The pleasure you derive from your vintage Heathkit proves my longstanding point that one does not have to spend mega bucks unless one wants to and has that kinda cash, to get very pleasing sound from a piece of audio equipment. My equipment is either 20 years old or close to it. The power amp and CD player don't have the panache names from the high end but they perform very very well. I carefully research all my pieces and then get the best for the buck and I have. Good for you!
Any love for the Heathkit AA-1600 power amp?
I just picked up a 1981-era Heathkit AA-1600 power amp from my local audio store. I decided to give it a try against my 1986 VSP Labs TransMOS 150, hoping to get a little more detail and clarity without sacrificing liquidity and body.
A few hours of warmup is showing this to be a stupid smart buy at $219! I've heard a lot of more costly amps that don't TOUCH this thing. Images float in space, it's very linear and uncolored, and musically it fleshes things out very well.
I'm keeping this one; gonna replace the wimpy captive cord with an IEC socket. Anyone out there have any experience with the AA-1600 or its big brother AA-1800? If you encounter a working one, BUY IT!
A few hours of warmup is showing this to be a stupid smart buy at $219! I've heard a lot of more costly amps that don't TOUCH this thing. Images float in space, it's very linear and uncolored, and musically it fleshes things out very well.
I'm keeping this one; gonna replace the wimpy captive cord with an IEC socket. Anyone out there have any experience with the AA-1600 or its big brother AA-1800? If you encounter a working one, BUY IT!
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