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Old Amp vs. New Amp

Hi All!

I'm in search of a new amplifier and I am looking at new amps as well as older used amps.  There is some really great older gear out there for very reasonable prices, and of course the new stuff is considerably more expensive.

Is newer stuff really any better than some of the great older gear from the 90's and early 00's?

Opinions?
petrela

Showing 2 responses by randy-11

randy-11
1,913 posts
 
some newer amps have newer circuit designs - e.g. for SS, the rise of MOSFETs (some time ago); Class D (nad M22 and others) and the Benchmark (one of the newest designs I've seen)

for tubes, ARC continues to refine their sound & maybe others have too

whatever you have now, I'd buy something I could listen to for 2 to 4 weeks and return 

start working on a list of test music now

your amp exists to drive your speakers - what are they?  and what is their impedance vs. freq. curve like??
randy-11
1,913 posts
 
the nad M22 is Class D and seems quite ready for prime time

there are newer designs such as Class G etc. - one should investigate and use listening tests even if ignorant of advances in electronics in the last decade or two

I do find it useful to buy things used and a few years after the fad crowd has moved on to newer stuff...
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