Posted 5 years ago
JPSLegacy
(6 items)
I found these electronic pieces in an old attic: Pilot AA-908 High Fidelity Amplifier and Pilot Pilotuner AF-824 Receiver/Tuner (right side of second picture). Any thoughts on if they are rare or collectable pieces? Thanks!
No idea offhand how "rare" they are, but I'd certainly be happy to "collect" any of those three pieces...?? ;-) :-)
Before I say anything else, please do not plug these in to see if they work. They are old, have sat for a long time, and need to be brought up on a variac slowly. If done properly the capacitors may be rejuvenated by the process, or at least not destroyed. If you do not have a variac, see if you can locate a shop in your area that can bring it up and see if it is functional. This is very important with vintage gear.
That being said, The Pilot AA-908 is a very good quality vintage Mono tube power amp. The output tubes on this amp are an EL-34, which is a desirable tube to be used as a final stage output tube. The primary stage tubes should be a 12AX7. There should be two of each, and another single tube which is a 5U4GA.
I can not remember off hand, but I believe the output is in the region of 40 watts, which is very respectable for an early tube piece. I believe this was introduced in 1958 or so. The twin power supplies are quite large, and that is generally a sign of good craftsmanship on older tube gear.
They did not produce a lot of these, and they are considered in tube amp circles to be a very nice amplifier, and one that many collectors will restore and use either in a mono system, or look for a second one to have stereo. They are quite difficult to find and considered to be "rare".
Your AF-824 is not a piece that is any where near as scarce or desirable as the AA908 is. It is a mono preamp/tuner. They are fairly common and can be purchased for under $100. Not so with the amp.... It is worth substantially more, and if original and a survivor, it is a good candidate for restoration. Even without restoration, it is a nice piece.
Congrats on the find.... Very cool.....
Wow! Thanks for the very detailed and informative response. I am not a collector so I will likely try and find a place to sell both pieces.
Glad to help. The amplifier is a very cool find. Both of them are, but the amp is rally special.