2. amps-preamps
  3. 177133-53619

Disadvantages of buying old solid state.

I am looking to upgrade from a single ended amp to a balanced because of the purchase of a new balanced pre. Due to budgetary reasons I am forced to buy a used unit. I am interested in the Pass .5 series as what I've heard of the .8 I was not happy with. There are those who prefer the .5. sound as well. I was told however that buying such an old unit I might find that the bias has changed. Any experiences with buying old solid state and any negative consequences? I would very much like to hear anyone's views on the matter.

Thank you.

 

 

roxy1927
audition__audio
1,500 posts
 

Caps, inductors and transistors are not the same as in the 60s. They may measure the same but they do not sound the same. Plus you have significantly more good choices now than back in the day. You could take the exact same Dynaco circuit update it with better innards and it will sound better. Some say it will be unrecognizable. So, with all due respect, you should listen to some of the more modern gear because I think you might be very surprised. This would especially true with more modern speakers.

mapman's avatar
mapman
22,308 posts
 

Hifi gear is not not wine. Old is old.  Be sure to get your money’s worth. 

ghdprentice
7,051 posts
 

@mapman 

 

+1

wolf_garcia
6,708 posts
 

I use lots of Schiit gear and it’s not budget per se, simply fairly priced...and better sounding than lots of arbitrarily expensive stuff which seems to demonstrate what things could and should actually cost.

oldrooney's avatar
oldrooney
208 posts
 

I found the theory of balanced interconnects and differential amplification attractive, and when I’m building my own cables, I like the XLR connectors. I sometimes find it tough to keep the conductors from shorting out within the confines of the RCA connector, but practically, I wonder if the balanced connections and differential amplification truly benefits the home user. There is a fellow in Switzerland who builds $100,000 amps and doesn’t offer a balanced connection, at least on his standard units. I think he may have relented somewhat and now offers it as an option. I prefer it, and I use it, but I no longer ‘believe in it’ as I once did. I hope you enjoy your new ARC unit. I would really like to hear one myself, and gave serious thought to buying a used unit. Wound up with a used McIntosh solid state preamp instead that just seemed perfect for my needs. I also own a lot of Schiit gear, I’m very pleased with their Yggdrasil DAC (which I recently upgraded from ‘Garage Sale’ to ‘Less-is-More’ together with the accompanying Analog 2 boards and their Unisom USB interface. I like and use their equalizers, but not their phono preamp (original version), and t found the user interface on the Freya+ to be a bit frustrating to use. I’m also pleased their headphone amp (Jotunheim) and smaller DAC (Modius) for what it’s worth.

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