SONY verses ADCOM Preamplifier. The saga continues....

Gentle reader,

Yesterday was busy. With the arrival of Fall, that means dealing with the uncountable number of leaves in the yard. It's early enough to just mow them up. For now. 

As I paused in the back yard to empty the catcher, and shut off the motor (we have an electric mower), I heard, "Hello! You have a package!" It was the FedEx man with a huge box. The SONY preamplifier I wrote about yesterday had arrived! It is a SONY TA-E1000ESD.

Above and below is a comparison with the Adcom on top. Note the added on power cord on the Adcom. I replaced it with Belden 19364 audiophile power cable. It is praised for improving the sound. Is it so much smoke and snake oil? That debate will always rage on.

Note that there is only one coaxial digital input and essentially only one optical digital input. 

Now, this SONY TA-E1000ESD retailed for $1,400 when it came out in 1989, that's almost $2,700 today. It was cutting edge then in the early days of digital sound. I think it predates DVDs and certainly, CDs were only out for a few years and LPs still ruled music reproduction.

I downloaded the owner's manual from SONY: Sony eSupport - TAE1000ESD - Select Your Model 

and printed out the pages (of 47) I thought would help me understand the intricacies of this preamplifier. They are less than specific and perhaps were made for ones more knowledgeable than I about such digital things as parametric equalizers and slopes.

Consumer reviews: Sony TA-E1000ESD A/V Preamplifier reviews - Audioreview.com praise the unit but stress that analog inputs are converted to digital (DAC) for processing and reconverted to analog (DAC) for passing on to the five or six power amplifier's channels.

As this was probably made for the wealthy film lover to have the best surround sound experience in their home theater and not primarily for stereo music reproduction, I may have erred in buying it. This is not a problem as I can turn around and put it back on ebay. And I still have the Adcom.

I have plenty of toslink (digital fiber optic) cables but only one half-meter coaxial digital cable, shown below. So, I ordered three more of those in one meter length. Yes, I should have looked at the manual and/or these pictures before ordering three, but the other two can be used with this beauty's ancestor in the living room. The two I bought for that, while they work are cheap....

Since I like to show, and it seems you like to see, what I do with all my stuff (i.e., collections), below are more pictures of the transformation:

Above, is the newly installed and wired SONY. I had to use an AR upgraded power cord (the Pangea is too short) for the OPPO which now sits atop the TDK CD recorder. The Liberty Cable digitial coax cable is shown below as well as a digital link between the two for recording purposes.

Above is the newly wired SONY. And below, the whole kit in situ, which is Latin for "in place". Ready for music to pour forth.

Below is the wider view including the three sets of speakers that I regularly switch between trying to determine which sounds the best. I do not have "Golden Ears" like audio reviewers, which makes it hard to choose. So, why not keep them all?

Like many, I have favorite recordings that I use to test new components. Frankly, as far as LP reproduction is concerned, this SONY is lacking. It may be that I do not have something adjusted right, digitally, but the bass is distorted and I have to turn the volume up to 12 o'clock to only begin to make it loud enough. 

So, today, I will open the Adcom back up and check whether the return side of the RCA inputs and outputs are grounded to the chassis and whether that can solve the humming issue. 

In the mean time, there is this certain Kenwood I have my eye on...............

Thanks for looking,

Scott