Have you ever heard about Wingate?

Many years ago in So. Jersey, I went to an audio show and in one of the room there was a Wingate amp. Having only seen the nice magazines ads, I really wanted to hear this amp. All I remember was how obnoxious the Wingate rep was. A young kid who played it at such headbanging loud levels, you really couldn't enjoy it. He would turn it down for like 20 seconds then jack it back up again and marvel at how dynamic and clean sounding the amp was....frustrated, I left the room after a few minutes and have never seen one on the used market since....

A friend owned a Wingate in the late 80's and into the early 90's. A very impressive amp and one that I wished I could afford at the time. Haven't heard much about them in the interim years...so I will be following this thread closely.

http://www.stereophile.com/search/node/Wingate

I recall the amplifier as having been favorably reviewed by Stereophile (maybe Dick Olsher?) in the mid-80s, but for some reason I seem to recall some caveat about it that may have cropped up after the review (I could be wrong). If anyone has some old Stereophiles (I gave mine away years ago) they night be able to help.

I clearly remember a full page ad for their class A amplifier on the inside cover of the Absolute Sound many years ago. It had a gold anodized faceplate, and it was really beautiful. I have thought of them at times, but have never seen one on the used market. They must have gone out of business before they produced many units.