Best Vintage tube amp / preamp manufacturer

Ralph I have Harman Kardon old preamp citations and the amp.who does refurbish this units?

A Sansui AU 11 if originally offered as a model in the US will be a very nice Amp. 

My main experience is with  CD used as a Source. 

The in built Phonostage in use with a SUT, has also raised a few smiles from those who have heard this.

@koh_i_noor If you like the old ARC stuff (like the SP-3) then if you can find an H/K Citation 1 and have it refurbished you're in for a pleasant surprise. The weak bit about the Citation was its connectors (which were the only game out there at the time) aren't very nice. But otherwise I think its a better preamp.

Audio research.

I have a Citation I and an MC275, both modded/restored by my buddy Mike Samra. Incredible pieces, I recently went speaker shopping and none of the $$$ demo pre’s and power amps did much to make me long for newer gear. I recently retubed the preamp’s line section with Mullards from Jim McShane. 

I have an use a 1961 MC240 that was significantly modified by Mike Samra. IMO some of the best output transformers ever made.. IF you want to hear what your gear is capable of, modern power supply bridge / caps / regulation, pristine nos tubes, great coupling and interstage caps and importantly isolation… even the dense 50# MC240 greatly benefits, i use HRS.

I worked on a lot when I was putting myself thru college working as a service technician.

The best preamp from that time for me has been the Citation 1 preamp from Harmon Kardon. I prefer it to both the Marantz 7 preamp and the Mac stuff. I don't know of a solid state preamp from that period that was really in the running; the best of those I worked on was the old Accuphase, which in my impression was built a lot better than it sounded, although it didn't sound bad. Of course this assumes that the equipment is properly refurbished.

The best power amp of that period also seems to be an HK- the Citation 2 although I never liked the power supply in that amp as it needs proper attention to detail when rebuilding it. If properly refurbished it easily kept up with ARC of the period, as well as anything from Mac or Marantz. None of the solid state amps of that era were on the same level, although some of them were quite interesting simply out of what they accomplished at the time. Semiconductors were not up to snuff in the 1960s and barely so in the early 1970s. Funny though, the colorations of early semiconductor effects pedals for guitar make them really popular and collectable nowadays.

With Western Electric, it is both sound and collector value that makes its gear so expensive.  The circuits tend to be simple and one can find clones made with modern parts.  Many such clones sound quite good, but, when one hears a vintage amp in good condition, or clones using expensive original parts, it is clear that the quality of the parts sets their gear apart.

What distinguishes Western Electrics is the terrific sounding midrange and very dynamic, yet natural sound.  The downside of the sound is a soft, somewhat restricted top end and a lack of extreme bottom end extension too.  

Why are Western Electric so expensive?  Is it primarily collectibility or

sound?
 

Dynaco was likely never considered "best" in sheer performance, but it could certainly be argued that they were best bang for the buck.  Very good gear for the money... they sold a boatload, and are still somewhat relevant today.

Eico, Scott, Stromberg Carlson all had a presence too.

Thanks for the responses.
I currently have in my collection the following

Macintosh C 20

McIntosh C 22,  

MX 110 Z restored 

MC30’s restored

MC 225 restored

MC 240. Restored
Fisher 202 T. Restored

Fisher X 100 Restored

I run them with

Tannoy MG 12’s restored

AR LST2’s restored

many others speakers along the road.  

I love them all. It’s hard to say what I like most. I think the C20 may be the best of the pre amps, for my ears anyways, and it’s unrestored. I hesitate to have it restored. At normal listening levels I find the amps don’t make that much of a difference. The Fisher X 100 with a Hammond Transformer really has something special. It can be a little loose in the bottom end but that can be tweaked with the bass knob.  I’ve had friends come over and say Wow, that old thing is making that sound!  Lol. . Go figure…. The cheapest one of the bunch. Great vintage gear just has a look and feel of quality.
One thing I will add about this high end vintage gear is this. I also have a top-of-the-line digital Meridian system with analogue capabilities. The vintage gear  easily keeps up with it in everything other than the low end of the Meridian at higher volumes. it really is quite spectacular. But I would sooner look at my vintage gear any day of the week. So for me  it really is a tossup between the two age groups. 
 

PK

Western Electric, Northern Electric, RCA, Marantz, Sansui are some of the old tube gear makers who made good stuff way back.  I own custom made amps and a linestage made with vintage parts from such gear (mainly Western Electric transformers, caps and tubes).  But somewhat oddly, it is a solid state component from the past that I want—the Lyra Connoisseur phono stage.

Western Electric, Northern Electric, RCA, Marantz, Sansui are some of the old tube gear makers who made good stuff way back.  I own custom made amps and a linestage made with vintage parts from such gear (mainly Western Electric transformers, caps and tubes).  But somewhat oddly, it is a solid state component from the past that I want—the Lyra Connoisseur phono stage.

Western Electric, Northern Electric, RCA, Marantz, Sansui are some of the old tube gear makers who made good stuff way back.  I own custom made amps and a linestage made with vintage parts from such gear (mainly Western Electric transformers, caps and tubes).  But somewhat oddly, it is a solid state component from the past that I want—the Lyra Connoisseur phono stage.

I had collected a few Fishers, 0ne 800C, the Executive came out of a big console I bought just to get it.

which is a Fisher 500C with an AM Tuner added. I traded it with Bill (member here) for a Mitsubishi Vertical Turntable LT-5V

I had 3 Fisher 500C: 1 I was given and used, cleaned it up and Steve made me sell it to him; 2nd I traded something to get it; 3rd for parts to get a transformer because I had let my friend use 1 of my transformers from 2nd one many years ago. 2nd and 3rd are with Steve at VAS to get 2nd one ready for sale, 3rd will be spare parts.

The Fishers, when all parts, pots, switches cleaned and lubed, all tubes ok: sound very good and are very quiet.

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My most favorite Vintage piece is my current McIntosh Tube Tuner and Preamp, mx110z. Same thing, clean everything, dead quiet, wonderful sound.

Like Charleston Heston, you will have to pry it from my cold dead hands.

However, the rear jacks corrode, and are a speck undersized. Audio Classics changed all the RCA Jacks to new Gold Plated Ones.

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My friend has a few Sherwood pieces, his are gorgeous, many have visual problems

Marantz, Dynaco, HH Scott, Harmon Kardon, all were competition, I never owned or heard any of them.

hifishark.com, the prices tell you a lot about what holds it’s value, and why. some of course, are crazy. tube preamps sorted by price

https://www.hifishark.com/search?q=vintage+tube+preamp