Wow some of you are running 30 years old amps...I have Naim components from 2004 and it seems they are in need of a rebuilt according to many owners and sellers....Gee, they don’t tell you that in the sale pitch...They still sound good to me...Had Meridian 101/105 from the early 80 and these sounded great.
Amps from the 1980's -- What gear holds up sonically? Reliably?
Hi Everyone,
For me, the 1980s were a real "golden age" of amplifiers. Dr. Leach’s paper on building a low TIM amplifier had been widely distributed and relied on by budding designers, and lots of boutique brands came. It was also the era of the biggest of the Conrad Johsnon tube amps as well and the invention of the MOSFET.
For me, brands I cared about:
I’m curious who is still listening to these vintage pieces, and which brands you think have stood up both in terms of reliability and / or sonics ?
For me, the 1980s were a real "golden age" of amplifiers. Dr. Leach’s paper on building a low TIM amplifier had been widely distributed and relied on by budding designers, and lots of boutique brands came. It was also the era of the biggest of the Conrad Johsnon tube amps as well and the invention of the MOSFET.
For me, brands I cared about:
- Threshold
- Sumo
- Perreaux (New Zealand, very pretty)
- Tandberg
- Hitachi
- Kyocera
- Nikko
- Krell (of course)
- CJ
- ARC
- Yamaha (professional)
- Carver
- Mark Levinson
- Amber
- Tandberg
I’m curious who is still listening to these vintage pieces, and which brands you think have stood up both in terms of reliability and / or sonics ?