McCormack. I have (had) a DNA-1 Deluxe that I bought in the mid-90s, but iirc his designs pre-date that. Awesome amp which I used for 20 years but it just broke. I could do the SMc Audio gold upgrade on it for $1800 and basically get a brand new amp, arguably as good as anything built up to about $5k. I'm going for something else (new Odyssey Khartago SE++) instead to save about $800, but I am going to miss the DNA.
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:
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 ?
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
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 ?
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- 165 posts total
- 165 posts total