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Amps from the 1980's -- What gear holds up sonically? Reliably?

Hi Everyone,

For me, the 1980s were a real "golden age" of amplifiers. Dr. Leach’s paper on building a low TIM amplifier had been widely distributed and relied on by budding designers, and lots of boutique brands came. It was also the era of the biggest of the Conrad Johsnon tube amps as well and the invention of the MOSFET.

For me, brands I cared about:

  • Threshold
  • Sumo
  • Perreaux (New Zealand, very pretty)
  • Tandberg
  • Hitachi
  • Kyocera
  • Nikko
  • Krell (of course)
  • CJ
  • ARC
  • Yamaha (professional)
  • Carver
  • Mark Levinson
  • Amber 
  • Tandberg
This was also the speaker era of Snell and Apogee and Martin Logan. I am not sure there would be a Krell today if it wasn't for Apogee's 1 ohm speakers.

I’m curious who is still listening to these vintage pieces, and which brands you think have stood up both in terms of reliability and / or sonics ?
erik_squires
jhills
613 posts
 
A system I would loved to have had back in the late 80s and wouldn't mind having, even now, would be a set of Apogee Duetta II Sigs. driven by a pair of Mark Levinson 23s. I had a chance to audition that combination and fell in love.
Maybe still someday - if I ever have the extra bucks and room.
shadorne's avatar
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shadorne
7,477 posts
 
@captvideo


Energy 22 are a great speaker are got mine at Bloor Radio in Toronto. Still have ’em along with a Kenwood C1 and M2

whitestix
709 posts
 
Great thread, Erik.  Going back a bit earlier, I had a Luxman integrated amp that was SOTA.... I wish I still had that powerful piece around.  It was built like a tank.  
shraggs
7 posts
 
what a great thread!  If threshold is on the list, then I include Forte, either model 1 or 3.  My model three is still my amp  and recently had Jon S rebuild it.  I remember upgrading from my adcom 535 (still my backup), to the next level.  I unfairly compared the forte to threshold, levisnon, krell and AR with my monitor audio Mark IV gold.  Now my limited budget certainly contributed to my bias, but for me the only amps that bested it were AR and threshold - for me...
68pete
1,001 posts
 
Still use a Mark Levinson 335 amp
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