Optonica SA 3131 Is all vintage great .?

[@magichand72]

Sorry 60 years in mid fi Audio. My late 70s Optinica keeps up and surpasses many big boys. Listening to ESS Cannon TLS speakers with the SA 5205 Optonica receiver. It punches bass and beautifully fills the room

[@nicksundby]

I bought a pair of Ditton 44's after Kelvin's trip to that vintage hifi shop...blimey they sound lovely. Full, smooth and effortless.

[@jlewis3013]

Drool - would love a pair of 44's.

[@jefpac2]

Hi Kelvin! It's been more than a few years but if my memory serves me correctly I used to sell this receiver (rebadged as Lafayette LR 3131) in the late 70s/early 80s) at various Lafayette Radio stores in Atlanta, GA in the USA. My memories of this unit are that it was a 'serviceable' unit that didn't excel in any particular aspect but was never returned by our customers. The Lafayette LR range really didn't get to be 'competitive' until you moved up to the higher end models like the LR 9090 and the LR 120 DB. They certainly weren't the best units in the marketplace but they were always good value for the money.

[@cyelannford4735]

Optonica was one of those brands that worked to design a smooth detailed sound... add in the serious age of EQ like this, and some TLC makes a very nice improvement. Hook a tube buffer in the tape loop, and add even more life to these awesome pieces. I have a ST 7405 tuner that sounds fantastic, as Optonica is excellent EQ.

[@jonpatrick66]

I'm liking your honest opinion about this year. Yeah, good job and thank you for sharing. Cheers from over the pond in northern Michigan. 👍

[@stereoreviewx]

👍

[@Rosynant]

I have several Optonica devices, including the 3131, and I think that they are one of the nicer and better sounding audio devices of that time. I have several dozen devices from different manufacturers, which is why I have a comparison. Of course, it's all a matter of taste.

[@AndyBHome]

It's great to see a review of this product after all of these years. When I was in my mid teens I saw this brand and came away with a positive impression, largely based on the appearance and brand name. I was saving my money at the time with the hope of possibly buying one of their receivers some day. I ended up buying something from Radio Shack - Realistic, instead and I don't regret that purchase one bit as it was one of their better offerings, but I always wondered about Optonica. When the brand disappeared relatively quickly I got the sense that it wasn't particularly good and pretty much forgot about it right away. It's nice to know now for sure that it wasn't really much of a competitor to the better known brands like Sony, Aiwa, Pioneer and Technics. I do still think the marketing, the styling and brand name were cool. It's too bad they didn't figure out how to make it sound as good as it looked. Thanks for this video. It's really satisfying to get an up to date review of this little feature of my late childhood.

[@metalcreature74]

It sounds better than those brands. Trust me, i know. This guy probably needs to get his SA-3131 recapped. Optonica didnt last because they didnt corner the market due to getting in the Hi-Fi game too late.

[@mdzacharias]

It's over 40 years old. I'm not an Optonica fan either, but to rate sound quality it should at least be serviced, which you have not addressed, if not fully restored.

[@stereoreviewx]

Well I have about eight sansui receivers same age or older they have sound similarities within each range for sure and they all sound better than this optonica

[@mdzacharias]

@@stereoreviewx Sansui's seem to have a pretty distinctive sound, all right.

[@andygee8716]

Back in the 70s/80s, many commercial hifi companies had their higher end alter egos that would show off that companies pinnacle of manufacturing and sonic excellence. Sharp had Optonica, Phillips had Black Tulip, Toshiba had Aurex, Sony had Esprit, Pioneer had Elite and Marantz had Esotec. Companies like Technics for example, built certain products like the SEA1/SUA2 pre and power amp combo, the SP-10 broadcast turntable and the God status, legendary RS-1800, RS-10A02 and RS-1520 open reel tape machines.

[@markcarrington8565]

Hi Kelvin, several of your contributors have already mentioned this but there's no doubt that the culprit here is the electrolytic caps. Look out for caps that are either bulging at the top or the bottom or with a nasty dried fluid all over the PCB around the cap. Don't confuse it with dried glue, often used to secure the larger caps to the board. If you find a few of these it's easy to replace them. Whenever I take on an amp which is over twenty years old I change the electrolytic caps as a matter of course. Cost is less than £100 for the biggest beasts and frequently a lot less.

