Sony TA-A1ES Integrated Amp Review

Clint the audio guy back here with another Integrated amp review, this time from Sony ES. This is a top quality piece with true hi-fi performance.
Thanks for watching!

[@theaudiocircle]

I have been eyeballing this one for a long time now, love the simplicity and the straightforwardness of the device. Decisions, decisions!

[@jerrynski6944]

Awesome unit, crazy huge binding posts.

[@Clint_the_Audio-Photo_Guy]

I love the binding posts, they spin like they've got bearings too. :)

[@SamB-fv6su]

Gude review Clink / very interesting piece of gear - I just found your review - thank you for posting

[@yippie6862]

Thanks for posting!

[@justinpow92]

Will you be reviewing the HAP-Z1ES?

[@daveh9474]

If your in Canada you really can't beat price/performance of Japanese products. JEEZ. 2000 BP 2000 USD 2000 CAD. it's why I have a yamaha as-801

[@Zockopa]

How can this be better than,say, a TA-F808ES ? Sony just had to continue where it stopped some time ago to actually sell integrated amps in quantities. But no,they went for a "high-end" design.

[@fabricadojoe]

Heard some great things about this amp. Where can I get one in the UK?

[@Clint_the_Audio-Photo_Guy]

+fabricadojoe It's awesome, I bought one myself and listen to it every day. in the UK, I have no idea. Check the website maybe.

[@fabricadojoe]

+Photo314159 Hi. I should be able to get one in the UK. We have Sony centres here. Had a fairly expensive Sony SACD player a few years back. Bought it in Bedford, a one horse town if ever there was one!! Should have kept it.

[@adkzaman]

+fabricadojoe You can have it at Harrods in London. They are giving a special price on this amp.

[@tacopizza2003]

I never understood why hi-fi equipment doesn't use XLR connections more. RCA connections are so susceptible to interference & noise. Professional audio has been using balanced connections for decades. I also never understood why the hi-fi amps & speakers don't use Speakon connections.

[@abccba928]

what kind of speakers do you propose, will the B&w 603 be appropriate?

[@FEGTTTSDH]

Wow insane! a question this amp against the Sx-1980 (for example) is a oponent in quality pure sound? Regards!

[@toucheslapper]

Have you had any problems with the amp over the years Clint? I noticed it runs a little warmer than other amps. Any issues with yours? Do you use it often?

[@Clint_the_Audio-Photo_Guy]

I saw your comment and walked over to it to see. It's been on for 5 hours since I got home from work as it is every night for the last year and a half. It's warm right over the heat sinks, but not hot. Never had an issue. As far as Class A power goes, it's actually quite cool. Most Class A amps run extremely hot. I wouldn't worry about it. If it's not so hot you have to move your hand away as to not burn it, it's not really hot for it's type. Just leave space above it for cooling and open racks are better for ventilation.

[@toucheslapper]

Thanks for the reply. It's a great amp that still doesn't get the recognition it should.

[@yippie6862]

Which one sounds better to you the Creek 50A or this Sony?

[@Clint_the_Audio-Photo_Guy]

The Sony. They're not in the same league and the price on the Sony is nearly double so it's to be expected. The Creek is a great integrated at it's price, but your budget should decide.

[@wintertrader]

Thanks Clint. I watched your short review a couple of times. I also went through numerous excellent reviews before deciding to purchase. Right now I am a bit worried that the amp is not powerful enough for my Polk LSIM 707 speakers. Those are 8 Ohms Impedance speakers (max 300 W). On the amp the impedance is set to 8. I have to turn the volume knob to around 35-30 to have a let's say normal listening experience. I use the Amp mostly linked to its Sony high-resolution player HAP-Z1ES. Do you think that that volume level is OK or do you think that in case I would have less power demanding speakers the volume level should be more around 50 for a normal listening experience? Or it does not really matter at all? I also noticed that you stopped your volume at around 30.

[@NingLu2110]

Hi, I paired with the Sonus faber Sonetto I but suffered from same issue, struggling to get decent loudness. But switched to the Harbeth Monitor 30.2, now I am around 50. I think related to speaker sensitivity, and impedance vs electrical phase (easy or difficult to drive)

[@wintertrader]

@@NingLu2110 thanks

[@NingLu2110]

@@wintertrader You are welcome, btw my listening distance is around 2.9m

[@manuelbonillaiscool]

What would be the difference between this and a Sony stereo receiver?

[@cpg8000]

Everything

[@mozartfx1]

Clint, I'm looking for an amp for low volume listening. Would A power or A/B power be better for low volumes? Thanks! I know this is an older post so I may ask this same question again on a newer one. Thanks again. I enjoy your vids!

