nakamichi pa5 or 7


Can anybody help with the dimensions of these amplifiers?
I am strongly advised to buy one of the mk2-versions if I can find one, but size matters a bit.
What kind of problems should I expect with a 20 years old amp - I am a little worried about the heat.
Thanks!
Ole Felsby, Denmark
felsby
If the amp works when you get it perfectly, it will continue to work. Buy a pristine example and it will last you a lifetime as long as it has room to breathe. There are a few people online if you search forums online that will be of assistance if your amp has trouble, but based on the amps design, nothing will go wrong provided you have a 20A outlet and sufficient ventilation and you arent driving anything like electrostats. It will even drive maggies, however I wouldnt try to power any large monsters with the amp.
Power rating is slightly more. I belive it weighs a few more pounds as well. Looks are the same. Obviously, decals in the back will also let you know the difference. The amp runs cooler as well
Nelson Pass designed those amps , so there's nothing wrong and much right with the design. Having the caps upgraded is not hugely expensive (if they need replacement). I think the pa7 was 200 or 225 wpc. All in all , very nice amps for the money now. They show up on fleabay now and then. You can almost always sell them for about what you pay for them. They are probably worth a shot if the price isn't bad. Good luck!
The first series of the Nakamichi PA7 in my opinion is the best. It is a Threshold in a Nakamichi box. Nakamichi got sued by Threshold because Nak did not change anything inside of the amp. Nak just dublicated the Threshold. Hence, the second model MKII amp. MKII sounds a little dry in the middle sections.

Hope this helps,

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