[@drewbjorke9839]

There is a possibility that the main filter capacitors are shot. It is over 40 years old.

[@stevezeidman7224]

Enjoyed this as always. Keep them coming, Kelvin. Didn’t see this brand much in the US. Nikko was a lower cost brand we saw here that didn’t sound half bad. Sherwood was another.

[@lrh1966]

Hi Kelvin. I apologize the other day for the extra long write I made to you on your vintage Sugden A48 integrated amp from the 60's but I really enjoy these vintage units and it was a surprise that the Sugden products were not featured in Stereo Review, High Fidelity or Audio magazines here in the U.S.A. I am not sure if these products were sold to the U.S. market like Quad, Tannoy, Wharfedale and some others?? Thanks again for this audio surprise and I always get amazed when I can see and hear clean audio going back further in time to the early days of high fidelity. On my KZbin site, you will see the vintage Sansui 2000X, 5000X and 4000 on my main vintage electronics photos. I have some others as well and I use these components to transfer my vinyl and tape recordings to the videos I have on my site. Thanks again and have an awesome day!!...Friends, Lloyd.

[@manuelgomes1569]

Greetings from Portugal, Kelvin,it's always a pleasure to watch your videos, they show the love and the heart and soul that us audiophiles feel about our amps. Sharp made some attemps to enter the hifi market in the late 60's/early 70's with the STA- series, the 21, 31, and 41, using germanium transistors and three transformers, with a nice tube-like sound, kind like the Monarchs or Monacors of that age, a very yummy sound. Sharp betted until 1977 on mid-hifi, in 3-in-1 media centers and even 4 channel receivers during the Quad craze, with only few produced devices that could be called hifi. Then they decided to create Optonica to compete in the hifi world, bear in mind, that SA-3131 use STK modules as most of their amplifiers like most brands tended to do it due to the receiver wars. The low THD of that Optonica and the sound characteristics is a clear example of the shifting to the 80's sound in hifi and the thinking at the time, looks good, feels good, but doesn't sound as good as a nice old Sansui. The turntables, the first ones at least still regard a good reputation, although made by CEC, they stood the test of time.

[@stereoreviewx]

Thank you my friend, interesting stuff K

[@jeffn1384]

Always bear in mind that individual components that sound crap could have an internal fault (cap, resistor, transitor, out of spec). My Optonica SM-4646 sounds good.

[@donnystrife1908]

Wow it's nice to hear a review thats not a rave/giant killer! Please do a vintage ss luxman.

[@anthonygarrett3926]

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[@eastondominik292]

@Anthony Garrett instablaster =)

[@anthonygarrett3926]

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[@anthonygarrett3926]

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[@eastondominik292]

@Anthony Garrett happy to help :)

[@test40323]

Excellent honest review. My own experience has been hits and misses. Engineering aside, quality and age are impactful. esp. decaying capacitors. e.g. Failing high pass filters in speakers impacting trebles, etc.

[@swapaudio1743]

This guy don't know what is talking about. He knows nothing about technical stuff. This is really good build and good sounding receiver. Many of underdog companies brought good vintage receivers. Like SABA, Kenwood, Philips, Nikko,Dual even Telefunken... when you get older your hearing deteriorates, some frequencies you don't hier. It's just personal opinion and internet makes them experts. Also you don't know what kind of speakers he has...

[@stereoreviewx]

Okay well in my defence I haven’t stopped playing around with hi-fi my whole life and I remember listening to dance in the early 80s maybe even late 70s already I was a fan of Sansui and I hated for instance JVC didn’t like Yamaha and I thought Marantz was spiky So some of my opinions are my own recollections

[@HealthFitnessMartialArtsDEng]

