COUNTERPOINT SA-3000

Pre owned. In good condition. Shows signs of wear. Without original packaging.

The Counterpoint SA-3000 is a hybrid preamplifier combining solid-state and vacuum tube circuitry, designed to deliver extremely transparent and precise sound reproduction. Its power transformer is a separate unit that remains active as soon as it is plugged into the mains. In standby mode, equivalent to the off switch of a conventional amplifier, the tube filaments are powered by a 6-volt DC supply, and all solid-state circuits receive their ±6 volt and ±15 volt supplies. Switching from standby to operational mode activates the heater voltage of the 6CA4 rectifier, and the 240-volt power supply energizes the vacuum tube stages.

The SA-3000’s circuitry combines field-effect transistors (FETs) with triodes (half of a 6DJ8 tube) for each stage, with buffer stages isolating each section from low-impedance loads to preserve frequency response and distortion characteristics. Counterpoint’s design goal is to reduce measurable distortion by at least an order of magnitude without using feedback, maintaining the natural musicality of the tubes. Line inputs have an impedance of 20,000 ohms, while phono inputs have 47,000 ohms; the load impedance for MC cartridges can be adjusted via internal resistors. The line output stage delivers a maximum nominal level of 24 volts peak-to-peak (8.5 volts RMS) with 1% distortion from 20 to 20,000 Hz. The power supply is rated for operation with voltages from 88 to 133 volts at 50 or 60 Hz, with a standby consumption of 35 watts and 50 watts in operation.

Visually, the SA-3000 features an elegant satin-silver front panel and matching sides, rounded edges, and a black top. Like most high-end preamplifiers, it has no tone controls or filters. Two large front knobs handle input selection and volume, a rotary switch selects source or Tape 1 playback, accompanied by a center-detented balance control. Small switches allow selection of mono/stereo mode and standby/ready and operate/mute functions. The operating status is indicated by a central LED: red in standby, blinking yellow during warm-up, then solid yellow if mute is active or green during normal playback.

All rear connectors are gold-plated, including two pairs of main outputs for driving two amplifiers and two sets of tape-recording outputs. Although it has separate inputs for MM and MC cartridges, the phono section requires manual configuration for the desired cartridge type, which is done by removing the top panel.

Laboratory tests confirm the SA-3000’s precision: input sensitivity of 31.5 mV for 0.5 V output through a line input and 1.7 mV through the MM input; total harmonic distortion as low as 0.003% at 0.5 V and 0.025% at 3 V; flat frequency response from 10 to 20,000 Hz within ±0.05 dB and RIAA phono equalization within ±0.2 dB. Residual noise is extremely low, between -104 and -90 dB referred to 0.5 V.

Technical specifications:

• Frequency response: 2 Hz – 300 kHz
• Total harmonic distortion: 0.01%
• Gain: 77 dB (MC); 60 dB (MM); 24 dB (line)
• Signal-to-noise ratio: 71 dB (MC); 76 dB (MM); 88 dB (line)
• Output: 24 V (Pre out Max)
• Dimensions: 480 × 113 × 322 mm
• Weight: 10 kg