[@Clint_the_Audio-Photo_Guy]

Honestly I think it's on a case by case basis. I don't think you can say class A is better or Class A/B unless all things are equal otherwise. How each individual amp sounds is more important. Also, at low levels most A/B amps do function in Class A anyways, so as long as the amp is powerful enough, you'll be getting Class A. At low levels you'd probably only need about 5-10 watts of class A power for listening. To give an example, a Parasound Halo A21 will get you about 8 watts of Class A before switching to A/B. Good enough for most low level listening.

[@mozartfx1]

Thank you. I appreciate the info! Cheers!

[@abccba928]

probably not quite like this because in class A there is always a high temperature and in class A / B there is no

[@calangordon5450]

What do you think of the TA1010? An oldie but I managed to pick one up for nothing.

[@Steven-oq3wc]

Hello, I am considering whether or not buying TA-A1ES. I concern the problem of heat. Would you give me some more information of TA-A1ES? How long can your TA-A1ES keep playing music in low volume (for example, 15%~20%)? How hot does it feel like if after keep playing music for 2 hours? Do you have to power it off for cooling down?

[@Clint_the_Audio-Photo_Guy]

I own one now personally for my tv system. I turn it on when I get home, and leave it on powering my speakers until I go to bed. I've got about 3 1/2 inches of cooling space above it, on a rack that's open to the front and back. It's no concern at all. The heat sink will get hot, but that's completely normal. That's what they're there for. There's way hotter running integrated amps out there, like Krell and Burson for example. (So hot you can't pick them up) If you're concerned because you read the same review I did, that guy didn't know what he was talking about. Every Class A amp I've seen gets hotter than this Sony. If you're really concerned about it, you could always use it with a bookshelf speaker, a relatively high sensitivity speaker, and/or an 8ohm speaker to reduce the loads. I'm running 4ohm bookshelves that play pretty low with no issues. I wouldn't put it in a closed cabinet though, unless it's got active venting. You could play low level music continuously for years I'd think with no issues.

[@Steven-oq3wc]

Thank you very much for your advice. The heat production was the thing I considered about the most, I've made up my mind to buy one.

[@garfieldaliboy4632]

hi Clint, which do you prefer this Sony TA-A1ES or the Marantz PM8005? Tnx

[@polawo]

Awesome review - thanks. I bought this and have a naive question. As I feel this is quite a high end product, I was expecting to be able to crank the volume up to full and not have any distortion. I paired this up with Dali Zensor 3 speakers, cranked it up to full and there was distortion - is this normal for an amplifier in this price point? As the speakers recommended power is 25-125 W?

[@Clint_the_Audio-Photo_Guy]

sigh...You can not do that with any amplifier and expect no distortion. You will blow your speakers by doing that and possibly damage your amp. It is a hi-fi product for sure, but if you expect rock concert power, you'll probably want to get a bigger amp. For every 3db you increase the volume, your power needs double. At some point to get just a little bit more volume, you can see that you'll need a lot more power to do it. Also, the volume knob is just a gain stage, it doesn't take into account the strength of the line level input you are feeding it. If you had a much weaker source, you would need more volume on the knob to get to your desired volume. There's extra gain built in for this reason. The volume knob turned up to full does not mean 80 watts. You might hit 80w at closer to 2:00 on the dial, it just depends on what you're feeding it, hence the distortion.

[@polawo]

Clint the Audio Guy thanks so much for your reply - I really appreciate it. I'm glad you cleared that up as I felt a little bummed before as I had that incorrect assumption.

[@giangvu7902]

No pre-out?

[@anothersiguy]

Wow, didn't know Sony made anything this high end.

[@82ivaylo]

Sony SS-AR1 $27000. It' s true high end.

[@Clint_the_Audio-Photo_Guy]

82ivaylo Oh yeah, I heard those a couple weeks ago. Top notch speakers.

[@dvamateur]

Are you kidding? Check out Sony SCD-1 SACD player, TA-E1 preamp, Sony TA-N1 amplifier, and Sony SS-M9ED speakers, or the PCM-3348 multitrack.

[@Clint_the_Audio-Photo_Guy]

Andrew Piatek Yep, they've made some great stuff over the years.

[@MrFpmagic]

Photo314159 Over decades!!

[@cskabos]

comparing to Pass La amps this is a toy. As for sound quality I ratther buy some vintage Pioneer orRevox that really sound good.

[@abccba928]

exactly, because it lacks a preamplifier, I added an equalizer and it just started playing decently