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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!
johnnyb53

Showing 1 response by syhilly

syhilly
38 posts
 
I second your motion!!! i just picked up a heathkit aa1640 power amp in museum condition, not a mark on it.. it is amazing the sound quality from such an inexpensive piece of gear. I put it up against my consoncace cyberr 800 mono blocks that are tube and am amazed at how closely they resemble eachother in clarity , richness and spacial , also, the heathkit has the same sweetness as my tube amp, but can really shake it when i need the raw power!!!
just stunned!!1
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