Best vintage amps (late 70s / early 80s) under $3k?


The golden age of audio was arguably the late 70s / early 80s, when corporations were willing to dump a ton of money into R&D / materials to make the best equipment possible. The downside to owning equipment from this period now is possible refurbishment and maintenance costs, but it seems good deals can still be had.

Wondering if you guys had recommendations of great sounding amps from this era? Ideally I'm looking for something that's 100W minimum, doesn't run hot, and under $3000 second hand.

I already have a fully refurbished late 70s Pioneer M-22 that outputs 30W into 8ohms. I love this amp, but being Class A it's like a radiator and not suitable for Southern California's summer months in a smallish room. More power would also be good as my speaker efficiency is 89.5db. I listen to many genres of music, so the amp needs to be a good all-rounder.

My current chain:

Turntable: Technics 1210M5G w/ AudioMods tonearm and Lyra Delos MC cart
Phono stage: Avid Pulsus
DAC: RME ADI-2 Pro
Preamp: Schiit Saga
Amp: Pioneer M-22
Speakers: Prana Fidelity Bhava
Subs: Rythmik L12
pts
To pryso : I believe your question was for timlub. And yes, it was ( and still is ) class A. To pts : the power cord matters on all equipment, whether it drops voltage, or not. Enjoy ! MrD.
i run my CC2 in my vintage system as a backup while the MC240 was being rebuilt, it ran 3 ohm Apogee stage with gusto.....

 I got a pair of atmospheres M 60 amps that had been somewhat updated. I paid $2000 and I am incredibly happy with them.  I would put them against pretty much anything. But I do think the 0TL design is special 
tomic601, I have no doubt you use your CC2 sometimes, and I know it well. It is not to the level of whatever " main " amp you are using, or you would be using it in your main system. Most of the amps mentioned in this thread, and a point I made, is that none of these amps that are mentioned, are amplifiers that are used as the " primary " amp in the main systems by all of the posters, including the many amps " I still own ". Enjoy ! MrD.. 
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