power rating of Pioneer SA-500A?

[Vadim Batitsky]

I would like to find out what the power rating of this 1970s
integrated amp is. I would very much appreciate a response (even if it
is an educated guess).

Thanks,
Vadim.

[Sugarite]

> I would like to find out what the power rating of this 1970s
> integrated amp is. I would very much appreciate a response (even if it
> is an educated guess).

It will be much lower than it would be if it were being sold today. I find
a good starting point is to check the filter capacitors (large cylindrical
components, usually near the power transformer), if they're 50V caps, then
the number of microFarads for each side (usually two caps) is a little more
than 100x the "wattage" of the amp. For example you'll generally find
6800uF caps in a 2x60W amp, 10,000uF caps in a 2x85W amp, etc. But I've
seen Pioneer amps of that vintage with two 12,000uF caps per side, and it
was only rated at 2x120W, yet it would easily out-power a 2x200W Adcom
GFA-555.

I bet the SA-500A would rate 50W, but perform more like 85W.