If you've done your research on the PMF-1150B, you're aware of it's reputation as a truly hi-end product. The Emotiva is not. It's not old enough technically to not still fulfill that role. It's definitely still competitive. However, it won't perform to it's potential unless you have it rebuilt. Doing so will render it better than new because of higher grade parts now available. Cost is probably around 4-500.00. Now you have an amp that will compete with anything up to about 12-15000.00. Good for at least another 20 years. Well worth the effort. I had a PMF1850B I recently bought for 700.00 and paid 350.00 to rebuild it. It's a simple, elegant design with minimal parts to replace. It's a fabulous amp. Very fast and clean. No detectable IMD. Great extension/resolution, and so, very musical. No sense of distance. The music is right up front. But, you really have to do your homework in choosing a technician. You need someone who is capable of doing much more than just replace parts and first and foremost their heart has to be in it. I have numerous amps I've had this done with and am not sorry for a single one.
Legendary used amp, or economical new one?
This past week a couple of my 30-yr-old vintage amps went awry. One, a VSP Labs TransMOS 150 developed a loud hum and got smokin' hot before I shut it off. The other, a Heathkit AA-1600, lost the left channel.
I may get them fixed, possibly to keep as backup or to sell, but I've come across yet another, a 100 wpc ultra-wide bandwidth Perreaux amp, also from the mid-'80s. The Perreaux has some features I've always been curious about in an amp but couldn't afford in a new one--distortion at .009%, bandwidth out to 3Mhz, and the accompanying rise time below 1 microsecond. I'd love to see how all that speed and resolution translates into sound quality, spatial cues, low level detail, and pinpoint timing--key elements in musically involving.
But I don't know how rugged Perreaux gear is, and maybe for the same money I should settle for a new Emotiva XPA 200 or a much less used Odyssey Khartago or Stratos.
Thoughts? Feelings? Opinions? Condemnations? :)
I may get them fixed, possibly to keep as backup or to sell, but I've come across yet another, a 100 wpc ultra-wide bandwidth Perreaux amp, also from the mid-'80s. The Perreaux has some features I've always been curious about in an amp but couldn't afford in a new one--distortion at .009%, bandwidth out to 3Mhz, and the accompanying rise time below 1 microsecond. I'd love to see how all that speed and resolution translates into sound quality, spatial cues, low level detail, and pinpoint timing--key elements in musically involving.
But I don't know how rugged Perreaux gear is, and maybe for the same money I should settle for a new Emotiva XPA 200 or a much less used Odyssey Khartago or Stratos.
Thoughts? Feelings? Opinions? Condemnations? :)