA-9500, so I snipped the following from the Randall Reed Studios page - A great resource for info on and purchasing vintage audio. "The SA 9500 was designed for heavy duty use with emphasis on ease of connections for other equipment and speakers. Conservatively rated at 80 watts RMS per channel into 8 ohms (100 wpc 4 ohms) with no more than 0.1% THD. It has no problem driving any kind of speakers at very loud volumes. These are tanks. Nice clean design and typical over-built Japanese craftsmanship! Made around 1975 - should still be running in 2035."
This particular unit in the photos wasn't working when I purchased it from a thrift store. I took it to my favorite stereo repair shop, who promptly replaced a portion of of the pre-amp. I wish I could get more diagnostic information from them as I'm I love geeking out on the details of what went wrong with these units, but there's a bit of a language barrier.
How does it sound? I brought it home and plugged it all in and it took about five minutes for it to warm up and function properly. Don't think solid state units need to warm up? I've had several units that acted like this. Most of them had probably been left in storage for years and just needed some life breathed back into them. A few flips of those great Pioneer toggles and clicks of those heavy, solid knobs, and it was back and running fine. It sounded as good as any of my Pioneer receivers. Typical Pioneer punch with defined mids and highs. Very smooth, nice.
If you have any photos or stories about your Pioneer SA-9500, please leave a comment or email me.
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I just bought myself a SA-9500. And I'm wondering. If I later on decide to buy a spec 1 or any other power amp. Does the SA-9500 have an output to connect the amps together for more power? We call this bridgeconnecting in Norway. I bought it online, and haven't got it yet, you see. Tnx anyway.
ReplyDeleteGreat Blog...!!!
ReplyDeleteI use a 9500II since years and it sounds perfect.
http://great-and-old.blogspot.ch
I have one I used for years until it went out. I still have it and plan on getting it fixed as it is a great unit
ReplyDeleteHello i have SA-9500 and TX-9500II in mint condition :)
ReplyDeletePhotos are on Facebook-Audioclassics,audioclassic.org and Goldenageofaudio blogspot,com pages
Hi everybody. My father has SA 9500 II amp and hpm 100 speakers. However we lost speakers while we were moving. Which speaker do you recomend us to use? Second hand or unused? Which one is better?
ReplyDeleteAfter he had been heart attack, I started to research this thing. He is music addict.
Sincerely Yours
well...I borrowed your copy that you borrowed. I obtained a 9500 as part of a huge collection of gear I brought in this last week. Like I need more stuff, right?
ReplyDeleteThe SA 9500 has non dedicated pre out rca jacks that can feed right into a subwoofer. This allows you to drive a modest speake. You can roll the frequency way down on the sub and it kinda turns the 80 watts per channel into 160 WPC. Like some have said, it is built so well we couldnt afford it today. I had a KR9600 and when I tried to tap off the preamp, it distorted. Again this has a stand alone (extra) pre out in resembling a sub out in modern Home Theatre equipment. This allows you to not have to drive it so hard (not that it could take anything you could throw at it). I Think for the regular guy who likes vintage golden erra, this is the finest amp ever! Look...Its got two big knobs not just one like on the spec 1 LOL..
ReplyDelete