Sony TAFE370

I own over 20 amps which includes higher ends like Mcintosh & Accuphase. Bought this amp cheap to repair on my own (hobby) as it was sold as a defective unit.

It has wide dynamics, clarity & high headroom based on its initial retail price.

I wish it had potentiometers for biasing.

Am on the lookout for its bigger brother.

Fantastic is the depth of the sound. Clean sound and a large soundstage.

I don't know how the other reviewers here listen to music but this amplifier is, compared to its peers, not particularly good. Starting with the bass it is rather ponderous and one note. Not really a great sound and certainly no great extension. The bass seems to start at 50 hz and seems to have a high Q in and around this point so that no matter what you play into it the sound at the bottom end isn't particularly Hi-Fi. Further up and the mids and treble is rather hard and harsh. Compared to a Denon or a Marantz for example, the sort of amps this is going to be compared with, you will find that the upper mids and the treble is not the smoothest. So, what is wrong with this amp? Well from an engineering point there are several key areas that would really help it and I have performed this modification on a couple of them now so I think I know what I am doing!

First is an upgrade to decent main smoothing capacitors which are low ripple types so fitting 10,000uf 63 volt caps off the circuit board makes all the bass confusion go away. I use Vishay caps with additional polyester caps in the vacated PCB holes to help the high frequencies. At the same time the thickness of the PCB tracks is pretty poor so thickening them with tinned copper wire such that the tracks are able to carry some current helps a lot too. If Sony had bothered to tin the board it would have helped but hey, its a cheap amp!

The Sanyo output module is missing some parts. Actually if you look at the internals of the STK4211 II module it is somewhat different from the V version but the issues in its use are more or less the same so the parts that are shown for the V can be installed for the II as they do the same sort of thing even though the earlier module is missing the current mirrors sources in the long tail pair. But this little mod cures the nasty mids and treble.

Other mods do help but are not exactly huge in their changes to the amp. First is a pair of polyester caps across the zeners that provide the low voltage supplies for the preamp circuits and at the same time the feed resistors need the same thing here too. This has the effect of lowering the noise floor of the entire amp for pennies and is effective at the phono input. Likewise if you change the M5218 op-amp (I am using an OP275) in the phono circuit you can get better sound from your turntable.

So does it now sound like Hi-Fi? It is significantly better. I have one sitting here in my workshop with a pair of tiny Celestion F1 bookshelf speakers that have Peerless bass drivers and Monacor tweeters which I use as my near field monitors and we now have bass that stops and starts, that work great with drums and allows the midrange to open up without the dense and confused sound that was the original sound. Further work involves fitting an IEC mains socket, earthing the chassis, PAT certification, and the possibility that I might add in some extra buffering between the input selector IC and the tone controls as I think it could be further tweaked here.

I only paid £12 for my second hand one on EBay so value is largely void!

I bought this amplifier in 2003 paying 229 euros (Italy). In this price range the shopkeeper could only offer me this Sony and a Yamaha entry level. Well, after 16 years of use the only (small) problem that has occurred is the source selector that is slowed down in the movement. Nothing relevant.

One day I went crazy and I shot the volume at the highest level for about an hour uninterrupted, the operation was always impeccable!

The speakers are always the same: three-way with woofer (25 cm), midrange and tweeter.

I don't know how the Yamaha would have played, but I can confirm that the Sony TA-FE370 is a quality product.

I've owned mine for over 5 years and it still sounds amazing.Loudness button gives a nice kick.Classic must-have motorized volume dial.Remote controlled input select. Outstanding amplifier.

Well recommend Sony TAFE370.

The Sony TAFE370 is Simple. Good sound , perhaps a little crisp, but a bargain for the money.

better than could be expected at the price, terrific value

The Sony TA-FE370 is the best buy for the money, the sound of this amp is far more the price tag. A huge surprise a fine, detailed, clean sound, big soundstage, simply no existing in this price category. Superb, could be cost 4 times the original price in terms of sound quality.

Greece's more reputable hi-fi journal (hxos) regards it, as a superb amplifier.

This amp is superb value for money, performs very well and has a good range of features. A remote control unit at this price is hard to beat. The sound quality is perfectly ok and it has plenty of power. Also, it's one of the few budget amps you'll find these days with a phono stage.

The only criticism is the lack of a tape monitor feature.

The build quality is on the budget side (to my admittedly untrained eye) - but hey, what do you expect at £109!

Still running it in, looks solid, good design, expandable, lacks bass but that because of my speakers but the sound that in there is really impressive, really good sound stage and stereo imaging, plenty of power there too. And these are with bad speakers! looking for some good ones to match now! definately listen to one of these!!