20 Vintage Amps That Prove They Really Don’t Make Them Like They Used To

I owned two of the amps in the article-Harman Kardon Citation II, Dynaco Stereo 70. Compared to the amps I have now ARC, Unison, they are euphonic and transients are slower. They were also lacking in top end, but so were the speakers that were made during this period.

@wharfy Neither of those two amps above have a rolled off high end but apparently your speakers did. The HK had full power bandwidth well past 50KHz; the designer was big on bandwidth. The ST70 does quite well in that department too. 

@dynacohum Seconded! At 200 WPC of clean, crisp power, not to mention the black and white esthetic and those huge sexy meters, it was a great amp.

Pop had two systems, both powered by ARC D-150s. I TOLD him to call me if he ever was to move on from them as I'd match whatever he would get on a trade-in. He never called and needless to say I'm STILL mad at him! RIP pop...

Happy listening.

lol,

 I had an Ampzilla and the Son of Ampzilla.  I think I built everything Hafler ever put out. I still have a Dynaco  Phase 400 (For some reason).  All  were good in their time, but I’m not sure they’d stand up against today’s technology.

There are several very good Sansui’s.  AU’s 717,919, 7900, 9900, 777, 888, …

I am partial to the 5900 & 7900.  The 717 / 919 are very solid and the 777 / 888 are known to be warm and tubey.

Makes me wanna bring some old gear out of retirement.

@atmasphere said it all. I have owned Ralph Karsten’s Atma-Sphere M60, which I consider a far better amp than all those in the article. I have owned a Dynaco Stereo 70 and pair of Quad II’s, and my Music Reference RM-10 and RM-200 are quite a bit better than either of those amps. MR’s Roger Modjeski designed and started building the RM-10 and RM-200 in the 1990’s, and his equally good RM-9 (which I also own) in the 1980’s. No, they don’t build them like they used to; some are now built better than they used to be. By the way, Modjeski considered Julius Futterman a genius.