Citizen JSA 8

[poppachubby]

Hey Everyone,

This old tank is in great shape. It hadn't been cleaned in some time but aside from that it's ready to go. Lots of knobs and switches, so it took a while. About a pound of weight for every watt, power supply alone has to be a good 20.

First run sounds good, it'll be a few days of playing to get it sounding great...I paid $25.00. He charged me so little because the knobs were crunching horrendously, and he wasn't able to fix them. This ends a great week of deals for me, think I'll sit back and listen for a while...

http://photos-h.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs205.snc1/7225_153644581819_512706819_3240743_3904725_n.jpg

http://photos-g.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs205.snc1/7225_153644571819_512706819_3240742_1389028_n.jpg

http://photos-a.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs225.snc1/7225_153644586819_512706819_3240744_3084133_n.jpg

http://photos-f.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs205.snc1/7225_153644566819_512706819_3240741_7716840_n.jpg

[dakatabg]

WOW I have never heard of this brand Citizen but it looks in great shape and it is got a lot of options on it!

[harley .guy07]

What the hell! I thought they made watches. I am in my mid 30's, I guess I never remember hearing that Citizen made audio gear. How good does it sound. And do they make a better integrated or watch?

[dakatabg]

Yeah when I saw it I was like what the hell is this? I never heard of this brand especially making receivers. Where did you get it from Poppachubby ?

[harley .guy07]

I noticed its got preout-main in jacks on it. I wonder how good the preamp in it is when hooked up to a more powerful later model amp.

[poppachubby]

I noticed its got preout-main in jacks on it. I wonder how good the preamp in it is when hooked up to a more powerful later model amp.

Well....I bought this locally from a guy who didn't have the ability to clean it, and didn't want to pay a service technician. There was considerable crackling in the dials and some switches were negligent to make contact. This of course, was an easy fix, however I surely didn't tell him that. I told him that I would need to have it serviced so he sold it to me for $25.

These units were made in Japan by another manufacturer for Citizen. So in a way you guys are correct, they never made amps. I'm not sure who made it, but after looking around inside I would say it's a class A/B and comes in at around 65 wpc, give or take 15%. It certainly sounds like more. There's zero info available online. I went into a Radio Shack and one of the guys knew a little bit.

It sounds awesome! Some of the features are a little far reaching such as the high and low turnovers. I am currently thinking of how I can run this in conjunction with another amp. I'll keep you posted...

I imagine the amp would win over the watch, I can't imagine a Citizen timepiece being too valuable. Citizen was an exclusively Canadian brand I think, either way I put it up here for everyone to marvel at but I think Canucks will get a big kick out of it.

[harley .guy07]

Well it was just a friendly joke about the watch thing but it is very interesting that this company dabled in audio components back in the day. Man it looks like a old NASA shuttle dashboard on that thing. Its got more controls on it than just about any integrated I have worked with. Not sure how useful they are I guess only you and maybe the other two people in the world who have one of these would know. Let us know how well it works out after listening to it for awhile. Hell I wonder if Rolex will make audio someday too.

[poppachubby]

Well it was just a friendly joke about the watch thing but it is very interesting that this company dabled in audio components back in the day. Man it looks like a old NASA shuttle dashboard on that thing. Its got more controls on it than just about any integrated I have worked with. Not sure how useful they are I guess only you and maybe the other two people in the world who have one of these would know. Let us know how well it works out after listening to it for awhile. Hell I wonder if Rolex will make audio someday too.

The joke wasn't lost on me harley, but yes Rolex should give it a whirl. You're right about the switches, some are a little far reaching but they're still cool to look at!

[harley .guy07]

It would be interesting to see but I dought that anything they would make would be ata price that would be of interest to me. I am more of a performance for your money kind and not the kind of person that has to pay astronomical prices for gear so my friends can come over and say damn thats cool. I buy gear that makes me happy and will do the best for my system. And even if I were an extremely welthy person I think I would still be down to earth with my audio purchases. I know that some of this exotic gear performs well but usually there are more down to earth products that perform so close that the extra money is not worth it.

[poppachubby]

It would be interesting to see but I dought that anything they would make would be ata price that would be of interest to me. I am more of a performance for your money kind and not the kind of person that has to pay astronomical prices for gear so my friends can come over and say damn thats cool. I buy gear that makes me happy and will do the best for my system. And even if I were an extremely welthy person I think I would still be down to earth with my audio purchases. I know that some of this exotic gear performs well but usually there are more down to earth products that perform so close that the extra money is not worth it.


Couldn't agree with you any more, although down the road once the kids are grown, I plan to build a high end system. Perhaps you missed my original post...


...I paid $25.00

[dakatabg]

Hope the receiver doesn't break because there is no way you can find parts for it! You may be the only one in the world who has a Citizen receiver! :)

[harley .guy07]

Poppa I did not miss it. Theres nothing wrong with building a super high end system I would just make sure the extra money spent on components could not be found with components of great quality at prices a little more affordable. I don't mean a Onkyo receiver will be good I know you need to spend money for quality but there is a level of realistic gain with price in high end audio. All I am saying is do your research and find the most for your money and if you are going to spend that kind of money find components that stand the test of time(being worth the extra money spent). Thats all Im trying to say

[poppachubby]

Poppa I did not miss it. Theres nothing wrong with building a super high end system I would just make sure the extra money spent on components could not be found with components of great quality at prices a little more affordable. I don't mean a Onkyo receiver will be good I know you need to spend money for quality but there is a level of realistic gain with price in high end audio. All I am saying is do your research and find the most for your money and if you are going to spend that kind of money find components that stand the test of time(being worth the extra money spent). Thats all Im trying to say

In all reality harley, I would probably end up buying used as I am a cheapskate. Plus, good used equipment hits the value/performance point bang on usually. Just wondering if you favour any specific brands when it comes to this.

