The Setton separates were decent products and their dual-mono design was a factor in their favor. Still, they weren't quite up to the standard of the Luxman products they were marketed against (Luxman didn't make any Setton products - ever), and of course, sharing all one's receivers with Lafayette did nothing to enhance the upscale image the distributor was trying to promote.

Lafayette products of the early to late 70's were manufactured by a large OEM supplier in Japan called, "Planet Research." As the man distributing Setton in the U.S. was a former Lafayette audio-buyer, it's a reasonably safe bet to assume that some Setton products may also have been made by Planet Research. No harm there, of course, but again, nothing to write home about either. Just as an aside: Lafayette's tape machines, whether cassette or reel to reel from the late to mid 70's were mechanical nightmares that rarely ever worked properly. Who made them for Lafayette? Just some fly by night outfit called, "Nakamichi."

Setton actually began to make inroads in the U.S. market when Jack Setton, the Frenchman whose namesake appears on the products, decided to pull the plug.

Thought you'd find this stuff interesting.

I am wondering if anyone else besides me would worry about air flow in that cabinet? While it looks like great carpentry, I would feel better about it if the sides didn't fit so tightly against the equipment. How warm do those components run?

rroobbcc: there is at least 2" of space on each side of the gear. the sides are recessed behind the front posts.

if my gear does get too hot, I will buy a pro cooling fan and cut out a hole in the bottom shelf to blow out hot air. the amps have cooling vents on the top, bottom, and sides, too, to ventilate better.
these setton amps run relatively cool compared to most.

here's a good example of DIY audio cabinetry and cooling, aka "The Shrine".
http://www.sound-thinking.org/index.php?showtopic=869

Setton and Lafayette receivers are indeed Brothers and many of them share the same internal layout. While Lafayette is not an upper echelon brand, neither was it another LLoyd's or MCS. They made decent sounding gear that had some thought put into the design. Not exactly cutting edge but you won't find junk inside.

Interesting pages about Setton Receivers :

http://chrisinmotion.com/SettonReceivers.htm

http://hifi.setton.audiofanzine.com/produits/avis/ this one in french.

As a 14 year veteran of Lafayette, I can happily attest to the veracity of that statement. After years of trying to convince consumers of just how good Lafayette's receivers. amps and tuners were, "God" spoke: In 1968, Consumer Reports tested the Lafayette LR-1500T receiver, and for the first time in Lafayette's history, one of its products received the coveted Check-Rated, "Best Buy" accolade, and continued to receive such a rating on the LR-1500T and "TA" models for 5 more years. Lafayette sold over 36,000 of these receivers as a result.

In 1973, Lafayette introduced its LR-4000 receiver - the first ever quadraphonic receiver to incorporate "Full Logic, Wave Matching" SQ circuitry. If Lafayette products had been held in higher esteem, perhaps the quad industry might not have collapsed as readily as it did. Hearing an SQ record through this receiver was an experience no other manufacturer ever provided, or came close to providing.

Even better results were available from Lafayette's outboard SQ decoder, especially after it was modified with a new circuit called "Variblend." As the manager for the Lafayette store in Manhasset, NY, I can readily state that I sold quite a few of these decoders to salespeople from numerous competitors, as all of them knew it to be the best available anywhere, including far more expensive units such as those from Sony.


Not everything sold under the Lafayette name was top notch quality (as I mentioned previously, their tape machines were out and out dogs), but the stuff that was good was very good indeed.

The collapse of Lafayette will always be a case study in mismanagement, and a regrettable event in the history of the audio business.

thanks for the links! my friend(well, Ive never met him in person-only the net.....lol) Chris aka kajguy03 made the first website you mentioned.

I had never seen the second before---is it possible to translate?
but, the photos show an AS-1100 integrated amplifier. it shared some parts with the setton RS-220 and Lafayette LR-3030(I think), and was BOTL. the TOTL amp for that series was the AS-3300, aka RS-440 and LR-5555, and is the one to get of the two.
setton launched their second generation pretty soon after the first, with the BS-5500/PS-5500/TUS-600 that I am focusing on. although this line was big improvement all around, the MSRP was pretty HUGE so it didn't sell as well as the first line of receivers and integrateds.
then, setton launched yet ANOTHER line which had a totally new style from the first but was a COMPLETE failure in sales--the DC-12 tape deck, MR-110 turntable, AS-5500 120wpc integrated, and it's matching speakers. it is thought that maybe only prototypes of the amp and speaks were made. the amp MSRP'd at $1300, a HUGE amount for a 120wpc integrated.


emaidel: thanks a bunch for your lafayette info! most of that's new to me. if you have any other setton info or history, please share!

Well, i kinda know Chris aka kajguy03 as well, from some Yahoo! Groups.
About the French page, you can always use the http://www.google.com/translate_t , you can translate an article or the full net page, if you like.

In the fall of 1978, I made what was perhaps the biggest mistake of my carrer, and that was to leave my position as National Sales Manager for Pickering, and go into the manufacturer's representative business with two partners in New England. Immediately upon learning of my decision to do this, the distributor for Setton contacted me and asked that the three of us visit him in his office.

We did so, and he simply handed us the Setton line on a platter, so to speak, for New England. I was thrilled, as the most money was to be made representing a line of electronics, and we didn't have one at the time. Still, my partners told the Setton distributor that they'd "discuss" the matter, and get back to him.

On our ride home, my partners outvoted me and refused to take on the line. I was furious, and asked why. Their response was that they felt there wasn't anything particularly special about the line (they didn't yet know the Lafayette connection), and that, even if the product were as good as claimed, the prices were ridiculously high.

I'll never know whether or not we would have been successful with the product, but as we all discovered over the next six months, Setton was a very tough sell in New England. Then, once the Lafayette connection was revealed, most dealers in the area dropped the line entirely.

No matter how good the Setton separates were, they looked very much like TOTL Kenwood units, and lacked the unique appearance of Luxman products, which Setton targeted itself against. Could Setton ever have been truly successful? Unfortunately, no one will ever know.

Tough sell is right. I was lucky enough to obtain an original Setton sales brouchure and it was one of the poorest written marketing pieces I have ever read.

yeah, no kidding!

the manuals are VERY poorly written too. I was just thumbing through my BS-5500 and TUS-600 manuals, and there are spelling errors, run-on sentences, fragments, and missing punctuation. very poorly worded too.

but, hey, the gear is hella cool! and i sure don't have many complaints about proformance!

Well, all is not lost! I have come across a Setton repair specialist located in California. It seems this fellow had some sort of relationship with the SETTON/ Lafayette connection and still brings these units back from the dead.

Not to give any FREE advertising to him here. Just PM me and for the SETTONITE's out there, I will give the info.

I only wish my RS-440 was a little more substantial to get it out of the garage. But with a Sansui G901(G9000) and Kenwood KR-9050 in the "rack", this little guy just can't pay the entrance fees given it's performance shortcomings versus present company.

But is soooo nice looking! Why not? It was designed by Pierre Cardin!

any takers for the garage orphan?

According to one of the links provided by Clint E., it was not.

they were designed by Alain Carre of the Pierre Cardin Organization.