Hi and mahalo for your review. I must say that I'm surprised yours is not in praise. All other reviews I can find here on YT and on online forums just rave about Optonica. There's another video of your model on YT that sounds great. Yesterday, I just got a steal on the holy grail of Optonica's, the SA5905. It's going to need time to refurb but all the basics passed the test, otherwise I would have let it go to the landfill. I can't wait to clean it up first then put it on the scopes. I see that owners of Optonica's just rave and some prefer them over their Marantz's! But to be fair, a few others like their Marantz's better. It's all so subjective. And when they compared the 5905 with their Pioneer and Sansui, they were blown away with it's performance. And those with the Optonica's they have love their performance. I'm not saying I'm a fan but just amazed at the feedback I'm finding now that I have just become an unexpected owner. This 5905 was created to compete with the high end Pioneer, Sansui, Marantz, Technic's of the time. I think workmanship wise, they succeeded. I had no idea. Where Sharp didn't succeed with this Optonica brand was being a day late and a marketing dollar short to the ball game. Back in the day, I wouldn't take a second look at Sharp. And I can't think of anyplace here in Seattle that carried Optonica. But I did read that our local retailer, Jafco sold them. Jafco was our local pre Costco type store back in the 70's. I spent a lot of time in their audio room as a youngster but I didn't know brands back then short of Pioneer, I only marveled at their looks and sound. And like many people write, they've never heard of this brand. I saw it around but never thought about it (along with MCS, Fisher and Realistic which are also coveted sleeper's now) since I was already enamored with the more popular brands and actually moving towards Yamaha. MacIntosh's were out of my range. By the time Optonica was ready to market at the end of the 70's, many audio dealers were set on the other already tried and true brands. So it was newer dealer's that took on the product. According to those that sold Optonica's that have chimed in on the forums, they were happy with their sales, they had no regrets, no problems, no returns and discovered it was a superb machine. I've also read that those that own other Optonica's are drooling and looking for the 5905 which was around $800. Too bad they didn't have the right marketing machine to get market share. So I will have to put the word out when I'm ready to say that I have one but whether for sale or not will be another story. I did find that a 5905 did sell at the Canuck Audio Mart in 2020 for $1250US but I don't know it's condition. There is another one in an unopened box right now asking $2500. There's not enough market data to know if that's too much or too little. Anyway, I appreciate your review. I think you heard a bad unit or there is simply another sound you like. But you did say what you heard seemed to go up and down the (the old sine wave cycle). I'd go nuts too. I've listened to all the Optonica's on YT and I've liked them all. It would be good to have yours hooked up for a listen and you can the further review what you were describing along with going through the TT, tape, aux, tuner functions. Have the systems fully connected for review. I just randomly went through about 7 of your previous videos and although nice that you set up units to talk about, for me, I need to hear from the unit, what you're describing. So, it would be great to have components connected to peripherals and hear what you're describing, ie speaker review, let's hear what you're hearing. I love that your site here started off with quite a bang and has kept going!!

[@olavwilgenhof1025]

The content of this video is complete nonsens. This receiver in good technical condition performs very well and does not lack in low or in any other soundstage. The narrator maybe reviewing a receiver in need of reparation or recap. My SA-3131 performs outstanding. I was surprised about this, because Sansui has the name and I think of course this is correct, but Optonica Sharp has a small but modest group of fans. I am also a fan!

[@WyreForestBiker]

Sharp seemed to make most of there money from budget car radio, cassette head units. In the late 70's early 80's they dominated that particular market.

[@andygee8716]

Sharp did build one of the first cassette decks with dbx noise reduction on board.

[@jorgbornefeld1689]

I have bought a pair of Grundig Boxes 1600b half a year ago. For 40 Euros. The best deal I've ever made. They sound natural and the stereo image is great.

[@stereoreviewx]

Oh yes three drivers and a big paper cone You can’t go far wrong

[@bluerev]

Have you considered that maybe it's just faulty and needs recapping or something like that?

[@stereoreviewx]

Everything I know tells me it just doesn’t sound good Certain companies just never made anything that sounds good I still sold at the time

[@lrh1966]

Hi once again Kelvin. Once again, I love your channel here but I have noticed a missing vintage analog media format from your videos and that is open reel tape decks as well as vintage stereo cassette decks and I was curious to know if you are going to review either tape format as you have listened or used them over the years? I know audio is so comprehensive and it gets more so every year as new technology medias are added to the lineup. I wish you a most awesome weekend and I look forward to your reviews as you create them...Friends, Lloyd.

