Best vintage amps (late 70s / early 80s) under $3k?

I am not familiar with your speakers, and based on the name description, cannot find them on the net. I have owned the Pioneer Series 20 M22 and know it well. Does the amp clip ? 30 watts of class a power should be ok, even with your speakers, particularly in a smaller room. Can’t take the heat.....well..........try a Nuforce STA 200, on sale for $499. at AA. It is a sleeper. But, when you receive it, let it break in for a few hundred hours ( never turn it off, and leave a tuner playing, in mono, when not home ). Read about it first, as it is high gain with a low input sensitivity. And, I believe you can return it. I know some folks who own it ( as I do ). Enjoy ! MrD.

I do not believe a vtg McIntosh ss amp is as good sounding as the M22, given my own ownership and listening experiences. I gave you a solid recommendation. Enjoy ! MrD.

Pts, I wonder if any of the amps, posters are recommending, are amps that are stationary in their main listening rooms ? I know they were good in their day ( most have passed through my rooms ), but they do not compare to an M22. Get the Nuforce STA 200, and if you do not like it, return it. I rid myself of many amps this past year because of this " little " guy. I did not design it, nor do I have any affiliation with the company, but it sounds musical on several speakers I currently own, and I tried it on some other systems at some friends houses. Enjoy ! MrD.

pts....you can look for a Pioneer Series 20 M25, which shares the family sound with the M22, but having both, I would still stick with the M22. Once you go class A, it is hard for your ears to adjust to anything else. You and I both know the sonic wonder of the M22. There was a poster ( porsche something ) on the Tekton Double Impact thread that used an M22, and found something else to replace it, but if I remember correctly, it was also heat producing. I will gladly purchase your M22 when you are ready to sell, lol. P.S. : When I owned my M22, and I had a few of them, I changed out the ac cord to a much heavier gauge, it it made a wonderful improvement. I also believe the bias can be reset, taking it out of class A, and giving it more output, which is something to consider. Good Luck....Enjoy ! MrD.

To pryso : I believe your question was for timlub. And yes, it was ( and still is ) class A. To pts : the power cord matters on all equipment, whether it drops voltage, or not. Enjoy ! MrD.

tomic601, I have no doubt you use your CC2 sometimes, and I know it well. It is not to the level of whatever " main " amp you are using, or you would be using it in your main system. Most of the amps mentioned in this thread, and a point I made, is that none of these amps that are mentioned, are amplifiers that are used as the " primary " amp in the main systems by all of the posters, including the many amps " I still own ". Enjoy ! MrD.. 

@bcaudio. Hafler DH 500 was mentioned by timlub. To the OP : Fast transient focus ? A definitive characteristic of live, unamplified music. Keep the M22 and ask Atmasphere how to control the heat issue, as he mentioned. Enjoy ! MrD.

@tomic601. I am not looking at any of this as an argument. To everyone else. I owned, and enjoyed, the Pioneer M22. And, my recommendation of the Nuforce is a sensible one, and in my experience, it betters many things mentioned here, and that is suitable to the desires of pts, without having to spend up to 3K, and without producing heat. I have owned every manufacturer mentioned ( with the exception of Atmosphere ), and many models from all of them. I like this Nuforce amp, as I bought it for the shits and giggles of it, at the $499 price. After a few hundred hours of constant music playing through it, I was quite impressed. I have tried it with several different types of speakers, and now run it exclusively through my mains ( 104 db horns ). There is no amp from my past I wish to own again. Not my Krell, not my CJ, not my AR, not my Stasis, not my M22, nor any from the above. I am curious as to why nobody mentioned McCormack. I am done with tubes, and I am done with Class A. All of those amps did a few things very well. This amp does all things very well. So, I recommend it. I sold 9 amplifiers from my collection this year, 6 of which brought me more than my $499., all because of this little fella. I do caution that it is high gain, with low input sensitivity, and only 80 wpc. I no longer need an amplifier that runs the equivalent to 4 or 5 incandescent light bulbs. I have a stove top for my eggs. I am happy listening. Although the STA200 is not class D, I do feel class D is the future, so why go backwards. I am not making the claim that it is the end all, for all people, but anyone I have spoken to who owns one ( some based on my recommendation ), loves theirs. Thank you, Enjoy ! MrD.

pts : Good luck........Enjoy ! Mrd.