oldstuff

Sorry, Quad, no OM here. I bought this thing used from a dealer of mine who got it in as a trade. Years ago, I stumbled upon a pair of SR3As with the driver box at a church yard sale for the "princely" sum of $5. When I saw the 12S on the used shelf in his store, I just about freaked. What are the chances of finding one in a small town in Iowa? Needless to say, the price was also "right", since he had been unable to sell it and was happy that I wanted it. There was nothing but the unit. I thought the SRA12S would make a good one piece headphone driver, never thinking of using it for a pre-amp when I bought it. However, not being able to leave things well enough alone, I had to try it. At first, it was kind of marginal, but after about 30 minutes, it really came to life, and showed a lot of promise. I've owned this 12S for about 3 years, but have really just started using it as a primary component. As you mentioned in your original post, it is an old piece, it's time for some upgrades. Not sure where in the production run mine is, SN is low, in the low 1200s, which is probably not that low for a company like Stax. Thanks for the information Mark

I've got my SRA12S sitting in front of me with the lid off and the output card supports removed. Noticed a lot of heat discoloration on the boards by the big resistors and some on the boards by the top side of the output devices (on the ground contact). I'm assuming this is fairly normal. Otherwise, I'm very impressed with the parts quality on this thing. I'm getting a little bit of noise on the line level, and a noticable amount through the phono, which I guess isn't that unusual. Also, the #2 pre-outs are dead, which is kind of a bummer. Spritzer, if you would be willing to email me the schematics, I would be greatly appreciative. Also, anyone with upgrade advice, I'm open as well. I've done some tube amp rebuilds and tube preamp upgrades, but this is my first run-in with solid state. The cards will simplify this whole thing. Quad, that was an excellent write up. Too good, in fact. I read it and pulled mine off the shelf. I'm pretty happy with the sound once it warms up, but wish it was a bit more open on top. I imagine new caps would go a long ways to that. I had a pair of Dynaco MkIIIs that went from "blah" to completely amazing with a cap upgrade. Anyway guys, I'm open for suggestions and advice. Mark