Threshold, Levinson, Bryston, Krell, ?others? used amps



Hi All.  I'm looking for a bang for the buck, diamond in the rough, 200-ish WPC power amp that will hang really tough with what's out there today in the vintage or recently new realm.  Trying to keep $$$ under 2K.  I currently own a Nakamichi PA-7 (Nelson Pass Stasis design).  Looking for an amp that is great at doing the disappearing act, smooth sounding, but not colored, and with lots of authority.  I realize that there are as many opinions on this as stars in the night sky but thought I would ask anyway.  Been considering a Threshold S/500, Levinson 23.5, Bryston 4B family.  Any standouts that I should try to find?  Let's hear from you.
mjt_tx
I've owned a Nak PA-7aii for a few weeks and the ML 23.5 twice now for 15 years.  It wasn't even close.  The 23.5 is the best amp for Maggies and this was the word from Steve Whiney.  I have Tympani 1-d's and JBL Hartsfields.  Funny thing, I ran the Hartsfields with a Marantz 8b for 10 years straight and put the 23.5 in it's place recently.  There was little difference sonically, other than better bass control.  Apparently, the 23.5 is biased for the first few watts in class A.  It is simply one of the very best SS amps ever made.  Look to pay $2,800.  Now about those ML2's...
Another shout for a Mark Levinson 23.5 and also the 27.5. I own both. They will hold their own against many modern amps costing many times more.

But? These monsters are now ancient and need servicing and probably recapping at great additional expense. Also finding someone trustworthy to do it is a problem.
The smaller ML27.5 blew up spectacularly, complete with awesome pops, bangs, smoke and smell. I emailed Daniel Hertz who is Mark Levinson's new business name, not to do the repair but to recommend someone who could. Got no reply, so good luck with any repairs needed. My ML23.5 now has humm and needs attention. A readable schematic could not be found on the net.

The ML23.5 was chosen after listening to Krell, Aragon, Threshold and others and I would love to restore it to optimum working condition but fearful of wasting more money.

There is one brand seldom mentioned and which I have owned and can thoroughly recommend is anything from James Bongiorno. Look out for the original GAS Son of Ampzilla or his later Sumo The Nine (60W pure class A) or the updated and superb Son of Ampzilla II and his last effort before he passed away, Spread Spectrum Technology,


I personally like Bedini amps. I owned the original 200/200 pure class A, this amp was good to 1.5 ohms. I ran it on the Infinity Servo Static 1A electrostats and the original Martin Logan CLS for 40 years with no problems. I also have the original 25/25  pure class A and the 10/10 class A, which I have also had for 40 years with every day use. These amps sound better than most solid state amps and hold up.

Pyramid Audio in Austin Texas,  is an authorized service center for ML gear.  They have the experience and knowledge required to fix any of the ML gear mentioned thus far.  No vested interest in Pyramid Audio,  I'm a very satisfied customer. 

Good luck, 
Jose 
Agree with Bedini, older Adcom, and Classe (older true Class A versions) that will drive just about anything.  I also agree that getting servicing on such amps is getting harder and harder to find, and some of those true class A amps are really heavy buggers (over 100 lbs.) so shipping isn't fun or cheap.

If you go that way, be aware that the ratings for Class A outputs are deceptive. I had my 45 watt amps driving the hell out of Apogee Scintillas which are a 1 ohm load and I still use one to drive original ML CLS, a fairly tough load and pretty low sensitivity speaker..