"Can You Lift Yours?"


Harmon Kardon Citation II Stereo Amp, 1959, 60 wpc; 120 lbs

(for the youngsters among us: tubes, SS didn't exist yet)

excerpts:

"Can You Lift Yours?"

"Space Heater. Ballast for Submarines".

"Useful for Training Weight Lifters"

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being medically house bound since Halloween, tv overload, hopping about, I re-discovered a site with some great history:

http://www.roger-russell.com/

in section 'omnidirectional speakers

http://www.roger-russell.com/omni/omni.htm

interview with Stewart Hegeman 

http://www.roger-russell.com/omni/interview.htm

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I had a McIntosh AMP, MC2250, 250wpc, 80lbs.

I lifted it out of a low shelf in a tight space, felt a 3rd meniscus tear in my 'bad' knee while lifting.

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Your Heavy Equipment Stories Please.

elliottbnewcombjr

Any correlation of sound quality to weight has to be predicated by amplifier topology. Traditional tube amplifiers probably have the strongest correlation here, because the size of its transformers (power plus 2 outputs) generally dictates how much power can be provided at reasonable distortion levels. ~ 1 pound per stereo watt is not uncommon. Of course the raw power itself isn't a perfect correlation to sound quality, but the weight (transformers) is definitely a big factor in distortion and bandwidth. This is how people got an inking the Carver amps weren't on the up-and-up about their power ratings (only 19 lbs for 75 stereo Watts is a red flag).

Next is high-bias class AB and class A solid state amplifiers, which require large amounts of heat sinking and still a very large PSU (power transformer). I'm a tube guy but I'm still quite fond of some of these. 

Then you have class D which can be made extremely light relative to their power output, and the correlation becomes very weak. They can sound good! I don't hate them; they're just not my thing.

My Bottlehead DH/SET 2A3 mono blocks weigh approx. 12 pounds each.

However, accessing them (bottom shelf of a rack located in a hallway linen closet) is not an easy task for me.

My pilot SA-232 clocks in @ around 20 pounds as did my old Mac 30 mono blocks (per unit).

My Dynaco Stereo 70's weighed about the same as a case of wine (30 pounds?).

The only heavy gear I've used were Altec VOTT's in the mid 70s (after a friend built new plywood cabs for them  they became unbearably heavy and I returned them to my cousin to use in his bar/restaurant).

It took 5 of us to hang them from the ceiling in the bar area and the other 4 guys were as strong as Oxen (I connected the chains;-).

 

DeKay

Placed two Mark Levinson No23's on a high shelf 25 years ago by myself...at 70 lbs each....and did not touch them until recently.  My two sons-in-law got them down.

In another system I have a single Bryston 4B cubed coming in at 42 pounds.

At my current age, not sure I would hear meaningful difference but have never swapped them to compare.....but 42 lbs is certainly easier to handle than 70 lbs.....but I negated the advantage by using the Bryston with Egglestonworks Andra II's which come in at 215lbs each.

When I move to my retirement home, definitely going with quality headphones...only.

It is horrible getting old, but it beats the alternative.

 

 

 

Sometimes it’s not just the weight of the unit, but the shape of it, not to mention sharp heat sinks.

@tattooedtrackman Colored me impressed, for sure.

My amp weighs about 95# - I've had heavier and lighter.  I can move it and feel a great sense of relief when I don't have to or the move is complete!

  • My current amplifier is the best one I've owned.
  • The second best amplifiers were significantly less - ~35# and while there was two they were easy to move even in all their packaging.

Honestly, I'm more sensitive to speaker weight!