2. amps-preamps
  3. 195069-53619

Old SS amps

What are people's experiences with old SS amps. And I'm talking old like close to 20 years. I guess this can be called vintage(though to me it's yesterday.)

 

Either you bought it new and have had it that long or you bought it used.

Is buying it used a really bad idea even though it was owned by one person with no service issues? Like an old Pass.

I hear something about capacitators needing to be replaced. Should it be avoided like the plague? Am very interested in one but don't want to be stuck with a cat in a sack.

Thanks for any thoughts.

roxy1927
ghdprentice
7,962 posts
 

They are excellent to use as a trade-in. If a classic, sometimes you can get back nearly as much as you paid for it. I had a Pass X350 which I got all but $500 back after nearly 20  years. What a great investment. 

 

I got a significant trade-in for my Threshold s/500 as well. 

roxy1927 OP
141 posts
 

So at 20 years there was still a market for it so that people were not reluctant to purchase it?

dill
2,578 posts
 

20 years is not old for high-end quality amp and replacing the capacitators is not a big deal. You can have it done at a reasonable cost, many times locally. Over the years, I have had at least a dozen amps recapped. 

jwei
183 posts
 

I bought an Acoustic Research Amp new in 1969.  I recently gave it to one of my sons and it is working OK, though probably out of spec given the age of the electronics.

I have an ADCOM GFA1 I bought new in the late 1970s in storage I use for backup when needed. 

I have two Carver M 500t amps circa early 1980s currently in service in an office system and in an AV system for surrounds.  Both were bought used.

Not to mention more recent buys.

noromance's avatar
noromance
10,174 posts
 

Vintage? Dude, vintage is 1960s tube amps.

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