March 29th 1975

“Bought new Amp: Prinzsound SA3001 £39.95”

Rather than being any kind of major manufacturer, Prinzsound was actually an in-house brand of the Dixons chain of high street shops. Given this, I think most people in the seventies who were hi-fi ‘geeks’ (and who would have normally eschewed what was considered ‘cheap rubbish’) were surprised to read über-glowing reviews of the SA3001 amplifier in many of the respected hi-fi magazines.

Hi-fi magazines which yours truly devoured from cover to cover. Yep, reviews which impressed me enough to fork out almost £40 on a new amp, a mere 18 months after I bought my last one.

That photo above is actually the SA4100 which came a while later, but the design of my SA3001 was very similar. Brushed aluminium and real wood side panels. A relatively simple and minimalistic design, certainly when compared to the ludicrous pieces of equipment I would buy later in my life.

I’ve more recently discovered that Prinzsound equipment was actually rebranded items from a company called Weltron, a Japanese manufacturer who actually came up with something of a design classic.

The spaceman-helmet inspired radio/8-track player seen on the left turns up time and time again in films and TV shows set in the seventies and spawned a whole slew of imitations, including a full-sized console that housed a record deck, amp, cassette player and tuner. There were even matching armchairs!

My diary may call me a liar a few months down the line but I do believe my Prinzsound amp served me well for quite some time.

The Dixons chain would also play a brief, but important part of my life in 1975… all of which will be revealed in future EFA70sTRO entries.

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