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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
Post removed 
glennewdick's avatar
glennewdick
1,500 posts
 
Pass labs stuff the big class A amps were great. Luxman the class A stuff the L560 I have recently had in my system and it was wonderful. Acuphase was mentioned as well. Classe dr stuff was good too 
j_stereo
130 posts
 
I also think the Onkyo Integra (M-504, M-506RS etc.) and Mitsubishi DA-Series amplifiers sounded quite respectable.
erik_squires OP
15,657 posts
 
So to all of us who are putting out amps from the 1980's we like...

care to make comparisons to current products?

Like the Nakamichi/Threshold / Pass crowd. How do those amps stand up today??
pryso
1,905 posts
 
As seen by the comments and OP, a long list of candidates.

I'm a little surprised by the omission of NAD.  I still use a 3020 to power the speakers with my flat screen TV.  I also still have a pair of Eagle/EKSC 400 monoblocs although I don't need them.  I believe they remain one of the best amps for speakers requiring high current so they are particularly good as subwoofer amps.  

In general I'll agree it was a golden era for decent products at affordable prices.
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