Pioneer A400.

[southall-1998]

Great integrated amp this one! The Pioneer A400. Have them hooked up to some Neat Petite III Speakers. Not bad at all, but the Petites really need more power to make them jump. Any suggestions boys? Another good thing about the Pioneer is it's headphone stage. I'm enjoying some Sennheiser HD600s through the Pioneer.


Very good amp for the little cash:)

http://i602.photobucket.com/albums/tt104/TDL-STUDIO/003-27.jpg

[wiicrackpot]

Beg to differ Shane, bought one back in the day when it had rave reviews and found it's bright and threshed out presentation fatiquing and didn't listen to music as much,
think you got rid of better TBH matey but hey ho...glad you're enjoying it.

[DSJR]

Shane, you've had some wonderful gear through your mits recently and flogged it on for some real rubbish. The A400 ONLY works with a seriously top end source and neutral speakers, otherwise it hurts! The Petites are toppy and not all that nice, but the Linn Naim relic dealers seem to like them at the time.

Hard words, but not altogether false I'm afraid.

You should have kept the bigger Quads you've had and maybe used them with the Croft preamp you bought :(

[southall-1998]

LOL, chaps.

I'm afraid your words are not putting me off the Pioneer :)

DSJR, I have another Quad 303 and will be keeping it forever. But I think it could do with a check up at Quad.

Which source & speakers do you recommend for the A400? I think the A400 is a capable amp IMO.

[DSJR]

A digital source with some proper dynanic range, which the old Marantz's that peeps used to put with the A400 (WTF five star reviews) never had. PT Anniversary/SME V and whatever cartridge/phono stage used to be a good match to the A400 amp.

Glad you still have a 303 Shane. Quad will basically get it working and do the minimum necessary to achieve this (I don't think they go in for rebuilds but I could be wrong) and Net Audio will charge a small fortune for a full rebuild with new boards etc... I'm all for a dada style recap and rest of voltages, with new presets if necessary to do this. It's a lovely and endearing old amp, the 303 and although it's useless with demanding speakers, thank heavens there are some really good monitor grade types out there that the 303 loves to play into (from big Tannoys on one extreme to vintage Spendors on the other :))

[hifi_dave]

Beg to differ Shane, bought one back in the day when it had rave reviews and found it's bright and threshed out presentation fatiquing and didn't listen to music as much,
think you got rid of better TBH matey but hey ho...glad you're enjoying it.

You obviously didn't read the rave write up from the man who then went on to work for Pioneer..:doh:

We had one on dem, back in the day and it helped us to sell the Creek 4040.

[Yomanze]

Great dorm or bedroom amp along with a pair of old Missions.

It's not "HiFi" though, but I enjoyed it as my first real amp.

[southall-1998]

A digital source with some proper dynanic range, which the old Marantz's that peeps used to put with the A400 (WTF five star reviews) never had. PT Anniversary/SME V and whatever cartridge/phono stage used to be a good match to the A400 amp.

Glad you still have a 303 Shane. Quad will basically get it working and do the minimum necessary to achieve this (I don't think they go in for rebuilds but I could be wrong) and Net Audio will charge a small fortune for a full rebuild with new boards etc... I'm all for a dada style recap and rest of voltages, with new presets if necessary to do this. It's a lovely and endearing old amp, the 303 and although it's useless with demanding speakers, thank heavens there are some really good monitor grade types out there that the 303 loves to play into (from big Tannoys on one extreme to vintage Spendors on the other :))


My Cranfield Elite Rock sounds very good with the A400.

Can you suggest some bookshelf speakers that will work very nicely with the A400. I want to keep the A400, I find it to be very good. I also like using our HD600 headphones with it, they are a little warm sounding :)

Cheers.

[Yomanze]

My Cranfield Elite Rock sounds very good with the A400.

Can you suggest some bookshelf speakers that will work very nicely with the A400. I want to keep the A400, I find it to be very good. I also like using our HD600 headphones with it, they are a little warm sounding :)

Cheers.

Old-style Mission / Cyrus 780SE. :)

...for a 'first system' you might want more though.

[YNWaN]

We had one on dem, back in the day and it helped us to sell the Creek 4040.

Yes, also my experience.

[RichB]

I'm still running my A400 after 20 years of reliable service, I agree with some of the comments here... It has long since been outclassed and the phono stage is harsh and dreadful but with the right source it can be quite lovely. Over the years I've used it with a variety of sources and speakers including Pioneer PDS, Marantz and Technics CD players, a couple of dacs, Mission 760s, Ruark Talismans and most recently a pair of Celestion Ditton 15s which seemed to work very well with it.

Yes it has its critics but as my first proper amp it has been a real workhorse and seen more parties than I can remember. I've heard that with a good recap and some attention it can still outperform integrateds in the sub £1000 bracket, Jac Hawk on here was a good source of info about this. Myself I've never gone this route thinking the £250 this would require would be put towards a more recent Rega, Marantz, Arcam or Naim. I find the headphone output to be quite nice driving my 400ohm Beyerdynamic DT100.

I recently put the A400 up against my amptastic mini t and found there wasnt much in it, but kept the A400 going as it just sounded so much better with the dittons. The mini t will be its replacement if the A400 ever gives up the ghost.

Like some others here I've been a bit surprised by your choices Shane, especially given some of the gear you've sold on recently but I do know what its like when you find something which just works with your other gear, hence my recent decision to go all Rega for my main system.

[rubber duck]

You obviously didn't read the rave write up from the man who then went on to work for Pioneer..:doh:

We had one on dem, back in the day and it helped us to sell the Creek 4040.

Yes, that HFC review by JB was such a rave I went out and bought one to see what the fuss was about. I must say it sounded clean, crisp and dynamic like a breath of fresh air (fed by a Gyrodec/PU3/Koetsu Black and Sumiko BPS into Spica TC-50 speakers back then). Made my AI S500 sound slow and bloated and Quad 405-2 dull and boring in comparison.

Unfortunately I don't think it has stood the test of time - my brother's unit in the family home sounds thin, flat and grey these days. Maybe it's age (the amp and/or me). Shane, if you wanted mellow I wouldn't have recommended this but if it works for you that's great. I would take the A400 to try with whatever speakers you plan to partner.

[southall-1998]

Just wondering, are there some good competent places that do servicing to the Pioneer A400?

[DSJR]

I think the local tidy-tip may offer the best service you could do to this amp :)

Seriously, why bother when there's so much better suited out there?

[RichB]

Just wondering, are there some good competent places that do servicing to the Pioneer A400?

I did look into it shane but couldnt find anywhere, a local pricey dealer wanted to charge £70 just for servicing. In the end i went with a can of switch cleaner and air duster...

[julesd68]

Just wondering, are there some good competent places that do servicing to the Pioneer A400?

You might try Red Hill Audio - http://www.redhillaudio.co.uk/pioneer_upgrades_homepage.html

They are servicing my 405-2 at the moment ...

[southall-1998]

I think the local tidy-tip may offer the best service you could do to this amp :)

Seriously, why bother when there's so much better suited out there?


Stop being mean:)

[southall-1998]

You might try Red Hill Audio - http://www.redhillaudio.co.uk/pioneer_upgrades_homepage.html

They are servicing my 405-2 at the moment ...

Thanks for that, Julian.