2. amps-preamps
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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? :)
johnnyb53

Showing 1 response by runnin

runnin
397 posts
 
Buying a 30 yr old amp is buying something that will break down soon, may not be running within spec any more and is just risky in my opinion.

I've owned 3 Emotiva products, including one of their XPA amps. They can suffer from solid state harshness with some speakers, I actually got sibilance, high frequency distortion at higher volumes with my speakers. I eventually sold that amp. The XPA-200 has a small transformer, something many of Emotiva's designs have.

Is there a 3rd option? Surely there is an amp 10 years old or so that you may find for sale. Or a new Parasound A23 for 950. They go on sale on Audio Advisor occasionally. I've got the A21, and compared it to my Emotiva amp. Superior sounding easily.

There's an A23 for sale on Audiogon, worth a look.
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