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Why amps, pre-amps, integrated amps???

OK, having thusfar asked questions on this forum that have exposed me to the odd raised eyebrow and snicker for my gross audio ignorance, I shall go farther still, and venture to ask: What, exactly, are amps, pre-amps, and integrated amps??. More to the point, what, exactly, is their purpose; what do they do? And why do pre-amps and amps still exist comfortably in the audio market when you can get them combined as an integrated amp?? I just don't get it. Would much appreciate your learned revelations - after, of course, you've finished with your hoots, knee-slaps, and cat-calls.
georgester
hifihvn
943 posts
 
My amp is a Heathkit because that's the name of the company and they made very high quality kits.
Johnnyb53
I'm not 100% sure, but I think the "Heathkit" amps from that time frame may have been made by Harman Kardon.
orpheus10
8,668 posts
 

There is no better way to buy, than buying good designs that have withstood the tests of time, and that is the reason the price is going up on the best used equipment.
pubul57
3,712 posts
 
OP, your questioned answered?
johnnyb53
3,510 posts
 

12-10-11: Hifihvn
I'm not 100% sure, but I think the "Heathkit" amps from that time frame may have been made by Harman Kardon.
Not Harman-Kardon, but Zenith, who acquired Heathkit in 1979, two years before the AA-1600 amp was produced.

12-10-11: Orpheus10
There is no better way to buy, than buying good designs that have withstood the tests of time, and that is the reason the price is going up on the best used equipment.
The Heathkit AA-1600 is the best vintage amp I had never heard of. Its big brother, the AA-1800, is better known and often fetches $500-600 on eBay. It's a full dual-mono monster rated at 250wpc but actually built to put out 350 wpc.
hifihvn
943 posts
 
Johnnyb53, who do you think made the amp.
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