Legendary used amp, or economical new one?

08-30-13: Csontos
If you've done your research on the PMF-1150B, you're aware of it's reputation as a truly hi-end product. The Emotiva is not.

And that's a perfect summary of my thought processes. I'm sure the Emotiva is a nice unit for the money, with all the fundamentals of high fidelity--20-20Khz, s/n of around 80 dB unweighted, high damping factor, etc.

But the Perreaux brings very high end things to the party--huge voltage swings, rise time under a microsecond, bandwidth out to 3Mhz, unweighted s/n closer to 100 dB. These (among other things) are elements that make an amplifier special, with that extra speed and clarity that can enhance musical satisfaction and involvement.

I have an Emotiva surround processor, and for $599 it's "nice" and finally brings lossless surround to my HT rig, but it doesn't knock my socks off. The 2-channel amp I'm looking for would anchor my analog rig, and I'm looking for total musical involvement.

... But, you really have to do your homework in choosing a technician. You need someone who is capable of doing much more than just replace parts and first and foremost their heart has to be in it. I have numerous amps I've had this done with and am not sorry for a single one.

A full refresh of the Perreaux with new parts would take care of my long term concerns. If you have any technicians to recommend, please PM me. From your statement it seems that it would be worth 2-way shipping if necessary.

Csontos, thanks for your information.

And thanks to everybody for putting in on this. Getting a new Emotiva for $449 w/5-yr warranty was a pretty compelling option. You may find this hard to believe, but the Emotiva's large footprint (it's deeper than my rack, which has a center column in the back) helped swing me toward the Perreaux, which has a shallow footprint.

I think I'll swing for the fences and get the Perreaux. If the Perreaux isn't noticeably better than my Heathkit AA-1600 (which was shockingly good for the $239 I paid), I'll get the Heath repaired and return the Perreaux. I anticipate, however, that the Perreaux will move me into a new amplifier paradigm and I'll fix and sell off my accumulating dead amps from the '80s. Well, maybe I'll fix and keep one for when I send the Perreaux out for a rebuild as you suggest.

Odyssey Khartago Plus sounds great and is a great buy, and can be upgraded even more if you choose...

There is no one right answer to this question, it depends on the amplifiers involved. I decided to go the route of the classic older used amp, and it works for me. I was able to buy an 18 year old $5500 100 wpc Class A solid state amp for only $1100, and it has served me well for the past two years. I have not heard any new amps under $2K that can compete. However, as with everything else in this hobby, YMMV.

Well, I went down to the hi-fi shop that had the used Perreaux, and hooked it up to a modest used pair of Aperion 2-way towers. The speed, clarity, pace, and--still most importantly--the correct timbres and tonalities came through. It easily delineated different recording and miking arrangements from one record to another without it being distracting.

Wide bandwidth and high resolution can be a double-edged sword, but this amp always comes out in favor of musicality over clinical scrutiny. The fast risetime enhances initial transients and overall rhythm and pace, as well as room acoustics, low level detail, and inner detail as well. Basically it makes everything better because you get more musical information, sort of like going from 128 kbs mp3 to 24/192Khz HD digital downloads.

Then when I got home and hooked it up, it sounded great but I discovered that when my previous amp went south it took my right tweeter with it. Aaargh!