Sharp Optonica Amplifier SM-4646H

I'd have thought it fairly easy to obtain high power's these days, but getting the quality to match is a different story I guess.

If I had the space, a pair of these would do rather nicely....

With a sensitivity of 99dB for 1 watt and a response from 18hz-20khz, I would think you could say they cover the audio spectrum rather well.

And to think, about 25 years ago I used to go to a local junk auction every Monday, where, if one was lucky enough, all manner of equipment of this type would turn up and could be bought for £2 to £3 a piece.

It was all labelled as "House Clearance".... Some was genuine house contents from deceased persons' homes, much more was ex local bin collection scavenging by the refuse crews, but either way there was a lot of good stuff to be had for peanuts.

Why did I only buy the the tellies?.......................

Never mind Marion, to be honest, most run-of-the-mill "hifi" stuff is cheap rubbish. All too often I see on ebay for example, a turd offered as treasure.   ? 

Anyway, back to a treasure, the amplifier has been working nicely almost 12 hours solid now.

Oh, and the amplifier also came with a cassette deck but as I have no cassettes left, I'll obtain one for testing.

What does amuse me - but dates the amp well - is that as befits an amp of its position in the range (I suspect the top) is how it has a proliferation of knobs and switches to tweak and adjust everything. Yet in just a few years, a British amp would by comparison have just a switch to select the source and a volume control, and that would be it. 

Posted by: Cathovisor

 a proliferation of knobs and switches to tweak and adjust everything. 

I guess it provided something to do whilst listening to the music, these day's people would just fiddle on their mobile phone. 

Posted by: PYE625

 

Oh yes please !......but could I live with them.....or in them   ? 

Oh well for now it looks like I'll have to put up with their distant cousins which have been playing 'Smooth Jazz' all night and melting my ears with pleasure.....A pair of Tannoy 'Devon' speakers driven by Quad 66 preamp and a 303 power amp all fed by a Quad 66 CD or Rega planer 3 Turntable. The combination just fills the whole room with rich silky smooth sound with a mere 45 watts per channel.

Now if only I could get hold of a Quad II amp at a sensible price to compliment the one I already have here and upgrade the system to a whole 12 watts per channel of bliss...... ? 

I will be the odd one out, those Tannoy speakers do nothing for me, in fact I will use a swear word and say I am listening to a small "DAB" (That's the swear word) radio at the moment and thoroughly enjoying Classic FM, is that another swear word. ?

No Frank, you carry on enjoying it....classic FM that is, I shall refrain from any BAD (sorry, DAB) comments.  ?  ?

Where I am near Haverhill, Suffolk  DAB is better than FM on this clock radio, no interference nice and clear. I don't know which transmitter site DAB or FM I am listening to though.

Probably Mendlesham, but sadly no Anglia television on CH11 405 lines anymore  ? 

Possibly Mendlesham but Sudbury and Sewards End ( Saffron Walden) have Main DAB transmitters that cover the area, perhaps not as strong as Mendlesham but nearer.

I will try and find which channel I am receiving, that should confirm which transmitter but I am not sure if the radio gives that info, I will look tomorrow.

Posted by: PYE625

The numerous switches were rather noisy and responded well to a squirt of switch-cleaner. The volume control pot and tone controls are very good quality items and needed no such treatment.

Very nice to see one of these amplifiers back in service.  Back in the day the company I worked for was an Optonica agent because this range of products gave a lot of 'bang for your buck' and very reliable. The same could not be said for later products that were in production c.1980 onwards. At that time we were getting roughly 50% unboxing failure and replacement parts typically took up to a year!  Popular choice was SM-7100 together with a pair of UK made speakers.

Rich

Rich

Hello, I have a sharp 4646 in my hand, but they removed the cards inside and I will draw and restore. Do you have 4646 pcb card design diagram? can you contact me please tarik.aslan20@gmail.com

Posted by: @tarik

Do you have 4646 pcb card design diagram?

Hi Tarik, welcome to the forum.

As a new member you've not yet earned access to our data library but as a good will gesture, I've e-mailed the service manual to you ?. If you need any help with the repairs please ask. There are many audio guys on the forum that will be able to assist like Rich above, he still works in the trade, and with high-end Audio.