The Curious Case of the Technics Integrated Digital Amplifier

I just replaced about $45K worth of amps and electronics with this $2700 Technics G700MK2 integrated. It’s the real deal. 

Here’s a detailed review :Technics su c700 test and review

I bought the SU-G700 in 12/2021 and it has been a surprise. ANdrew Robinson, who I respect greatly reviewed this integrated amp and was as surprised as I was on its attributes. I have several kits in my home and office and through 45 years of audiophile madness have owned moderate to outlandish pieces of hifi equipment so I decided to take a plunge into what I consider to be the future of HiFI--Not class D, but digital. 

There have been a plethora of reviews from Stereophile, home theatre, and The absolute sound to name a few, but until you hear this amp, you can not imagine how much technology and quality has been baked into this piece. For starters, had been using a Class A Nikko Alpha 1 amplifier that simply, after 38 years, wore out and repair costs were ungodly. I wanted to downsize anyway and began looking at integrated amps. My home office has a Mcintosh MC152 with an excellent Rotel RC-1590 pre-amp aboard. My business office runs a restored Mcintosh MA6300 integrated and I started my search there.

The new McIntosh MA5300 just did not sound as warm as the MA 6300 and at over $5,000.00 seemed to be out of sync with some other comparable offerings. I then demoed a Yamaha A-S2100 which to my airs, added coloration to the music I diod nto like--also its sound stage was a bit muddy (to my ears). I liked the Rotel 1590 preamp and bought the RA-1592. That was a nice piece but it lacked the final finish of the McIntosh's in my stable, so I continued to look down the Class A/B pathway.

When I stumbled on a youtube review of the SU-G700 from World Wide Stereo, I decided to take a look. On its face, at $2,500, it was on the low end of my budget and I was not expecting much, but I bought under with a 30 day return policy. I warmed it up for about 20 hours letting it bleat out average signals from my Yamaha T-1 vintage tuner (excellent by the way) until broken in. This thread seems to mix up the units in the Technics stable so I am strictly commenting on the SU-g700...At first I thought the 70 watts per 8ohm/140 watts per 4 ohm would be too light to power my B &W 702 S2s. I was surprised then when the volume reached 28 that the sound was loud and powerful--Given the fact the B & Ws go down to 3.1 ohms I was worried about a 'D" amp handling the load. In fact, this amp stays cool and pumps out as much clean sound that you need to blow an eardrum.

I characterize the sound as neither warm or 'tubelike' no is it robotically reproduced, I think it portrays a neutral pleasant sound and does so in a unique way. I refer you to the various reviews, kudos and specs this amp has without going into detail here. The irony is everything enters this amp digitally and it waits until it exits the amp to return to analog....fascinating and refreshing. Panasonic, the parent company of Technics wanted to return to audiophile relevance. Well, very few companies have the R & D budget this company has, but they created an excellent line of products, smart looking, yet techno forward. I wanted to spend more, but I spent less and got more in this Integrated. A+

Hold your horses.  Coming around February is the Technics SU-R1000 integrated, a very different kettle of digital fish.  It will be their first Reference class integrated amp.  150W doubling to 300W.  $9500.

I own the SUG 700 while 70 watts a side it can deliver more. It is driving my canton 9k stand mounted speakers in my small to medium not ideal room ie family room sooo filled with plants chairs couch windows etc.
I gotta say so far it is wonderful amazing detail not at all bright or fatiguing in any way. I picked it up used for under two grand from a gentleman wanting to go back to separates.
Yes, few reviews which I do not understand, given the three reviews I've seen which prase it. It is dead silent but my speakers are 87 db. The headphone amp is also great.  I'm a CD guy so can't speak to the phono stage  Also I am new to this hobby and have limited exposure but comparing it to my old gear  Snell c2 mk2 speakers, Adcom GFA 555 200watts,  Emotiva preamp DAC,and adcom it is no contest. so much better by the way the deep base is provided by my JAMO c80 sub. 
 I would say this guy is spot on from my experience. I just do not understand the lack of advertising of this amp or getting it to reviewers. 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0l2ASmo6uZE&t=331s&ab_channel=DigitalPhilosophy

The release date is likely 10-12 months later than the press release (2017).
https://www.technics.com/us/news/20170104-technics-su-g700/
@mezzanine , whatever processing the grand class gear does the effect
is not at all bad.
Worth a demo ... two years ago only one favorable review for Grand Class gear was out.
My gear >>> TT >>> SU-G30 / Phono Pre playback is like I say not bad.

So when was G700 released? Is it just an US version of C700 or it has something else under hood? There’s very little info online. Even this thread has almost 2.5k views, but very little info.
Maybe I’ll shoot a mail to Techincs support, but not sure what to expect. If anyone has something specific in mind to ask let me know and I’ll include it to the mail too.

The only issue I have with the SU-G700 is that all of the analogue signals are processed through it's A/D or D/A converter. Not preferable for vinyl fans. Makes me wonder what happens when the matching SL-G700 SACD/Streamer is hooked up to the amps RCA inputs. Is the analogue signal then going through the D/A converters in both the player and the amp? Seems odd. I guess there other all-in-one units that do this too. The Naim Uniti range being an example.

Technics offers three tiers of ' performance ' Premium, Grand, and Reference and all three Classes appear to offer variations on the Basis of Hybrid High-Speed Linear Power Supply, JENO Engine, and GaN-FET Power Chips.
https://www.technics.com/us/products/grand-class/stereo-integrated-amplifier-su-g700.html
If you check the spec for SU-G30 Integrated it specifies GaN-FETs.
https://www.technics.com/us/products/grand-class-g30/network-audio-amplifier-su-g30.html#specs
The Power Output for each Class is on the low side for an Amp with the SE-R1 at 150 WPC @ 8 Ohm being the most.
As for sound; Silent, Refined, and Resolving.
From Technics:  Delivering a sound with a rich spatial expression.
Not gutless definitely not.
Maybe not so curious after all.
Contemporary perhaps. 

The one you refer to is the European version (SU-C700) and not the one sold stateside. The one sold here is the SU-G700. It looks slightly different and it looks like there is a lot in common but I can’t say for sure.I was interested in the one sold here but only found one review of it.

Here is a review from Andrew Robinson of Home Theater Review.
https://hometheaterreview.com/technics-su-g700-stereo-integrated-amplifier-reviewed/?page=2

He really likes it and I believe he kept it. There’s also a YouTube video done by him:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9j1ekgzBiL8

All the best,
Nonoise

Well,  I guess I'm behind the times, the review is from 2015, when was the SE-R1 released?

That review is dated February 2, 2015

So it seems this is a rather narrow piece of kit, I assumed it was full-width, and as far as I can tell, they are using a linear power supply.  Curiouser and curiouser.