I received a Setton RS-440 from SoCal Sam!!!!

I took it all apart and cleaned it up. it's not the easiest receiver to clean, esp the tone controls. they are hidden behind a bunch of other stuff, so i really did some surgery.

Now, it's all cleaned and put back together. looks great and sounds great!!!!


I will post pics when I get a chance. I'm very busy right now though with school and my "cab building business". I now have a guy who wants me to build a case for his SX-1250, so he is sending me the stock case and Im using it as a template to build walnut one(s). I may make duplicates of the SX-1250 case and sell those too.


Sam: regarding the dent on the handle: I reversed the handles and faced the ding down and out on the right side, so it's hard to see. looks pretty minty now!!!!!
let me know when you receive the cases.

also, has the power switch ever been replaced? it feels like new, with that "clunky" solid feel--not loose or worn. musta not been used very much.

Impressions of the sound and proformance thus far:


funny, it's actually kind of hard to tell the difference between 75wpc and 120wpc. my BS-5500 with new PS caps and my 16.5 are clearly more powerful than the RS-440, but my stock BS-5500 and the RS-440 actually seem somewhat evenly powered.

as for the SQ--I have to do the same thing with this as I do with my 16.5 so make it sound right on the CS-99's. Crank the bass and turn the mid almost all the way down. the loudness button sorta does this too, but the bass is way too "boomy"--just using the tone controls works better.

the RS-440 seems to be able to go much louder than my pio SX-939 ever could, even though they are rated the same. maybe it's just that my ears are different now?


One of the most useful buttons that I have found on it is the "Audio Mute" aka the "-20db" button. when this is pushed the amp doesn't clip until it's turned all the way to 9 on average CD's. (almost fully clockwise) this way I can have full range use of the volume control. with the audio mute off it clips on the same CD at 12 o'clock position--I hate this.

here are a few pics:




as you can see in the pic below, the front panel ain't small. it's bigger than the 16.5. but, the RS-660 weighs less than half as much, at 32lbs vs. 67lbs.




the RS-440 is definately a keeper for me.