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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:

  • Threshold
  • Sumo
  • Perreaux (New Zealand, very pretty)
  • Tandberg
  • Hitachi
  • Kyocera
  • Nikko
  • Krell (of course)
  • CJ
  • ARC
  • Yamaha (professional)
  • Carver
  • Mark Levinson
  • Amber 
  • Tandberg
This was also the speaker era of Snell and Apogee and Martin Logan. I am not sure there would be a Krell today if it wasn't for Apogee's 1 ohm speakers.

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 ?
erik_squires

Showing 2 responses by rwwear

rwwear
2,898 posts
 
 jd157, you may be pleasantly surprised. The Krell SA-250 sounded great on a pair of A1s years ago. The Levinsons should too.

There's really nothing new in the amplifier word only better parts. An upgraded amp from years ago will probably sound as good as most new stuff and sometimes even better.
rwwear
2,898 posts
 
I still have the Krell KSA 250 that I spoke of above. I had it updated to a 250S, sold it bought a 700C, sold it and ended up with the 250 again after the owner died. I have been using it quite a bit although I have a pair of Citation IIs running in balanced mono, it still sounds great.
I also have a Yamaha CA 2010 that sounds super and a Mcintosh MA 6100, a Bryston 3B, Transcendence 400, Belles 1, a pair of Audionics and various other Yamaha receivers. There may be others.
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