[@MODAC]

I remember SHARP made a few cool cassette decks with advanced features. I know now to avoid Optonica, thanks Kelvin.

[@bernhardmichaelfux308]

Not really avoid Optonica. It is still top gear. The Item Melvin has may be faulty and needs some heck. The Symptoms he speaks about are common with bad caps and/or Transistors. With bad parts inside any Amp can sound bad ;-) AND! A few Spits of De-Oxy to all switches and Pots also can help incredible! I have a Philips Receiver from 1978, A Philips Tonmeister AH683, and this gear also started to have random strength in BAss and symptoms like Kelvin Describes here! This Problem has not been before and came up just the other day... But, it was solved quickly and easily: Some Spits of Teslanol (Contact-cleaner from Amazon) into the Loudspeaker switches, and now it runs smoothly as before. This is no Design Failure, this is just normal with a 44Year Old Receiver!

[@MrJason9142002]

My own devices: didn’t expect to see you here. Kelvin is the best: he doesn’t lie and he gives an honest review

[@thisisnev]

@@bernhardmichaelfux308 I go back almost as far as Kelvin, and I don't remember anyone labouring under the illusion that Optonica was anything to write home about. Certainly not "top gear". As for bad caps, this may be normal for Optonica but none of my vintage amps, receivers or cassette decks have suffered this problem. And I'm not naturally that lucky...!

[@bernhardmichaelfux308]

@@thisisnev Bad capacitors are not a question of Brand, but of AGE! Bytheway, I am an audiophile since I was a young man, in the early 1970ies. And I remember the time we talked about Optonica in the late 70ies. Optonica was, as I wrote, the Lexus, and Sharp was the Toyota. The Brand was not really affordable for me back then, but no student in the 1970ies could...

[@jlewis3013]

Why would you form a judgement on the qualitative advice of one person?

[@richardmanning4090]

Hi Kelvin, love your videos, always entertaining, humorous and erudite. So, there was iffy stuff sold in the seventies too, who’d have thought! Brands mattered then, just as much as now. No one would have bought Optonica if they could have afforded something that looked similar from the likes of marantz or pioneer. I recall being a consumer in those times. Hifi was a mainstream thing back then, sold in huge quantities from large warehouses such as Comet and Trident, treated the same as washing machines and vacuum cleaners. Things are better now, niche market sure but (pre COVID) you at least get the chance to listen to equipment before you buy it. There was a much greater chance back then of being sold turkeys than now. Would anybody have bought anything by Amstrad given an A/B demonstration?

[@Rob1972Gem]

Don't be sorry it may be more than a few years old but i wish more reviewers would tell it how it is (IE: tell the truth) you sometimes with some other reviewers that they brush over the down sides as not to offend the manufacturer and there for no free samples ..Love it say it how you find it ..Great video as always

[@stereoreviewx]

good point I think its so shocking for people to hear this kind of info K

[@thisisnev]

No surprises there - Optonica was just better-looking than the Sharp-branded gear! But credit where credit's due: Sharp did turn out some very capable MiniDisc portables in the 90s. Also, their massive HP-400H two-way headphones have a huge, warm sound like no other - provided they're driven by an amp with sufficient current on tap. (They were good enough for Rogers to rebrand them as Ravensbrook "semi-professional" headphones.)

[@jlewis3013]

“Skunk Works” - haha, who said tha….. Oh, wait 😉 Still waiting on picking up an Optonica SM-4646 amp so will let you know if it’s a dog or not when I get it (fingers crossed from 12 Apr for ‘free’ travel out of Wales into Engerland - get in). Can’t find any negative views on this 4646 - quite the contrary on Audiokarma/thevinategknob - hence am curiously hopeful (if it’s a lemon, it’ll be offloaded - rapidly). My only firsthand knowledge of Optonica is the RP-7100 turntable which, as previously stated on another vid, is a very accomplished machine (IMO) and gives my Thorens TD 125 MkII a serious run for its money when put through the same system with same stylus/cartridge. Saying that, it is also a very complicated machine; so, if/when it breaks, it’ll be a particularly funky paperweight. Can’t find any love out there for your SA-3131, only thing I can find is a manual on Hifiengine and specs on Radiomuseum - all else seems to be sales. Obviously not a cherished piece of kit and reinforces/justifies your review IMO. To put my Skunk Works quote into perspective, Optonica were to Sharp as Technics were to Panasonic (their premium brand). They arrived a bit late (1975?) and, obviously, not all good by the looks of things from your review, but, fingers crossed, the SM-4646 won’t be a dud. If it is, well at least I’ll have had a trip ‘abroad’ to get it and my son will then have a ‘new’ amp heading his way 😉 Keep ‘em coming, nice work K.

