Realistic SA-1500 Integrated Amplifier - Checkout & Repairs (Ep. 55)

An old Realistic amp that needs some help to sound like new again.
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[@WalterDavidRiffmon]

Nice amp. I think these early Realistic amps are a best buy which I did, buy. I bought a Realistic SA-1001 a few years ago. I paid $65.00. Impecable cosmetics but one speaker was fading. Mono setting fixed that temporarily. Last week I paid $100.00 to a local repair shop to remedy it. Now it's perfect and I consider the $165.00 I ultimately paid to be a good buy. Yes....real wood and all aluminum controls.

[@steveoszman8746]

What a pretty little amplifier, have a little latter made Kenwood and it was a mess of bad transistors and nasty caps. Learned a lot from it, being that era is not of great value I didn't worry about trashing a expensive machine. That integrated there is a nice one.

[@jimthvac100]

Great video, I read the SA-1500 was made for the Canadian and European market in about 1978.

[@steveoszman8746]

Nice amplifier, just finished up recapping a 1979-80 Kenwood that's about the same power output of your amplifier. It still had a bit of distortion so changed the small transistors that reacted to temperature change. Was worried it was a lost cause now though it has the poor quality of switches of that era it sounds very good.

[@Poppinwheeeeellllllieeeeez]

Realistic was a good brand for a period. Minimus 7, super tweeters, Mach one, turntables..amps.

[@TrevorsBench]

You're right, they made some good stuff. I have a pair of Mach 5000 speakers as my daily driver and love them. I've also got a STA-2250 waiting for it's turn on the bench

[@998cooper]

Had a nice Sa-1000 which was similar. Only problem was the IC s in the phono pre-amp failed and it was impossible to find replacements. Had to patch in a a modern p a to replace. Apart from that it was a lovely sounding amp.

[@jimthvac100]

I just bought one of these off of Ebay, my power lamp is also burned out. But mine has zero output, Fuses all good, Power supply, main caps and rectifier good. Main amplifier section tested good, still testing. I need to disassemble mine like you did and see why nothing is feeding the Amp section. I suspect either bad components in the pre-amplifier section or a defective switch. Mine is also in very good condition, got mine from Canada. I think I read the 1500 was made in Japan and not by Foster. I like the better filters and power of this unit over the 1000A.

[@TheShackGuy]

Correct, Foster Electric only made the U.S. separates, all others like the SA-1500 were made by Tandy Electronics.

[@mbwatson1000]

I found a service manual for the SA-1500 (I am based in the UK and it came up easily for me). It seems the transistors you could not find on you schematic were on my copy, and they look like they power the preamp/tone board. It looks to me like they have a delayed start, so I guess they are an attempt to avoid switch on surges getting through to the power amp.

[@ОлегШабанШабанчик]

Хорошая работа мастера. Усилитель хороший, был у меня такой.

[@terrylarson7596]

I think 1975 was correct we have had one of these in the family since new, I will have to check the model number. thanks for the entertainment

[@manFromPeterborough]

I would use film caps 4.7uf or less in place of E caps, they improve SQ, I recapped my new TEC phono amp with film caps on the in/out coupling circuit with 1uF WIMA caps in place of the 4.7 & 10uF E caps. The TC 780LC line booster also is re capped

[@bikdav]

Something tells me that integrated amplifiers are coming back since conventional over the air radio may be on its way out.

[@SDsailor7]

I have the Realistic sta-180 receiver and it sound really good unfortunately the left channel piece that holds the volume knob fell of the control slider so the only way to move the volume up or down is by using a thin screwdriver.

[@recalcitrantone]

Hi Trevor. I have the SA1500 also...i opened it up and noticed that there are 2 black wires attached to two of the 4 silver discs.....well on my receiver, one pair of the black wires are laying to the side, still connected to the board, but not connected to the silver disc....what do you recommend and will that affect sound?

[@terencekaye9948]

Hi, just wondering if you know what output transistors are in that amplifier?

[@PA4MW]

Nice work Trevor! I have currently the same amplifier here on the bench. With an almost similar problem; working but one channel with less power than the other and a bit of distortion. And whopdiedoo also mine seem to have suffered from a bad 3.3U cap (C203B). After replacing it the amp is working again. I happen to have a slightly different version of this amplifier. Same model, but without the fuse PCB and relay. And in that sense it is more or less the same as the EU schematic. By the way Trevor, do you know what is the proper bias setting? I biassed for now @30mV across the 0.5 ohm resistors.

[@trinibass1241]

I have a problem with mine, the overload light comes on but the amp works fine, it happens very rear. What do you think I should do? It is my dad's amplifier it was last repaired about 35 years ago.

[@TrevorsBench]

the SA-1500 has a circuit that monitors the speaker outputs and triggers the lamp if it senses something out of the ordinary such as a DC offset at the output. it might be sensing something wrong with the power amplifier (needs service) or the circuit itself might need servicing. I would advise against using it if the lamp keeps coming on. You said it rarely happens but my guess it will start to happen more and more as time goes on. About the only thing you can do at this point is get a voltmeter and test for DC volts at the speaker output with the speakers disconnected. If you find the voltage is about 150mV or more, this is the issue and it will need servicing. If you ignore a DC offset and continue to use it, you risk damaging your speakers, yes even if it still works and sounds ok HTH

[@ericlubin6225]

i love this unit it is so powerful and warm. i want to buy more of those output connections that you dont see on most amps, does anyone know the name of those output speaker plugs

[@SeasickUpload]

Those speaker connectors, are they standard 2 pin DIN?

[@TrevorsBench]

Not sure, I've been searching for the exact type on DigiKey but am having troubles. I see they sell on ebay as 2-pin DIN speaker connectors

[@ronbradshaw7404]

Back then, they had staples falling on the boards, now, they use chips,,,,, to self destroy stuff...