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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
zadfrak's avatar
zadfrak
10 posts
 
How about a shout for Jeff Rowland? His equipment was just tougher to see at the audio stores back then.
oddiofyl's avatar
oddiofyl
3,450 posts
 
I had a Carver  my 1.5t,  but my first real amps were in the late 80's  B&K  M200 Sonata mono amps.....
bdp24's avatar
bdp24
9,411 posts
 
For solid state, the Electron Kinetics Eagle 2 and Bedini 25/25. For an amp with the power of the above-mentioned Adcom 555 but with far better sound, the PS Audio 200C. Plus, it doesn't blow up speakers as the Adcom is notorious for doing.
asvjerry's avatar
asvjerry
4,263 posts
 
I used to own a pair of Kenwood L-07 monoblocks that were sweet.  Clean, clear, and strong enough for the space and my taste of the era.

Let them go in a 'momentary lapse of reason'....we all seem to have those on occasion. *L*
sfall
346 posts
 
" The best thing about the 80's was you you afford the equipment you read about in Stereo Review and The Absolute Sound. "

Not if you had a coke problem.
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