Sony TA-E77ESD

Not counting the big league ESPRIT preamplifiers, the TA-E77ESD was Sony's first preamp since the late 1970s' TA-E7B or TA-E88B. And there never was an ES preamplifier/amplifier combo in Japan, before the 77 combo... or after. The E77ESD is the companion to the TA-N77ES pôwerhouse.

Feeding everybody is a large toroidal transformer plus a small transformer for the logic circuits. The toroidal however is a little lie : it really a regular EI potted into a round enclosure !

Nevertheless, multiple windings feed separately the digital and analog sections, all separated by copper bus bars and a very clean main board. Naturally, the E77ESD rests on a G-base.
Other parts are typical Sony (Nichicon Muse and Elna Duorex etc) and the two main caps are 4,700uF Elna Great Supply. Output impedance is a low 45 Ohm.

The E77ESD was Sony's equivalent of Denon's DAP-5500 - better looking, though. Made to accept the sources which, then, were starting to offer digital outputs : CD, DAT, ED Beta and Laserdisc.

But that wasn't much to justify a dedicated preamp, considering that DAT never made it and Sony's politics toward Laserdisc were -even then- rather discrete. Mostly, the evolution of digital chips was then still raging and that made for the included d/a converters quick "obsolescence". However, unlike Denon's units, the TA-E77ESD sold extremely well worldwide !

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Type :
Low noise FET high gain NFB type equalizer amplifier
passive type direct tone controls
Dual d/a converters with 4fs digital filter
Digital inputs : 3x digital coaxial
Analogue inputs : 2x Tape
1x CD
1x Tuner
1x Aux
1x Phono
+ Adaptor IN
Digital output : 1x digital coaxial
Analogue outputs : 2x tape
1x DAT (analog)
Audio/Video IN : 1x Adaptor OUT
Audio/Video OUT : 2x Pre-OUT
3x A+V (composite)
2x S-Video
2x A+V (composite)
2x S-Video
Digital frequency response : 5Hz...20Khz (+/-0,5dB at 44.1Khz)
Digital THD : < 0,004%@1Khz (44.1Khz)
Analogue frequency response : 3Hz...300Khz (lines)
3Hz...300Khz (-3dB, adaptor In)
RIAA +/-0,2dB (MM)
Inputs sensitivity : 150mV / 50kOhm (lines)
0,17mV / 1kOhm (MC 40 Ohm)
2,5mV / 50kOhm (MM)
Maximum input : 9mV (MC)
150mV (MM)
S/N ratio : 105dB (lines)
83db (MC, 0,5mV input)
95dB (MM, 5mV input)
Residual noise : < 10mV (IHF-A)
Outputs : 150mV / 1kOhm (Rec/Video/DAT/Adaptor OUT)
0,45mV (headphones)
1,5V / 45 Ohm nominal (pre OUTs)
Bass control : +3,5 / -4dB @200Hz, +7 / -6dB @400Hz
Treble control : +7 / -7,5dB @3Khz, +3,5 / -3,5dB @5Khz
Subsonic filter : 6dB/octave below 15Hz
PC : 30W
Dimensions : 47 x 13 x 37cm
Weight : 13kg.