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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
lou_setriodes's avatar
lou_setriodes
687 posts
 
I'm with you, I wouldn't hesitate on any of his designs either.  I had one of his early 6bq5's.  

Can you post a picture of it, I'd love to see what it looks like.  Very interesting with 6bq5's for input tubes....
sqlsavior
46 posts
 
I concur that the Hafler (DH-220) holds up sonically, and reliably.

A couple years earlier (late 70s), the Tim de Paravicini Luxman tube MB-3045 holds up sonically, but NOT in terms of reliability. His SS preamp, the C-1000, does in both respects.
boxer12
8,656 posts
 
Lou,
I'd be glad to post a pic. How do I do that?
digepix's avatar
digepix
121 posts
 
My amp is right at the beginning of the 90's. A Krell KST 100, with some routine maintenance, cap replacement and bias/offset every 10 years I'll be dead before it is.
lou_setriodes's avatar
lou_setriodes
687 posts
 
Not sure how you post a picture here, but you can create a system in one of the other pages and list your system in one of the applicable categories and add pictures.
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