Technics SA-505 (circa 1980)

Name: Technics SA-505
Brand: Technics

The Technics SA-505 is a receiver whose surviving record rests almost entirely on its maker's advertising. No standalone bench test of this model has surfaced, so this page sticks to what the period ads and show coverage establish.

The SA-505 was the top of Technics' five-model receiver line in early 1980. A Technics comparison ad in HI-Fi-Stereo-Buyers (March 1980, p.76) placed it above the SA-101, SA-202, SA-303, and SA-404. It listed at a suggested retail price of $420 with a rated 63 watts per channel from 20 to 20,000 Hz. That made it the most powerful and most expensive receiver in the range. The next step down, the SA-404, was listed at $350 and 50 watts. High Fidelity (April 1980, p.47) surveyed the year's new receivers and came at the series from the bottom. It described the 18-watt SA-101 at $180 as the lowest-priced unit the magazine had seen that year, with the new Technics line extending upward from there. Show coverage in HI-FI-Stereo (May 1980, p.65) noted that receiver makers at the January WCES were leaning heavily on complex ICs in FM tuner sections. The SA-505 likely did the same, though no confirmed per-model detail survives.

Confirmed from the advertising record:

- Suggested retail price: $420

- Power: 63 W/ch, 20–20,000 Hz

- Position: top of the SA-101 / SA-202 / SA-303 / SA-404 / SA-505 series

Production years, tuner specifications, bench measurements, and service history remain undocumented as of this writing.