How does the Phase Linear 400 compare?

I had a Phase Linear addiction for years, which was replaced by a McIntosh addiction which was replaced by a Citation addiction which was replaced by Krell addiction etc.

I liked the sound of Phase Linear amps. The 400, 700B and especially the Dual 500.  If you needed clean power they were hard to beat. 

I wonder how how many of these negative mid fi comments would apply if the 400 had a levinson, or McIntosh logo on it?

With regard to the size of the caps used its totally meaningless. The amp had well over 200 watts per channel, and nearly 3db of headroom. It was stable as well. I drove the hell out of mine with no issues at all. 
They were widely used in the professional market as well. I've seen stacks of them in the 70's powering rock concerts.  Many high end recording studios use Phase amps, Crown was also commonly seen in these applications. 

Check  I out the absolute sounds ten best amplifiers of all time. It's on the list for good reason. It deserves to be. 

By the way, my Krell addiction has been replaced by a vintage Sansui addiction. For all those mid fi comments, you're welcome to come over for a listen anytime. 

Norman

Correction:  That TAS article was not titled, "ten BEST amplifiers of all time", but rather, 'The Ten Most SIGNIFICANT Amplifiers of All Time'.    Most contributors that included Phase Linear in their list, did so(and said so) based on the fact that they had the highest output power of their time. Carver paved the way for high output/low distortion figure, SS amps, about the same time that low-efficiency speakers(ie: Air Suspension) hit the market.  THAT'S what made them, "significant", to the audio industry.  They were great for our electronics repair and speaker reconing business, in Orlando, FL.  We(in that industry) affectionately referred to the 400 and 700 as, "Flame Linear" amps(for good reason).     They made us a LOT of money!    There are many out there that still like the old SS sound.   As long as YOU'RE enjoying your system, that's all that matters.

Was great 40 yrs ago not so much now.

Dinosaurs like the PL400 and 700 are fun to look at and (for some) to reminisce about, but sonically they cannot hold a candle to a $50 TPA3250 from our day. 

They can, however, deliver more slam but it'll be painful to experience and you'd have to find one that's still working.  A fool's errand imho.

transco,

If you are ever in Suburbs of Chicago, look me up.  I’ll play my Phase Linear 400, through my marantz 7, and you can compare it to my Krell KSA 50 and newly acquired McIntosh mc-7300.  

The Phase 400 is incredibly smooth and transparent.  

There is a lot of ‘Dinosaur’ gear out there that is in high demand.  In fact many (myself included) feel that some of the finest sounding gear ever came out of the sixties and  seventies.  

I was was a studio musician for years, I know what instruments are suppose to sound like, and to me the Dinosaurs do just fine.