[poppachubby]

Well I've been listening for a few days with this amp and I am in disbelief with the phono stage. As you can see from the photos, there are 2 inputs and a sensitivity adjustment. I would love to see some hard specs because I have never owned an amp with such great phono ability. I presently have my Technics table plugged in directly and grounded to the amp. It's dead quiet, huge stage with great depth, every now and again I'll get a sursprise in the form of some subtlety being thrown into the forefront.

I was wondering what it could be compared to in terms of specs, vs. some of the more popular pre amps out there.

[manlystanley]

Hey Everyone,

This old tank is in great shape. It hadn't been cleaned in some time but aside from that it's ready to go. Lots of knobs and switches, so it took a while. About a pound of weight for every watt, power supply alone has to be a good 20.

First run sounds good, it'll be a few days of playing to get it sounding great...I paid $25.00. He charged me so little because the knobs were crunching horrendously, and he wasn't able to fix them. This ends a great week of deals for me, think I'll sit back and listen for a while...



Sweat deal!! Go get em' Chubbs!

[Van_Isle]

Poppachubby:

Have you located any further information on the Citizen JSA 8? I just picked one up today from freecycle. Looks very interesting!

[poppachubby]

Poppachubby:

Have you located any further information on the Citizen JSA 8? I just picked one up today from freecycle. Looks very interesting!

No info to be had I'm afraid. I even contacted Jutan, but they couldn't help me either. I can tell you that the amp outputs approx 65 WPC. Just hook it up and enjoy, you'll love it! Post your thoughts here once you do...

[Van_Isle]

Thanks

I'm just trying to figure out where one might have purchased one of these back in the day. Only place that comes to mind was Consumer's Distributing. They carried a lot of Jutan (JIL) / Candle / Concert / Citizen stuff.

I 1st thought that it reminded me of some of the Kenwood stuff of that era (say a KA-3500) but looking at it again I would say more Hitachi ... like a HA-330.

[poppachubby]

It's almost certainly a rebadged unit. Probably Kenwood. Do you have a turntable? It has a very impressive stage, as you've already read here. Aside from that, it can play loud if you like but still has a nice sound at low volumes.

[Van_Isle]

Only problem with it being a truely rebadged unit - it's made in Korea. Any Kenwood, etc. would be made in Japan. Perhaps just a copy of another design, made by Jutan.

[Van_Isle]

The Goldstar GSA-8500 appears to be an exact twin .... agree?
Pics attached from ebay.

Also sold as a "Universum Dynamic" - referred to in different places also as a GSA-8500, but I think more accurately as part of the 2500 System (V3297 amplifier):
http://www.audioasylum.com/audio/general/messages/55/550335.html

Here is a link to a V3297 owner's manual, in German:
http://wegavision.pytalhost.com/universumV3297/
The V3297 uses all DIN connectors.

I'm not an expert by any means on DIN ratings for stereo equipment. I think the DIN usually results in a higher reported power output thhan RMS?. This manual states 2x50 watt at 4-ohm and (I think) distortion <1%.

I have made a pdf out of the images from that site, if you want it.

Also attached is a pic with matching Goldstar GST-1000 tuner (also from ebay).

Some other links indicate very close to a Pioneer SA-8500 or SA-8500-II (not as good a match far as I can see - and I see reference to the guts being completely different ... however one site did indicate that Pioneer sold this unit in certain markets - rebadged as a Pioneer). Other links identify a Optonica SM-3636 as a clone (but it looks different). Optonica was Sharp's higher-end line.

It looks like you can purchase Goldstar GSA-8500 service manuals on-line.

[poppachubby]

Wow! You did better than me in your research. That's 100% the same amp. Well done. Do you have it yet? Hooked it up? What are you matching to it?

[Van_Isle]

I am in the middle of refoaming several sets of speakers .... so all I have managed to do to date is power it up (the power LED comes on - good) and connect up a multimeter to check the DC offset. One channel is steady at ~ 3.2mV (great!) but the other bounces all over the place from, say -6mV to 0 to +3mV. That doesn't generate much confidence in the overall health of the unit. And it does look like someone has been into it at one time - the cover was secured with wood screws!! and it looks like one of the bias trim pots was replaced.

I will have to clean all the pots and switches, check all fuses, etc. and then try again, perhaps leaving for a longer warm-up time.


Do you have a turntable? Actually at the moment, I am embarrased to say, I have 5 turntables.

I probably won't truely "match" this unit with anything. If I can get it running then I will probably donate it to a thrift shop (the staff of which have been particularilly nice with me on a number of occasions - for example they saved a heafty Sony PS-X60 for me rather than turfing it in the garbage - I've since got it about 60% working and I think we can make it the rest of the way!). Otherwise .... interested in a parts donor?

[poppachubby]

PM me your personals or an email addy. It's possible, but I don't want to spend alot to ship it. Reality is, mine is sitting in a closet right now. I have recently refurb'd a Golden Tube SE-40. No turning back now, it sounds like heaven. Aside from that I have a couple of HK and Marantz amps kickin around.

[Van_Isle]

Here is a link to download of the service manual, applicable to the Goldstar, and I would expect, the Citizen .... and the Universum (some changes would expect for voltage and the DIN outputs):

http://www.hifiengine.com/forum/goldstar-gsa-8500-integrated-amplifier.shtml