My first stereo was an Altec-Lansing 911A compact in 1972 for $419 (about $2160 in today's money). It aspired to rare heights for a compact--it incorporated a (slightly de-tuned) Altec 44 wpc receiver, Garrard SL95B (their top line consumer deck until the Zero 100), Shure M93ED, and Altec 887A speakers, an 8" 2-way sealed cab. The tuner section was excellent and the amp section wasn't too shabby either.
A couple years later I was working at a hi-fi store in SoCal where our amps were Phase Linear (we needed their 700 to power the Ohm F's), Accuphase, Marantz Pro (a good lie at the time), Crown, and a few SAE's left over.
One day We hosted a Marantz clinic where an audio engineer would measure (for free) power and distortion on any unit you could lug in. I proudly brought in my Altec 911 and was disappointed to find that its 44 wpc at mid-band dropped off to 27 wpc at 20 Hz. Turns out Altec had shrunk the power supply (compared to the receiver it was based on) to fit it in the cabinet with the turntable.
There was an orphan pair of entry-level SAE components back in the storeroom--the Mk XXX preamp and the Mk XXXIB power amp. I picked those up and started using them instead. The amp was rated at around 50 wpc but the tests at the time indicated it put out more like 70, but the cool thing is it had textbook square wave response (even better than the Crown) in the bass. You could really hear that--any speaker it powered had cleaner, tighter, more extended bass with this thing than with a receiver.
SAE was also founded by James Bongiorno who founded G.A.S. and also co-designed the Dynaco 400. As I remember it, however, the treble was a bit hot. Still, I wonder how much our perception of the separates of the time is influenced by the way we used them. We had no awareness of a "burn-in" period, let alone a warmup period for solid state. We plugged things in and immediately started evaluating them. Now I never turn my power amp off, and it was pretty edgy when I first plugged it in and turned it on.
I also had the privilege of meeting John Iverson and spending a day with him as he demonstrated his incredible A-75 class A power amp into his own speakers. Until that day I'd never known that hi-fi could do *that*!
Currently my #1 power amp is just past the '70s--the 1981 Heathkit AA-1600. I got it used for $239 and it makes my jaw drop. Just two years into the '80s, it is so far beyond the amps of the '70s. It reminds me a lot of the 1990-ish Jeff Rowland Design Group amps.
A couple years later I was working at a hi-fi store in SoCal where our amps were Phase Linear (we needed their 700 to power the Ohm F's), Accuphase, Marantz Pro (a good lie at the time), Crown, and a few SAE's left over.
One day We hosted a Marantz clinic where an audio engineer would measure (for free) power and distortion on any unit you could lug in. I proudly brought in my Altec 911 and was disappointed to find that its 44 wpc at mid-band dropped off to 27 wpc at 20 Hz. Turns out Altec had shrunk the power supply (compared to the receiver it was based on) to fit it in the cabinet with the turntable.
There was an orphan pair of entry-level SAE components back in the storeroom--the Mk XXX preamp and the Mk XXXIB power amp. I picked those up and started using them instead. The amp was rated at around 50 wpc but the tests at the time indicated it put out more like 70, but the cool thing is it had textbook square wave response (even better than the Crown) in the bass. You could really hear that--any speaker it powered had cleaner, tighter, more extended bass with this thing than with a receiver.
SAE was also founded by James Bongiorno who founded G.A.S. and also co-designed the Dynaco 400. As I remember it, however, the treble was a bit hot. Still, I wonder how much our perception of the separates of the time is influenced by the way we used them. We had no awareness of a "burn-in" period, let alone a warmup period for solid state. We plugged things in and immediately started evaluating them. Now I never turn my power amp off, and it was pretty edgy when I first plugged it in and turned it on.
I also had the privilege of meeting John Iverson and spending a day with him as he demonstrated his incredible A-75 class A power amp into his own speakers. Until that day I'd never known that hi-fi could do *that*!
Currently my #1 power amp is just past the '70s--the 1981 Heathkit AA-1600. I got it used for $239 and it makes my jaw drop. Just two years into the '80s, it is so far beyond the amps of the '70s. It reminds me a lot of the 1990-ish Jeff Rowland Design Group amps.