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Unknown condition makes the price worth verifying, but at US$1,190 this is a strong deal: it sits just below the recent comparable 25th-percentile figure of US$1,195 and under the US$1,200 median. It is comfortably within the normal market rather than an ambitious ask, assuming the unit is complete and working properly.
The SA-5 is a well-regarded vintage hybrid tube preamp with an unusually capable phono stage, separate power supply, broad cartridge-gain options, and a spacious, refined presentation. Its age—an early-1980s design—makes service history, quiet operation, healthy tubes, and the original outboard supply especially important. If those basics check out, this is the kind of serious, characterful preamp that can make US$1,190 feel like a genuine buying opportunity rather than merely a fair used price.
Independent perspective — not a price guarantee. Always verify condition, accessories and provenance before purchase.
Counterpoint was a U.S. hi-fi brand founded in California in 1977, best associated with designer Michael Elliott, who joined the company in 1979 and became closely linked with its tube-era identity. The brand’s early history is tied to the rise of high-performance American audio in the late 1970s and 1980s, and its name still turns up often in discussions of classic tube gear. Counterpoint later filed for Chapter 11 in 1996, and the brand’s active era is generally described as running into the late 1990s.
Counterpoint was primarily known for preamplifiers, power amplifiers, and phono head amps, with a strong emphasis on vacuum-tube and hybrid designs. Its early products included the SA-1 tube preamp and SA-2 moving-coil head amp, and later models expanded into more elaborate preamps and amplifiers. While the company is sometimes mentioned alongside loudspeakers in historical summaries, its real reputation rests on amplification rather than speakers, turntables, DACs, headphones, or cables.
In the market, Counterpoint sits in the vintage high-end category rather than current mainstream hi-fi. It is a niche name today, valued mainly by collectors and enthusiasts who seek well-made American tube electronics from a period when the brand had a strong reputation for ambitious, hand-built sound. Used-market interest remains tied to model, condition, and whether the unit has been serviced, which is typical for older specialist audio brands.
See all Counterpoint listings on RADAR.
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