[@stereoreviewx]

yes let us know please.yes I did get that skunk works from you and I think I know what it means ?!! cheers k

[@jlewis3013]

The jury (me) have reached a verdict - might want to pour a G&T/beer/other indulgence to get through this. Owned the Optonica SM-4646 amp for over a month now and have put it through its paces. The other pieces of the system used to test it were: Optonica RP-7100 turntable, Thorens TD-125 MkII turntable with both driven through Wharfedale Diamond 230 speakers. Prior to the SM-4646, I was using an Onkyo A-9010 amp. Firstly, the Onkyo is, to my ears, a very accurate, excellent budget amp that deserves all the accolades it received; this Onkyo resulted in my previous comments that I could barely tell the difference between the Thorens and the Optonica turntables when playing the same vinyl. Well, all that changed with the SM-4646. This Optonica amp has unleashed the Thorens and it sounds demonstrably better than the RP-7100 when playing identical vinyl’s simultaneously (one advantage of dual phono-stages on the SM-4646 allowing side-by-side comparisosns). The difference was so noticeable that I thought there must be something different between each phono-stage? So, I swapped the cables around - no difference - Thorens still demonstrably better; even brought a ‘Wow’ comment from my Ladywhiffe, who has no interest in hifi. Must be the cartridge? Nope, swapped those around too. Whatever I altered, the answer was always the same (even tried using a separate phono pre-amp on both turntables via aux) Thorens was a winner - hands down. Sounds like I’m bashing the RP-7100? No, not at all, this is a fab turntable and produces a wonderful sonic experience (just in my experience the Thorens is now audibly better but at also 6 times the cost!). So, how to describe this amp; it’s beautifully made, in ‘as new’ condition, heavy as hell and feels totally premium - using it is a sensory, tactile delight. The dials/switches are robust and make a satisfying ‘click’ when rotated/flicked - it feels utterly bomb-proof. The innards of the machine utilize 3 power transformers: a Class A pre amp with two Class B transformers for each of the power channels. Not exactly sure of the power output (think RMS: 2x95W - 4 Ohm and 2x 70W - 8 Ohm), but suffice to say, I’ll never need to - and I live in a detached house with a large listening room 😉. What’s it sound like? Well, that is utterly subjective, but to try to contextualize, it has a warm, very clear/crisp sound overall but with a helluva kick. The bass is a little too bassy for me in defeat/passthrough mode so I tend to run it with the bass knocked down a notch; put the loudness on and you’ll rival a SpaceX launch. To me, everything is crystal clear with cymbals/ hi hats ringing like fire work explosions and placed perfectly where they should be in the room (i.e. 2 o’clock/10 o’clock to my sitting position). A great example of this is Fat Bottomed Girls (180gm vinyl) - there is a drum roll from right to left at 2.04 that places each hit precisely and with a gut rattling whoomphff (hair on neck - stand up job). Compared to the Onkyo (which I like greatly) this amp is an ‘event’. Many hifi companies produced sub standard equipment in the 70’s 80’s, such was the rush to launch, so your receiver may not be in the same league as this particular amp or it may need re-capping as others have suggested? I don’t know, but I wouldn’t judge their entire catalogue based on one not very positive experience. Hell my first turntable was a total piece of garbage - a 1980’s Sansui (it was so shiite that I can’t even find an image/mention of it on the web) - as such I haven’t looked at Sansui, since then, until watching your channel, such was my disgust at their products (even though my judgment was only based on one experience) - eyes wide shut I guess and I need to re-evaluate (when funds permit). Overall, for me - this Optonica SM-4646 is a keeper that isn’t going anywhere whilst I have a say in it - just need to make sure Ladywhiffe isn’t around when I unleash the beast. Right that’s enough from me - keep 'em coming Kelvin, sorry for the long post, but you did ask ‘ol son 😉.

