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
I'm using a 3150 in my current system. Like another poster mentioned, the spring behind the power switch failed so I keep it in the on position permanently and control on and off from a power strip. I in face purchased an Odyssey Khartago ++ (basically a Stratos in a Khartago case) and although excellent, I prefer the Perreaux. It drove my Magnepan 1.6 speakers beautifully. It's a steal at what it's going for used. I'd love to have it refurbished if anyone knows a good resource.

To:

@almarg

I just wanna follow-up on this power amp since I picked up one not too long ago and I need to know more about the amp. I was trying to get the schematic for mine and I notice my amp is slightly different for other 1150B I’ve seen from other amps in the PCB layout. even the power transistors doesn’t have a number in it. Any inputs would be great. Here is the picture link below.

https://i.postimg.cc/gc3zdPV4/SAM-2077.jpg

https://i.postimg.cc/Kj7x5nGC/SAM-2079.jpg

https://i.postimg.cc/tTxXYKLq/SAM-2081.jpg

https://i.postimg.cc/ZnzJ3fSr/SAM-2084.jpg


" I have, the Perreaux PMF-1150B originally sold for $1150 (the same as the model number!), in 1982-1985 dollars.

Also, IIRC, Perreaux’s "B" series models, including this one, corrected some significant sound quality issues that were present in the pre-"B" models."