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Old Amps that can still Kick Butt

Not being a believer that time necessarily = progress, I would like to offer the following example of a sonic gem that has transcended time and can totally kick butt in a modern milieu:

The Robertson 4010. I got one of these about two years ago because it was in immaculate condition, the price was so low and I was inquisitive. I hooked it up and let it warm up for a couple of days. OMG this thing was in the super amp league: Transparency to die for, slam that you couldn‘t‘ believe for for a 50W amp.. Peter Moncrieffe wasn‘t wrong in his review of this amp: this thing is in the Sterreophile Class A component category hands down. Even after all these years.

What amps have you encountered that have defied time and can still kick butt today?


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Showing 2 responses by n80

n80
2,107 posts
 
Maybe not 'vintage' but I still like the way my Madrigal Proceed HPA2 drives my similar era Aerial Acoustic 7B towers. They need a lot of horsepower and the Proceed seems to deliver.

But my breadth of experience is....narrow.


Regardless, I feel no impulse or need to upgrade. Even if I could afford to.
n80
2,107 posts
 
@atmasphere said: "Most of the amps listed here will sound fine at low volume. But if you want to blast they’ll get painful. The mark of a good system is one that sounds smooth and detailed (not brightness masquerading as detail) even at high volume."

I do not disagree because I simply don't have the experience to do so (and I do not have golden ears) but I will say that my Proceed HPA2 mentioned above, driving the Aerial Acoustic 8Bs through an AR LS-16 tube preamp sounds good as high as I care to crank it before the neighbors start to complain.  Remarkably, it sounds pretty good at lower volumes as well. There is no point in the volume range where they get too bright or too muddy for that matter. But, as @sameyers1 mentioned these speakers and this amp seem to have been made for each other.


The one exception is overly DR compressed recordings. The louder they get the worse they sound.....on all but my lowest end systems.

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