Is the Eico HF 81 really that good?

It's funny. I've never heard this unit, but in EICO's heyday in the mid 60's I was into amateur radio. EICO was one of many suppliers of kits to this market. Their stuff included transmitters, receivers, and test gear (oscilloscopes, voltmeters, etc). I owned one of their scopes.

EICO was considered a kind of second rate supplier of cheap low quality gear at the time. If you wanted a kit and had money Heath was considered much better.

It's interesting to hear this amplifier praised so highly in Stereophile. I guess I'm just prejudiced from experience.

There's nothing unique with the circuitry- it's all the sound of the output transformers. They don't look like anything special either, and their low end is lacking, but wow, what a lively, unrestricted sound they have.

Yep. I, for one, have never understood the mystique & panache some audiphiles attribute to Eico. This is another hit on Stereophile`s ever diminishing credibility. In it`s day (long gone), Eico was merely cheap, inexpensive & decent gear (no more, no less). For anyone considering himself an audiophile to tout Eico as a giant killer & incredible is laughable & borders on the absurd. Absurdity abounds in this hobby. Once again JA`s measurements call into question the hearing & judgement of his reviewers.