When is an amp ‘just too old? ’ To buy?


Hello sports fans!!

I’m seriously tossing around the idea to get into another amp (s) as I’m simply not playing mine as I should. 20 hours in the last year or so is about all. I’ve been using both my office and now BR systems far, far more as they’re handier and simpler to manage now.

Switching speaker wires, and re-checking bias from extended lengthy periods of non use causes me to not use my monos enough to keep them or so Im thinking.

Add to that my vision is apparently going away now at a faster clip than I’d prefer too …. It all adds up… so there they sit. 20 hrs. over a whole year. It’s embarrassing.

So I’m thinking SS. Or self biasing amps now as replacements, IF I decide to go that way and it’s looking more & more as I will.

I’ve always thought amps under 5 yr and preferably under 3 or less, as the ones I’d prefer to take a shot with, but am seeing more and more amps now with 5, 6, 8, 9, even 10 years from date of production and am wondering, just when is an amp (s) old enough to forget about or when one should really consider some other amps.

Do you all feel SS amps have a different criteria than do HS amps in terms of longevity?

Or is it vice versa, with tube amps lasting longer, generally speaking?

How old is just too damn old! As it relates to amps for sale… in your opinion, of course????

Thanks much.
blindjim
When you can no longer replace the components in the unit with exact or comparable parts. A good tech can get most amps back to good working order albeit not always identical to the original in some instances.
40yrs!!

congratulations! We have a new leader on the board!

Wow!

Bretdago

Well, then, at that refurbished point, one has a different amp than they had just a bit before.... could be better or could be worse, but it's definitely not the same amp then.

that would be the time IMHO to upgrade whatever was broken... if one knew what to upgrade to which would improve the audio quality, of course.
I have a 14 year old Classé amp, and 35 year old Phase Linear amp. Both are in mint condition, have been extremely well taken care of over the years, and operate flawlessly. My last checkup of both amps indicate they are in excellent health, with DC offset and bias readings at manufacturer's spec. The Phase Linear amp has all its original transistors and caps. I've only added DC protection circuitry, upgraded its input and output connectors, and replaced the power cord. I am getting set to do a recap.
I use my classe dr6 preamp and bryston 3bst with maggie 1.6qr's and it sounds fantastic to my ears. I did have the same combo driving a pair of quad 11L mini monitors and it was bright sounding.The mini monitors were much better sounding with a Bob Latino dynaco st70.

People say the bryston sst series are much more pleasant in the upper treble range..... my st has me not wanting to upgrade when playing through my maggies though.... I am very happy with a non fatigueing very detailed system.

Let us know what you decide and how you like it.

Happy listening, Dave
Its hit and miss with age. I would suggest buying new. Musical Fidelity [gasp did I say MF] makes a wonderful sounding amp M6PRX 260 watts xlr rca built to last easy to use. I own one. Sounds qualities are better than the other far more costly SS and tube amplifiers I use and many of these retailed near $8k. I do enjoy SET. Yet I use MF M6prx on hi-eff designs as well as standard. Just a very nice amp. Think MF had to produce something special since sales are slow and its a good taste of MF Titan sound for $3.5k.