Sony STR 6055

[paulf-2007]

Just picked one up for £69, in very nice condition. Put it in the main system with Zu Omen on the end of it. Initially from cold, it had been in the garage a couple of days, it sounded very bass heavy, then I thought it has tone controls so turned the bass down, treble a bit harsh and sibilance on vocals, sound a bit smeary and those reverb moments at the end of a note not as defined as I'm used to. Was thinking oh well it didn't cost the earth so no big deal. Changed from vinyl to Spotify so I could listen to different music without all the fuss that goes with vinyl and slowly it warmed up and started to sound quite nice. Early days yet so don't want to judge it to harshly. I suspect it will be acceptable and are my PX25 monoblocks £1000 better? That depends on what price to put on music playback. I know people describe things like " musicality " is that a way of saying it's not the last word in hifi but something worth listening to long term. I hope this turns out to be a keeper as it makes life easier, all in one box except the Dac, Dac does USB from laptop with Spotify and cdp optical in to Dac. Also I will have enough room on the top level of the rack for my technics direct drive cassette. Oh and a grand in my pocket, but let's not get too hasty. No pictures 'cause the bloody iPhone is not recognised by the PC or iTunes again. Never again will I buy an apple product, total pain in the backside.

[jandl100]

so here's a stock pic ...



Yum. Those old Sony bits were pretty nice, I think.

[paulf-2007]

so here's a stock pic ...



Yum. Those old Sony bits were pretty nice, I think.

That's the kiddie Jerry. I've noticed some old receivers are £2-300 while others like this one don't fetch much, there is probably good reason for that.

[jandl100]

Mmmm - maybe, maybe not.
Might just be what happens to be being mentioned on the forums at the time.

[paulf-2007]

Had time to listen some more to the jap crap monster receiver, it's sounding very good. Maybe not the finesse of the PX25, but with a short memory, I may be able to live with it. The best thing would be to sell the PX25's without listening to them again, as last time I thought to sell them to someone who heard them and asked to have them, I put them back in the set up and realised just how good they are. The convenience of the rotary volume control and being able to switch between vinyl and Spotify through my Dac, and of course fm radio is not something to ignore. Also with the mono's gone there will be room for my cassette deck that still enjoy.

[jandl100]

Yes, I faced the same sort of quandary in a somewhat similar kind of situation.

Ultimately I guess I asked myself "am I enjoying the music with this setup?" - despite its notional slight sound quality inferiority to its alternative.
The answer was an obvious Yes, so I stuck with the more convenient source and months later I remain happy with that decision.

[paulf-2007]

With leisure time being in short supply I snuck out to the music room for a short session. Wanted to listen to some new to me artists so Spotify was my choice of source. While waiting for the laptop to load I listened to the tuner and noticed the loudness button was in the on position so switched it off and returned the bass control to its null point, as before bass was a little overblown. I find I'm listening to the music with the receiver and not the kit.

[jandl100]

Yep, lower the perceived value of the kit and the music then sets the expectations. There's a lot in that, ime.
And with a lot of that era of gear, it's not hyped, it's not trying to be 'impressive', perhaps it's a little laidback and a little relaxed in a musical way. It lets the music speak for itself. I love some of the vintage gear for that reason, and a vintage amp has been at the heart of my system for some months. It's fab.

Also, the loudness control thing. I was sharing a Scalford dem room and had taken along my lovely Rotel 1412 vintage amp, as an option to use with his speakers. I left my friend to finalise the setup while I sorted my charity sale stuff elsewhere. He came up to me panicking - it sounds awful, boomy bass, shrieky. OMG. Ah, OK - I went along to the room and turned off the loudness control which had been accidentally toggled when the kit was moved.