[jjpearce05]

nice setup !

[craigizmo2k2]

Indeed it is, thanks!

Another milestone in my life recorded in this thread - definitely going to see about getting a copy of this that I can host externally and start a new thread now i've relocated I think. Any comments?

[Celeryisbad]

Craig - any chance you want rid of the Sony 7900 stuff (or frankly, just the preamp.). I have the active speakers that came with the system in my loft - when I was a student I used them from the headphone jack on a Sony cd player.

Very hard to get hold of the system at all, but I notice you don't have the speakers so wandering if your arm may be twisted

[craigizmo2k2]

Hi sir,

Unfortunately no, it is one of the items that you'd have to prise from my dead, decomposed fingers.

It is used every day in the bedroom - I plan to buy a TA-N55ES to use with it in the new year. I won't tell you I got it with Dynaudio Speakers and an Arcam power amp for 144 quid, and sold the speakers and amp for 250 quid.

Oh, wait...;-)

[craigizmo2k2]

The Sony TA-N55ES power amplifiers are actually the 4th and 5th actual units of this model I have owned. The first one I had made me see "what was possible" and I upgraded to a Musical Fidelity F-22 and F-15 combo which I never liked. I sold them and went back to using the N55ES with my VA555ES AV receiver as a pre amplifier. I then added a 2nd and ran them both in mono mode to power my fronts.

I sold them (along with lots of other components) when I moved in with my fiancé (popped the question 2-3 weeks ago! ) to raise funds, but finally got 2 mint condition ones far cheaper than I sold my last ones for. I cleaned the innards, reflowed the solder for every component and refreshed the mains cable. I then re-calibrated the BIAS. I will post some photos of that work in a reply to this original post, in case anyone is interested.

The amps in this main system are only temporary. Soon, the TA-N80ES I posted about a few months ago will be with me next month and once refurbished, shall be used in the lounge. One of the N55s will be moved upstairs to be used on my bedroom system and the other will be either kept boxed in the loft for spares, or used to power my rear speakers on the main system, not decided yet.

The astute will also notice the CDP-337ESD is back in the system. I worked out how to get it working reliably (every few months, it just is going to need one of the control pots adjusted for the laser power) The transport simply monsters that of the 227ESD and it does sound like a different beast. I love it and am glad that I talked myself out of selling this piece last year. It was actually listed on eBay a few months ago and described accurately, but I lifted the lid, got it playing first time and fell in love again!

Will re-take the photos with my DSLR soon, but just wanted this update as I've neglected the thread for a long time.

[A406 north circ]

Nice to hear you're back with the N55ES amps, if you had let me know you were after them again I would have done you a deal on mine as they have now been retired. Looking forward to your report on the N80ES. Good to hear you've found a fix for the CD player too, well done.

[craigizmo2k2]

In case anyone is interested...

Needs a clean..I used a paint brush and some air

BIAS. There are a pair of points you need to probe for the left and right channels of the amplifier. I crimped a spade socket connector to two short lengths of spare wire which I then taped to my multimeter probes. The reason for this is that crocodile clips are really a bit too big for the space you have to work with.

Turn the amplifier on, leave it for 15 minutes with the attenuator turned right down, then check what is reported on the multimeter.

After adjusting (carefully) - anticlockwise to reduce, clockwise to increase. After turning sharply, you will observe the reading move and down on its own accord - persist and get it to 7mv. I noticed on these amps that they ran hot within 2 or 3 minutes of being turned on. They now run barely warm to the touch (unless I've played Sound City a bit too loudly )

Reflowing of solder.

The part shown here is by unscrewing the vent grill underneath the amplifier and just lifting it off. I scraped off a load of excess flux on the transistors as I have read that it can conduct in some instances. I also reflowed the solder on the capacitors. Be careful with this - I so much as brushed the contacts and lightly sorted them which produced a flying spark - no bang, smoke or damage occurred, but be careful - it can be very easy to hurt yourself, even if you think you know what you're doing!

