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Amps from the 1980's -- What gear holds up sonically? Reliably?

Hi Everyone,

For me, the 1980s were a real "golden age" of amplifiers. Dr. Leach’s paper on building a low TIM amplifier had been widely distributed and relied on by budding designers, and lots of boutique brands came. It was also the era of the biggest of the Conrad Johsnon tube amps as well and the invention of the MOSFET.

For me, brands I cared about:

  • Threshold
  • Sumo
  • Perreaux (New Zealand, very pretty)
  • Tandberg
  • Hitachi
  • Kyocera
  • Nikko
  • Krell (of course)
  • CJ
  • ARC
  • Yamaha (professional)
  • Carver
  • Mark Levinson
  • Amber 
  • Tandberg
This was also the speaker era of Snell and Apogee and Martin Logan. I am not sure there would be a Krell today if it wasn't for Apogee's 1 ohm speakers.

I’m curious who is still listening to these vintage pieces, and which brands you think have stood up both in terms of reliability and / or sonics ?
erik_squires

Showing 2 responses by harrylavo

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harrylavo
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Forgot to add .... whether or not the gear has been in frequent use is important to maintaining the condition of passive (and some other) parts. Perhaps as much or more as "brand".
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harrylavo
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Equipment I or my close friends have still in use .... Amber 70 amp (original condition), HK Citation 11 (original condition), Teac 7040 high speed two track tape deck (original condition), Teac 4070 consumer tape deck (just had minor servicing, first since I bought it in 1970), Audio Research SP6-B (in daily use from 1980 untill I sold it in 2007), Audio Research D90 (in daily use from 1980 until I sold it in 2007), Thiel 3.5 speakers (four, in use since 1989), Thiel 2 2's (two, in use since 1995), Audionics Bt-2 preamp and CC-2 power amp (I've owned six at one time or another in original condition, no problems with any an all sounded great although not with exceptionally low noise or transparency.  BTW, the CC-2 was THE FIRST low TIM amplifier).
Koss Pro 4aa headphones.  Heil AMT-1 speakers (with woofer suspension replacment).  Counterpoint SA-1000.

This is all gear that is up to modern standards and operating in substantially good systems.  Hope this helps.
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