Vintage Amps for Thiel 1.5

Ok an update:

I did a little more reading on McCormack, Bryston, and Pass, and dug up the service manual of my Sony just out of curiosity to see how their designs compare.

The Sony service manual has more detailed specs than I had seen elsewhere and, as it turns out, my TA-1150 can actually put out 55w into 4 ohms when using one channel at a time, as I do. And it appears it was ahead of its time circuit design-wise. The specs are actually stellar by mid 70's standards, some even by today's standards. Signal to noise = 110dB! Damping factor = 100! Distortion better than McIntosh of the time.

So I decided to give my amp another sniff before throwing it out with last week's vegetables. I noticed the power amp input impedance is the same as the preamp aux input impedance, so I connected my DAC directly to the power amp section and switched it to separate. Lo and behold the dynamics are now excellent. Startling. Bass has more speed and power and treble sounds a little more smooth and precise. Imaging was already great but is now remarkable--glass removed from the window.

I am still using the sub, but I tried switching it off and I didn't lose any punch, just sub bass extension. I could live without it. 

I'm going to guess the filter caps in my preamp need replacing. Makes sense considering their age. 

I'll keep tabs on those other amps on here and Ebay in case any rare deals pop up, but for now I think I can live with running my DAC direct into the power amp, and switching back to integrated when I want to use the phono input. This sounds good enough that I want to get on with it and listen to music.

Listening now to the Evergreen Club Gamelan: Road to Ubud. I've performed in different gamelan ensembles for years and this is what it sounds like when you're there. Stunning.

When I had Thiels I used a Forte 4A. Pure claas A amp 50 wpc into 8 ohms and 100 wpc into 4 ohms also in Class A. Also the Forte 6 is very good an A/B amp 200 wpc into 8 ohms and 350 wpc into 4 ohms. The first ten watts are Class A.

Very sweet! aalden

IME, Sony / Sony ES has built some of the best Audio gear over the years.
Every once in a while, the company, will build a real "sleeper" of a product that flies under every radar. Sounds like you have found yours.
Keep me posted.
Happy Listening!

aalden-
how is your amp performing? Give us an update.
Happy Listening!