sakura AV200T

[ultimax]

Hypertriode!!! I am always fascinated by tube amps though my interest really is about setting up a home theater. Several years ago I make "tambay" on your workplace/apartment and watched you demo your gizmos to.. I may say "purists" audio fanatics. I was hoping that someday I would own a decent tube amp but because of the cost of owning one, it was not really listed on top of my priority...until this dirt cheap chinese amp entered the local market and for its price and the reviews that I read on other forums.."pwede na!". My friends have also purchased the item "pang-katuwaan lang" but then things are began getting serious. They started upgrading/modifying up to the point that some of them are now now getting geekie and techie and have abandoned mp3 and only listens now to flac and wav.. Maybe this is a welcoming event. They have finally realized the true power and music of analog. I and other newbies might take a long while before we could reach the level of true high fidelity but soon and if able to afford, then from the sakura ..level up!..to the popular brands. Maybe for a start you or your buddies could helps us and educate us on how to improve on what we have for now. I hope you can offer services for upgrades..thanks..ultimax

[hypertriode]

Welcome to the dizzying and pocket-emptying world of Wiredstate, Ultimax! Let's waste no time; bring your unit over and let's see what we can do with your Sakura!

[pigdog]

and while ou guys are at it, might as well empty your pockets with a smile! hehehehe lots of goodies in store for you bro! enjoy!

[bagsik_dude]

hypertriode can you do something about my sakura av200t to make it better? it's currently in its stock condition. i've read somewhere that tweaks can be done on the amp to make it sound better. if so, do you do such tweaks? please let me know. thanks!

[Nelson de Leon]

Hypertriode!!! I am always fascinated by tube amps though my interest really is about setting up a home theater. Several years ago I make "tambay" on your workplace/apartment and watched you demo your gizmos to.. I may say "purists" audio fanatics. I was hoping that someday I would own a decent tube amp but because of the cost of owning one, it was not really listed on top of my priority...until this dirt cheap chinese amp entered the local market and for its price and the reviews that I read on other forums.."pwede na!". My friends have also purchased the item "pang-katuwaan lang" but then things are began getting serious. They started upgrading/modifying up to the point that some of them are now now getting geekie and techie and have abandoned mp3 and only listens now to flac and wav.. Maybe this is a welcoming event. They have finally realized the true power and music of analog. I and other newbies might take a long while before we could reach the level of true high fidelity but soon and if able to afford, then from the sakura ..level up!..to the popular brands. Maybe for a start you or your buddies could helps us and educate us on how to improve on what we have for now. I hope you can offer services for upgrades..thanks..ultimax

Hi Ultramax! A lot of people are really tweakin their Sakura. AFAIK, the Sakura tube is hybrid. And how much they spend in modifying their Sakura tube, You might be better of buying a real tube amp by master hypertriode na lang.

just my dos centavos.

[boggart]

against zetroce's advice i went ahead and got myself an sakura av200t last august 30. i got mine at the crown speaker outlet in eton cyberpod, ortigas. yung 4,000 pesos ko sinuklian ng 20 pesos.

in its stock state the amp made my 15 year old speakers suddenly come to life. i've started hearing sounds that i never heard with my equally old technics receiver.

i'm using the sakura an average of about 3 hours a day since i got it. so far di pa naman bumibigay. i have an old desktop plugged into the cd, a dvd player to the dvd, my dual turntable to the aux. everything sounds fine except my turntable. di ko alam kung ano problema. even if i have the volume turned up to its max level mahina pa rin. all others kahit between the 8 o'clock and 10 o'clock levels malakas na. maybe i need a phono preamp?

overall it's turning out to be worth the ~4k i spent for it. isasagad ko muna bago ipa modify or bago bumili ng "totoong" tube amp!

[tracke30m3]

As far as I know the Sakura does not have a phono input, you need to connect the turntable to a phono preamp then connect that to the AV 200T before you can listen to records thru the AV 200T.

[plaka]

does this sound better than a musical fidelity xa-1 integrated amp?

[godspell]

I love modifying cheap amps such as the Sakura Hybrid Tube Amp. Rascal 101 helped me on this and I am happy with the result. It maximizes the performance of my 2 years old Audio Nirvana Super 8. The You Tube Video may not be a good basis for assessing an audio performance. But at least it will give an idea how it sounds like using an old Sony 16 bit video handycam recorder.

Here are the You Tube Videos:





Thanks for watching.

[usai]

hey godspels, mini review b pls re sakura intergrated amp, pwede?

[godspell]

hey godspels, mini review b pls re sakura intergrated amp, pwede?

Stock Sakura Hybrid Tube was good especially to high sensitivity speakers 95db up. The overall frequencies were not in high order but good enough. It has sweetness because the Pre Amp tube section is really functioning (not tube display only). Also, the Power Amp section uses Made in Korea KTD718 general purpose High Power Transistor rated 40-50 watts, which is good.

Basta, wag ka lang magpapalit ng Tube nito without using a tester to know if it has same voltage from its stock tubes. Test voltage before buying. Maramin kasi nagpalit at nasunugan ng Sakura dahil sa tube rolling. Don't also use low sensitivity or high wattage speakers kasi di magtatagal ang amp mo.

