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

Eric, perhaps my jaded view has something to do with my experience with 80's gear.  My Luxman R-115 developed a volume and intermittent channel problem that got worse with time.  A yamaha cd player starting skipping after a few years.  My buddy's proton amp went south after 20 years.  Though I guess neither one of those would be considered high end.

The thing is, the beginning of the 80's was when all the big brands reduced the quality of their lines from what was offered during the golden age of audio, the 70's.  I suspect the truly high end managed to avoid this.  The Conrad Johnsons and Mark Levinsons of the era probably did just fine.  Carver made quite a name for themselves, but their gear didn't last forever.

Hey Runnin,

I definitely don't mean to say that everything from the 1980's was worth memorializing in a museum, but I was not really thinking of overseas mass-market products.

Best,


E

Rowland Model 5.  Still enjoy many late night hours with this amp. Also still have a couple of Eagle 2a, Acoustat TNT 200 and a Hafler XL280. Fell in love the CJ gear the Premier 4 on my Infinity RS 2bs the later the RS 1bs.  However that Rowland is not going anyway.  The good ole days huh..

No Melos fans? I bought a used 222 preamp in the 90's & am still enjoying it today, in fact right now. I had it services last year (for the first time) & they replaced some of the switches, & the volume pot. Apparently that was their weak points. I also have been enjoying sonic frontiers first version signature phono preamp for a dozen years or so. I think that one dates back to the early 90's. My amp is a staggering 5 watts per channel. It was built by Kornef, don't know when but it's old enough to have it's first service this year. This all drives lowther speakers which were a modern marvel in the 50's I believe. The system sounds incredibly real. Wide, deep, & 3D enough to fool you into believing they're in the room on a good record. It's also forgiving enough to make you not cringe on a record that is < perfect. With all the vinyl that is out there today, it's a great time to be alive. What a hobby! 

This was a fun thread to peruse.  Anyone mention Electrocompaniet or Superphon?  Think these were around in the '80s.