[@Martin-bv1gk]

Have you reviewed or have any plans to review the mission 770. I have the mk2 version 1981 and there doesn't seem to be much out there on them.

[@stereoreviewx]

Not yet

[@mauanderuk]

They may need new ferrofluid and caps by now, makes a lot of difference.

[@Martin-bv1gk]

@@mauanderuk I recapped them a few of year's ago it did make a lot of difference and I've been thinking about having the tweeters done 👍

[@mauanderuk]

@@Martin-bv1gk I would get it done or do it yourself the ferrofluid must be quite sticky by now.

[@sosonic12000]

The Optonica brand was created and first launched by Sharp in 1976 to compete in the high-end audio market along with established brands such as Sansui Electric, Sony, Panasonic, Sanyo, Yamaha, Nakamichi, Onkyo, Fisher Electronics, Technics (brand), Pioneer Corporation, Kenwood Corporation, JVC, Harman Kardon and Marantz. The brand was designed and built by Sharp. Middle of the road, perhaps certainly NOT audiophile standard.

[@marcl8814]

I think Kelvin’s intention was to remind us that “Vintage” doesn’t always mean good sounding, they made crap back in the good ol days too... He’s remembering that similar sound back when they were still new in the shop, reminds me of those department store house brands that all sounded equally as bad.

[@jlewis3013]

Yep - they did make crap back then. The worst turntable I ever owned was a Sansui from the early 80's. So bad that I can't find an image/mention of it on the web !

[@swompthing2626]

Oh and happy Easter to you

[@laurentzduba1298]

This particular Optonica reminds me of a then new audio company exibiting in an audio fair back in the early 1990s with their "Krell inspired" solid state muscle amp. Big transformer power supply, big capacitors - but in a badly executed power supply circuit - i.e. lack of bypass capacitors. This resulted in a plodding and uneven bass quality despite reaching down low when measured.

[@swompthing2626]

Last week I picked up a pair of sony SS 86 E speakers for 40 pounds off e bay they sound great.

[@deepak5555556]

Hi kelvin;between sansui xx1 and x0x0 series;which you prefer.i know you already love xx1 series;still courious about your prospective.

[@stereoreviewx]

I haven't heard enough of the 0 0 range to say give me time K

[@richardjohnston4682]

Kelvin, can buy a Sansui 2200 pretty close to me for £140. Any experience of this particular model? Thanks

[@stereoreviewx]

Yes my general understanding is that is a really good one that range things were getting iffy I couldn’t say go and get that it’s a good one I don’t think it is it would be okay you know

[@swompthing2626]

When I was a kid my mum had an optonica upright record player it was rubbish.

[@socksumi]

Sharpe was not a company known for excellence in sound. If you see lots of ICs there's your culprit. The late 70s all discreet NAD 3020 used no ICs. Early 70s gear by Sansui, Sony, Marantz and others was all discreet too. ICs didn't sound very good in the 70s (not that they're perfect now) and the more of them you find in the old gear generally the less good it will sound. Also the use of too much feedback in order to achieve good paper specs could result in an audibly inferior amplifier. Watch out for those two culprits. Around 1977 to 79 is when too many ICs and excessive feedback really started to choke the great sound out of the wonderful gear we knew and loved earlier in the decade.

[@stereoreviewx]

Somehow this has a great ring of truth thank you

[@tedburg6042]

The Optonica equipment from this era was as good as any other. If you were shopping stereo at the time there was a real race in the specs by all manufacturers. Realistic by radio shack is the only one that moved all the specs over by a decimal point. Most all the name brand amps were built very well for the price point. If you had the brand new amp in the 80's it would have sounded great and probably nothing like the unit you reviewed. Have that thing fixed. I'm sure the Realistic brand has far better specs than modern equipment.

