TA-NR1
(1990 - c.2001)

The big one and there's not much else to say: whoever has heard music through a pair of these Class A monoblocks knows what I'm talking about.

Granted, finding and listening to Sony's ultra gear is difficult... for that brand is known to have not marketed most of its ultra units, whether its ESPRIT series, its monster LaserDisc players, its R1 and R10 series or the current "1" follow-ups : a distribution often restricted to Japan's domestic market, no reviews, no worldwide drooling and, hence, Sony after all only makes great portable gadgets :-(

However, the TA-NR1 is fairly easy to find because it sold rather well - Sony also makes excellent High-End units.

The NR1 was withdrawn from the catalogs fairly quickly everywhere but remained available in Japan until circa 2000/2001, on special order, just like the fully MOS-FET and bigger TA-NR10.