The most important place for doing this I find is the speaker terminals on the back. The two examples I have worked on this time aren't too bad, but every single other N55 I have owned has had visible cracks on the solder points for the speaker binding posts. I removed the old solder with solder wick and added new stuff. Job's a good'un

[craigizmo2k2]

Originally Posted by A406 north circ

Nice to hear you're back with the N55ES amps, if you had let me know you were after them again I would have done you a deal on mine as they have now been retired. Looking forward to your report on the N80ES. Good to hear you've found a fix for the CD player too, well done.

Hello mate - I was about to send you a PM to point you in the direction of this update in case the BIAS checking was of any interest to you!

It was a bit of a coincidence, really. I had bought a Parasound Z.Amp V3 for the bedroom but it was rubbish. Absolutely rubbish. I saw these I've just bought come up on eBay in Daventry as collection only, so I knew they would go quite cheap. I got them both for £239.00. Was a slight gamble as they had no plugs so I wasn't even able to turn them on before I drove 2 hours home with them!

One will be used in the bedroom system - I initially set out to only bid on one of them purely for this reason, but saw the other one was at 50 quid, so I put a max bid on and won it for £109.00

Getting the 337 back up and running is a joy - you will remember me using it to demo the E1000ESD to you 2 years ago! Do you still have that, by the way? What have you replaced your N55s with?

One of the DVD players I got in that trade is now being used by a friend, one of them being used by knight2000uk(on this very forum)'s Grandad, the APMs and working MD deck are still being enjoyed by my younger brother too. I've instructed them not to toss or sell any of it if they upgrade

[knight2000uk]

You should also mention that the serials are quite low on the amps and they have a quirky minimal defect which I'm sure the Sony factory would have a story to tell about it :D
I'm also looking forward to hearing an N80 with the CDM's to see how they fair up in comparison to a pair of 55's once its up and running, I'm sure between us we'll work out what's up with it

[craigizmo2k2]

I forgot that - the serial number on one of these is x00001. The other ends in 9. Added to that, the orange text in the middle of the faceplate is off centre - the other 3 N55s I have owned have this text completely central. I wonder if it was indeed a defect at the factory that Sony had to correct?!

[knight2000uk]

You could complain to Sony and see if they send you replacements :D haha

[A406 north circ]

Hi Craig, you know it was initially quite a tough decision to make whether or not to replace my twin N55ES/ E1000ESD combo as I absolutely loved them to bits but I recently got my hands on a near mint condition TA-DA9000ES and that was an opportunity that I could not pass on.

But after I bought the amp and heard it I quickly realised it was a decision I should have made quite a while ago! The preamp we traded has been put away for a little while now but I still have it.

[craigizmo2k2]

The TA-DA9000ES is far better than the E1000ESD - the VA555ES has a pure analogue circuit which is why I quickly retired the E1000ESD from my system. You must photograph your daily system and update your thread!

The DA9000ES is an amplifier I would love to own, but only if I had the room for a dedicated room - I wouldn't want to get rid of the rest of my equipment, personally.

[knight2000uk]

The TA-DA9000 is a monster of an amplifier, would it have been the one that was on ebay recently?
Its a 30kg monster, would love to hear what noise it makes with the speakers me and craig has!

Stu

[A406 north circ]

Originally Posted by knight2000uk

The TA-DA9000 is a monster of an amplifier, would it have been the one that was on ebay recently?
Its a 30kg monster, would love to hear what noise it makes with the speakers me and craig has!

Stu

Yeah, I done a 420 mile round trip from London to Manchester to collect it. And yes, it's an absolute beast, almost killed me carrying it up the stairs.

SONY S-MASTER PRO Discrete 7 CH Digital Amplifier DA9000ES | eBay

[knight2000uk]

I can well imagine, my subwoofer weighs the same and it was one hell of a job to carry that upstairs too!
Nice to see you got one in black, most I have seen have been the silver variant!