I have a pair of Ambers: the original preamp and the Series 70 amp. I purchased them three years ago from different EBay sellers. They remain awaiting installation (lack of space!) at my place. The Audio Critic liked the amp. The price was right for both so I had to grab them! I'm an optimist so I will assume that they will work ok after sufficient warmup! I have had good luck with my purchases of vintage gear!
Amber, anyone?
Remember Amber? Tony Cordsman's highly praising review made the Series 70 power amp very popular in the early Eighties, outgunning many of the earlier and big-name transistor amps of the period. Although rated at only 70wpc it put out closer to 90w at 8ohms and rates at 200wpc at 8 ohms when used as a monoblock. It featured two massive 32,000 mF capacitora as the centerpieces of its power supply.
I owned one at the time and sold it as a system along with Heil speakers and a Citation 11 preamp to my closests friends when I got the urge to try something, and it has been in constant use ever since and still sounds fantastic. Recently as part of my downsizing I sold my five home theatre Outlaw monoblocks and needed something to fill in until I can figure out what to make the permanent power amps in my main and secondary stereo systems. I happened to see an Amber for sale at an inexpensive price, so I took a chance. At first I wasn't impressed .... didn't sound as good as my friend's amp. Then I remembered the power supply capacitor, was fortunate enough to obtain a copy of the manual, and sure enough heeded the warning that the amp would take days to reform the capacitors, and should ideally always be left on. After a week of breakin, the beast sounds just like my friends. I was encouraged enough to take a chance on a second Amber (one of the later models with wooden end caps) for my other system. After breakin, similar results.
These amps have the clarity of vintage Audio Research and Conrad Johnson amplifiers. They have decent transparency (not great ... is there any vintage amp that does?). They are bright, but have no edge. Strings sound like strings, snare drum strikes like snare drum strikes, and cymbals like cymbals. Bass, of course, is excellent. And voices sound natural. At least that is my take, and at least one of the amps will stay in my system driving Thiel 2 2's. The other drives my 3.5's just fine, but may be replaced.
I am interested in what you'all might think of or have experienced with the amp. And of course, if any of you are still using one, as I now am.
I owned one at the time and sold it as a system along with Heil speakers and a Citation 11 preamp to my closests friends when I got the urge to try something, and it has been in constant use ever since and still sounds fantastic. Recently as part of my downsizing I sold my five home theatre Outlaw monoblocks and needed something to fill in until I can figure out what to make the permanent power amps in my main and secondary stereo systems. I happened to see an Amber for sale at an inexpensive price, so I took a chance. At first I wasn't impressed .... didn't sound as good as my friend's amp. Then I remembered the power supply capacitor, was fortunate enough to obtain a copy of the manual, and sure enough heeded the warning that the amp would take days to reform the capacitors, and should ideally always be left on. After a week of breakin, the beast sounds just like my friends. I was encouraged enough to take a chance on a second Amber (one of the later models with wooden end caps) for my other system. After breakin, similar results.
These amps have the clarity of vintage Audio Research and Conrad Johnson amplifiers. They have decent transparency (not great ... is there any vintage amp that does?). They are bright, but have no edge. Strings sound like strings, snare drum strikes like snare drum strikes, and cymbals like cymbals. Bass, of course, is excellent. And voices sound natural. At least that is my take, and at least one of the amps will stay in my system driving Thiel 2 2's. The other drives my 3.5's just fine, but may be replaced.
I am interested in what you'all might think of or have experienced with the amp. And of course, if any of you are still using one, as I now am.
7 responses Add your response