Recap my ailing Forte 4a?


Any advice on whether I ought to upgrade my Forte rather than identify a newer design as a replacement? The rebuild will run me around $850 with shipping costs. I was considering a used Classe but it would be at least twice the price. My 25yr old Bryston 2B, which has been temporarily pressed into service, just doesn’t cut it.
kebslew
A good idea.  You already have a number of potential buyers who posted on this thread if you do decide to sell down the road!

for $850 after the repair and upgrade, you cannot beat that amp for the price.  Unless you are  seriously considering spending quite a bit more money for another amp, I would keep that amp and upgrade/repair it for that costs.

Again, if you have the money, then by all means, consider another amp.  If you are staying in the used category and still want solid  state, then for around the $2000 category, recapped mark Levinson ML3 (yes I recently sold one), classe 201 and 301 amps are very nice, and there are many others, including Threshold, Bedini to name a few.

These are relatively easy to work on by a good technician.

Don't stress over this.  Even if you repair/upgrade  the amp and decide later you want to sell it, you won't have much trouble selling it for a good price.

So, do what's comfortable for you and enjoy.

"Don't stress over this."
I love it – I won't. And I will be upgrading the amp and giving it a long audition after it's broken in again. Thanks for the help with this decision — seems now like a no brainer.