Toshiba SA-850
The Toshiba SA-850 has almost no record beyond its own advertising. U.S. audio magazines promoted it from mid-1979 into early 1980 as a digital synthesizer stereo receiver, with FM/AM tuning and a digital frequency readout.
Toshiba's campaign used a tagline about leaving out a few unnecessary parts to build a better receiver (HiFI-Stereo, January 1980, p.103). The ads pointed to twin 10,000 µF filter capacitors that Toshiba said essentially eliminated noise and hum (HiFI-Stereo, January 1980, p.103). They also pointed to a preamp section designed to be exactly what a listener would want. A later ad in the series went after digital tuner accuracy and warned against believing every digital readout (Audio, March 1980, p.49). Tune to 102.7 and the SA-850 stays there, it said. The same ad claimed 50 watts RMS per channel, according to Audio (March 1980, p.49).
Little else is documented. No independent review of the SA-850 has surfaced in the available record. What the record gives is a late-1970s digital-synthesizer receiver with a heavily filtered power supply and a 50 W/channel claim, all as described by its maker.
eBay Listings
As an eBay Partner, we earn from qualifying purchases. This helps support our independent vintage technology research.
Related Models
- Toshiba SA-620
- Eico 3150 (1967)
- Fisher CUSTOM-ELECTRA-I (K-14/K-15) (1957)
- Fisher CUSTOM-ELECTRA IV (E33/E44) (1960)
- Akai AM-2400 (1978)
- Akai AM-2600 (1977)
- Akai AM-2650 (1975)
- Akai AM-2850 (1975)
- Akai AM-32 (1978)
- Akai AM-73 (1973)