The Golden era of Japanese integrated amps, are we missing out?

I also did a "listening comparison" test in 1982 in Louisville, KY of tuners.  I keep hearing about those fabulous Japanese tuners .... and did so at the time.  So borrowed and assembled a bunch of US and Japanese tuners.  As for sound quality, the (then new) Carver TX-11 and the Fisher FM90B tuners beat everything hands down, followed closely by the HK Citation 15.  Most of the tuners sounded "flat" and/or "transistor_y".  The Carver and the Fisher had top to bottom frequency balance and three-dimensional depth ..... they sounded like music, as I look for in any other component.  The others didn't.  The worst in that comparison .... the Crown (no bass), the HK8?0 and the Nikko (both sounded like "flat cardboard")  The Pioneer and Kenwood were mediocre compared to the best.

I have concluded that most folks who are in the Japanese super-tuner camp are there because of the very high sensitivity of some of those old tuners.  But I've never seen a reason not to ultimately judge them the same way we do other components ...... how "real" do they sound.

BTW, the most "3-D" FM sound I've ever heard was through a Dyna PAS3, Dynatuner, and ST-35 system, played through Thiel 3.5's.  While I don't still have the Dyna gear, the Fisher and Carver's still play in my systems.

@harrylavo, what Japanese tunes have you had the chance to listen to?

I like Yamaha and my dream tuner is the CT-7000. Sony also has a state of the art tuner, the ST-A7.  If you have a chance, you should look them up. 


Re:  "I have concluded that most folks who are in the Japanese super-tuner camp are there because of the very high sensitivity of some of those old tuners. But I've never seen a reason not to ultimately judge them the same way we do other components ...... how "real" do they sound. "

Tuners do not really have a sound...well not the sound that reaches your ears. A tuner (a radio receiver) is part of an audio system (integrated or not), that passes the "translated" radio waves into music via a series of preamps / amps, hence we would judge the front end of an audio system when talking about sound.

@kosst_amojan , true that! The jewels of these amplifiers are the best audio components of all times, as far as I am concerned...hence the associated high cost.

That said, I find it ludicrous even thinking of sacrificing one of my Yamaha B-1s or a Sony TAN-8550 or TA-N7 to attempt to come up with anything even close in terms sound and reliability....I am a super fan of Mr Pass designs, but still would not do something that crazy.

If you are looking to take a shot at some Pass V-fet designs, I suggest to take on something that leverages the Tokin devices. Those are still available if you look around a little.

Good Luck!

@uberwaltz,

here is an interesting review of a new vs old, similar integrates from same manufacturer (no affiliation)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7jjAZz7NOK0