I hope that helps. So far, my modified Sakura is for keeps and likes my AN Super 8 very much.

[boggart]

[quote="godspell"]I love modifying cheap amps such as the Sakura Hybrid Tube Amp. Rascal 101 helped me on this and I am happy with the result. It maximizes the performance of my 2 years old Audio Nirvana Super 8. The You Tube Video may not be a good basis for assessing an audio performance. But at least it will give an idea how it sounds like using an old Sony 16 bit video handycam recorder.

godspell, when should i have my sakura modified? also, will you do the mods for me? cheers!

[zetroce]

against zetroce's advice i went ahead and got myself an sakura av200t last august 30. i got mine at the crown speaker outlet in eton cyberpod, ortigas. yung 4,000 pesos ko sinuklian ng 20 pesos.

in its stock state the amp made my 15 year old speakers suddenly come to life. i've started hearing sounds that i never heard with my equally old technics receiver.

i'm using the sakura an average of about 3 hours a day since i got it. so far di pa naman bumibigay. i have an old desktop plugged into the cd, a dvd player to the dvd, my dual turntable to the aux. everything sounds fine except my turntable. di ko alam kung ano problema. even if i have the volume turned up to its max level mahina pa rin. all others kahit between the 8 o'clock and 10 o'clock levels malakas na. maybe i need a phono preamp?

overall it's turning out to be worth the ~4k i spent for it. isasagad ko muna bago ipa modify or bago bumili ng "totoong" tube amp!

Isa kang suwail na kaibigan....

'tol enjoy your amp. Pareho rin iyan halos ng MP 5 ko, hybrid din. Buti iyan, kung bumigay man, hindi naman masakit sa bulsa.

[boggart]

patuwarin mo ako! ay! patawarin pala!

'taragis kasi yung technics ko walang makuhang ic si bestre!

di ko pa rin magamit yung turntable ko! kailangan ng pre-amp di ako marunong bumili!

[reynold]

...been using my sakura for more or less 10 months na and still in it's pristine stock condition pa din
you can have it tweaked if you want to but if you'll going to spend more than the price of it, wag na lang, imo
It's still a good sounding hybrid tube amps for its price, enjoy your sakura av200t

[boggart]

thanks, man! i am enjoying it! over two weeks old. sinasagad ko habang 'under warranty' pa at habang di pa nagrereklamo ang mga kapitbahay!

[godspell]

...been using my sakura for more or less 10 months na and still in it's pristine stock condition pa din
you can have it tweaked if you want to but if you'll going to spend more than the price of it, wag na lang, imo
It's still a good sounding hybrid tube amps for its price, enjoy your sakura av200t

Yes, I agree. Kaya kay rascal 101 ako nagpaturo ng murang tweak with big improvement.

As for bro.boggart, you can buy NAD phono pre amp and buy another vintage TT at the other forum, if you like. Gusto ko tweak iyong Sakura mo kaso di ako certified electronic technician, mahirap na. Kaya ang kaya ko lang pakialaman iyong pag aari ko at iyong gusto magpa ari...he he he, I mean iyong mga friends ko willing to take a risk na mag pa tweak sa akin. DIYers lang kasi ako...copycat pa. Iyong mga ideas ko, i tell to rascal101 and he is the one helping me out how to use that principle with my system. We are also sharing ideas to come out with better idea, like my latest tweak with Sakura AV200T. To hear is to believe na lang.

[godspell]

Btw, the Sakura AV200T is using KTD 718 transistor from Korea. It is a good transistor in my observation. Triple Diffused NPN transistor. 45 - 50 watts. The amp is also using a toroidal transformer. Kaya parang naka tsamba talaga sa design dito ang Sakura. I think having Sakura AV200T with my tweaks/modifications, it is possible at this moment not to buy any amp. Satisfied ako sa naging tunog niya after the tweaks/modifications that I did.
Kaya kung nagandahan ka na sa tunog niya nung stock pa siya.... siguro X3 ng tunog or more than pa iyong tunog ng tweak ko ngayon sa Sakura AV200T. Iyon nga lang...guts lang puhunan ko. Talagang pinaglaruan ko kalikutin iyong loob. Since experiment lang lahat...nagkataon lang na tsambahan namin ni rascal 101 iyong tunog na gustong gusto namin.... If I have time, I am willing to audition at a place near my area. Basta CAvite at Alabang ATC area lang.

[boggart]

godspell, salamat sa advice. i'll go take a look at a NAD phono preamp. sana lang kasing mura siya ng sakura! cheers!

[godspell]

godspell, salamat sa advice. i'll go take a look at a NAD phono preamp. sana lang kasing mura siya ng sakura! cheers!

Anytime, post ka lang sa kabilang forum. Madami kasi mahilig din magpalit palit ng gamit. Dati may nakita ako P3-4K lang binenta iyong NAD Phono Pre Amp. You are welcome anytime kahit di pa kita nakikita.