[@andyhorobin1605]

Another great evaluation this would probably be sold with a graphic equaliser so everybody could mess around with to try and make it sound to their liking but like of lots of middle of the road stuff at that time the speakers were dreadfull. And only when you moved up to "something British "in the speaker department and ditching the equaliser could you start exploiting the other components properly. Keep them coming great stuff. A bit like Aurex and Toshiba lots of sub names going around at this time. Can we have a review on wharfdale e70/90 if you find a decent pair.

[@thisisnev]

As it happens, I've just bought a Toshiba amp (SB-A35) which was badged in some markets as an Aurex! It sounds better than I expected, but that may be because it came from a radio station and had some chunky BBC-designed transformers bolted onto the rear panel.

[@jonpatrick66]

About this gear! Not year! The spell check gets me sometimes when I'm not paying attention to it. ;)

[@bk6678]

What are the dimensions of this thing? Looks very wide.

[@stereoreviewx]

Same size as that supertanker that got stuck in the Suez Canal

[@bengagliardo1080]

i like pink floid too pot is legal here all i got to do is go to the dispensary and buy some more im getting low..lol... and im looking for a new amp my natural sound receiver just died... and im just checking lower end ones to find thatdiomand in the rough.. that regular audiophiles fotgot about becouse they got the good stuff now.. im a poor audio file.. ....... just seeing whats out there.. thanks for the honist review of this brand..

[@aarifpanjwani2525]

Sharp Corporation is actually a big success story from Japan. They excelled in many areas and were not afraid to innovate. They designed and manufactured custom IC's (building blocks that are used by many many others, including Sharp's competitors), and LCD panel manufacturing, not to mention microwave ovens. The symptoms you describe indicate that the frequency response has become non-linear. These vintage designs used lots of passive components (capacitors, resistors, inductors) that drift outside their rated values over time, introducing non-linearities both in the pre-amp and amplification sections. The entire signal path needs to be checked. The signal path goes through many of the knobs and switches on the front panel so they would all need to be cleaned for oxidation. It is also possible that the receiver may have been previously repaired incorrectly. It is unrealistic to expect that a 40+ year old receiver will work like new. Even a 40 year old lexus will not drive well without a service.

[@MyIDIsNotAvailable]

I don't know about this one, but I have Optonica 3636 amp and it's a killer.

[@bernhardmichaelfux308]

Messed Dynamics can come from bad Capacitors and/or Transistors. Maybe this should be checked on this Piece. Normally Optonica is top notch Gear!

[@thisisnev]

It really isn't. It just looks more stylish than what Sharp sold under their own name. I never saw a good review of either, back in the day.

[@D1N02]

I believe Sansui started out as a transformer manufacturer

[@stereoreviewx]

interesting

[@MrJason9142002]

Kelvin, do you ride motorcycles? You would look good on a royal enfield. It’s a British cafe racer.

[@stereoreviewx]

has it got good midrange

[@Cartier_specialist]

The 3131 is only 40 watts per channel per hifiengine with a pitiful damping factor of 20. Now the SA-5151 however has much better specs of 85 watts per channel and a respectable damping factor of 40. In my opinion the name on the front doesn't matter that much -- what matters more is the quality of design and components used. Some pretty high-end gear hid under generic names that were rebranded for other retailers. On a side note if you want a damn good microwave oven Sharp made some good ones. I'm not sure they still make good microwave ovens because I'll stick with my General Electric microwave.

[@richardmanning4090]

Congratulations on over 10k subscribers. Will KZbin send you a plaque?

[@stereoreviewx]

Nothing they said congratulations you’re a hero that is literally what they said you are our hero.

[@bernardsuttler9315]

Hello, Bernard here I would love to see a review on vintage onkyo receiver such as the TX 6500 MK2, no one out there doing reviews on those receivers which is a great receiver. Thank you. Bernard

[@billd9667]

The TX series was excellent. I had a 4500 MK2 and it had a very good amp/preamp and a remarkable tuner section. It drove a pair of 3 ohm Magnepans without difficulty and pulled in stations like nothing before or since

[@stereoreviewx]

I will if I can

[@gabrielhamburger8823]

Thank you very much for your videos....Gabriel from Sweden .

