Finale Sony  N80 ES

Di cosa si tratta

Amplificatore finale

Produttore

Sony Japan

Caratteristiche

Transistor bilanciato

 Costo

1800.000 lire

Caratteristiche:

Scheda fotografica:

Vediamo dietro:

Vediamo dentro questa e la versione MK3:

Top: According to Don, the original single transformer of the MK1 version had more stamina than the two toroidals in the MK3 version shown here (which is my own amp). I believe these two toroids to be the same as in the TA-N55ES (which only has one). Inside the central rectangular block are 4 resin-cast smoothing caps totaling 88.000µF! The said block doesn't like heat, the ES sticker doesn't like it either.

Center: The power board and more capacitors. The thick base is the G-Chassis ; the four feet are an integral part of it and the silver rings are only add-ons for good looks (silver for the black version, champagne for the other). Stacking a G-Chassis equipped unit on top of another G unit makes for a direct benefit on soundstage width and bass depth/firmness. My own TAN80ES sits on a dead MDP605GX Laserdisc player (G-equipped) and the difference is quite obvious when compared to the same amp sitting on another base. Granted, it is a slightly expensive method :-)

Bottom: the power devices and copper rail connecting the four 22.000µF capacitors ; triple pp pairs A1492 / C3856.

Dal Web:

TA-N80ES
(1990 - 1994)

Unlike the contemporary ES integrated amps from Sony , the N80ES was "export" only and not released in Japan. Also "only" a rebadged/modded TA-N77ES, the N80ES was however released in 3 different versions, versions which you can find all about at agoraquest. I'll allow myself to chronologically name these versions Mk1, Mk2 and Mk3.

The Mk1 used the same power transformer and boards as the N77, the Mk2 an encapsulated PT and different boards' material and arrangement, the Mk3 sported 2 encapsulated toroidal transformers with again different boards' arrangements.
US sold units were Mk1s, multi-voltage/multi-market units were Mk2s while European units only were Mk3s. Mk2s and Mk3s both had a half-sized protection board.

Anyway, all three versions had more output than the original 1987 design and two more big caps (4700µF/80V) on the main power board. The sometimes problematic meters of the N77ES were banned and a pair of true/false balanced inputs thrown in for good measure ; the N80 (like the N77) however is a single-ended design. Unfortunately, this addition was made using rather low-end componentry.

Like many Sony amps (yes, TANR1 included), the heatsink really doesn't have that much area to dissipate heat. And the N80ES generates a LOT of it, this being the cause of many an N80's problems and/or death: it needs much more ventilation than its top cover allows - I for one partly remove it while listening to music. Still, the 80ES will dynamically drive any loudspeakers you may wish to torment it with. And just like the 77 the 80 can be bridged in mono and thus put out more power than loudspeakers would know what to do with... Owning "only" one Mk3, it is a mode I have not tried, but I wish I could!

Much more often shown in its champagne guise, the N80 was almost always sold in black ; the champagne version wasn't available in the US and is pretty rare in Europe. Along with the TA-E80ES preamp, the TA-N80ES was junked at the ES turning point and replaced by the TA-N90ES ; the heat problem was addressed and the latter sported TWO heatsinks.

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