[@stereoreviewx]

Glad you like them!

[@bradleydurbin6784]

I never heard of this brand before today. I was in my stereo repair store where used vintage gear is repaired and for sale. Saw a optonica integrated amp for 200.00, obviously a obscure mediocre brand. Like radio shack.

[@johnshaw359]

Sounds like they messed up the preamp section likely the tone controls and filters circuits are "not flat" when they are supposed to be Possible also is the fact that there is a tuner/radio sharing the PSU which is suboptimal in any case. As you review a lot of receivers what are the radio performances like, do you ever listen to the tuners of these receivers?

[@robmills537]

Hi John you are right Kelvin never mentions the Tuner quality of the Reciever , I never listen to FM anymore either DAB or internet.

[@stereoreviewx]

truly I rarely listen to the tuners ,Did I hear that fm was going to be literally switched off sometime soonishK

[@thisisnev]

@@stereoreviewx They were going to, but it's been postponed due to the number of older people still listening to FM on older portable radios and suchlike.

[@jeremytravis360]

The only thing you could say about Optonica products was they were extremely reliable. But otherwise they didn't stand up against the competition.

[@johnwheat5199]

Sharp couldn't sell anything hi-fi under the "Sharp" name, a little like "Trio" Both companies were up against some really big hitters that had real credibility. But like Trio, later manifestation "Kenwood" both companies produced some really decent stuff.

[@hugobloemers4425]

Sharp was a budget brand but at some point they managed to get small screen color TV's right. Other than that, not very famous indeed.

[@stereoreviewx]

I remember them making cheap music centres mostly

[@thisisnev]

@@stereoreviewx To be fair, they did some nice pocket computers and calculators, too.

[@elliott-mtb5599]

I've heard amps like these and they are just not clean sound, especially on the fast beats... maybe its ok with slower songs at low volume but is just too distorted with fast music and when you turn it up loud. Not tame...

[@bengagliardo1080]

sharp? that explains a lot...

[@bikemike1118]

Are you a collector of these vintage amps or do you sell them after reviewing? Otherwise your home must be packed with all that stuff…not to say ‚dust collectors‘

[@stereoreviewx]

I beg borrow or steal these amps I don’t possess all of them

[@bikemike1118]

@@stereoreviewx I‘m relieved to hear that

[@metalcreature74]

Recap your equipment then listen to it again. Lol.

[@mauanderuk]

Very true actually comparing new with 40 year old kit not fair in most cases.

[@solomonstewart1025]

You cannot really judge the unit until you do a refurb. It is a 40 year unit I think. I am sorry for you too. Yyou are doing a disservice to your audience.

[@johnnytoobad7785]

IMHO: Even back in 70's (in the states) there were only a few great brands for amps/recievers: SONY, Pioneer, Sansui, Kenwood and McIntosh. Speakers were another story. Many brands came & went in short time. Funny, when I make any changes /upgrades to my current system I play Pink Floyd DSofM..the MoFi gold CD that I've had since 1988.

[@stereoreviewx]

yes money dsof m was my first test track K

[@mankepoot9440]

This is a good machine because it has more buttons.

[@stereoreviewx]

yes buttons are what we want K

[@paulopereira6996]

Can it be the capacitors? The random behaviour, can be caused by bad capacitors.

[@bernhardmichaelfux308]

My Philips AH683 from 1978 had the same behavior suddenly one day! I solved this with contact spray into the Speaker switches... that´s all...

[@leopoldoledesma778]

De nada sirve tanta descripción.sino se hacen escuchar...solo sabemos si es bueno cuando se los escucha. Hay cientos de videos muy mal macheados y grabados .tambien es bueno con bafles al sonido del.equipo

[@Badassvidsz]

Surelly this amp has problems it doesn't have to be 100% ok this random behavior for me must be the why ?

[@stereoreviewx]

well if I played it to you or me for one song you wouldn't think badly at first .

[@theokidokis]

So maybe it's not rubbish, but it is certainly a piece of crap! :)

[@stereoreviewx]

yeah hard to tell its not good though