Legendary used amp, or economical new one?

The following price info may be helpful to those responding: The Emotiva XPA-200 that was mentioned lists for $499, new. According to an older bluebook I have, the Perreaux PMF-1150B originally sold for $1150 (the same as the model number!), in 1982-1985 dollars.

Also, IIRC, Perreaux's "B" series models, including this one, corrected some significant sound quality issues that were present in the pre-"B" models.

Regards,
-- Al

^^^

Yes, and $1150 in 1982 is equivlaent to about $2750 today.

And you're right; I'm looking at a 30+ yr-old PMF-1150B vs. Emotiva XPA-200 (now on sale for $449).

I'm looking for something with not just slam, but good musical involvement, low noise floor, and reasonably fast rise time for good ambience, soundstage, and detail, but all in good perspective. Right now I'm using a Parasound Zamp 3 as interim amp. Nice tonal balance, but too veiled for my taste. I don't think it's the power issue per se as I wasn't running it real loud and my speakers have a sensitivity rating of 89 dB.

When I start down that wide bandwidth path, I start coming across other possibilities such as a used Spectral DMA-80 or Odyssey Stratos (Plus). They're more money, but the Spectral is a more stable company with genius Keith Johnson behind the designs and used Odysseys are a lot newer than the Perreaux.

If the Emotiva is at least equivalent to the '80s amps I have, I'd be plenty happy with an amp that powerful, inexpensive, and new with warranty. Anyone here with direct experience?

If you've done your research on the PMF-1150B, you're aware of it's reputation as a truly hi-end product. The Emotiva is not. It's not old enough technically to not still fulfill that role. It's definitely still competitive. However, it won't perform to it's potential unless you have it rebuilt. Doing so will render it better than new because of higher grade parts now available. Cost is probably around 4-500.00. Now you have an amp that will compete with anything up to about 12-15000.00. Good for at least another 20 years. Well worth the effort. I had a PMF1850B I recently bought for 700.00 and paid 350.00 to rebuild it. It's a simple, elegant design with minimal parts to replace. It's a fabulous amp. Very fast and clean. No detectable IMD. Great extension/resolution, and so, very musical. No sense of distance. The music is right up front. But, you really have to do your homework in choosing a technician. You need someone who is capable of doing much more than just replace parts and first and foremost their heart has to be in it. I have numerous amps I've had this done with and am not sorry for a single one.

08-30-13: Csontos
If you've done your research on the PMF-1150B, you're aware of it's reputation as a truly hi-end product. The Emotiva is not.

And that's a perfect summary of my thought processes. I'm sure the Emotiva is a nice unit for the money, with all the fundamentals of high fidelity--20-20Khz, s/n of around 80 dB unweighted, high damping factor, etc.

But the Perreaux brings very high end things to the party--huge voltage swings, rise time under a microsecond, bandwidth out to 3Mhz, unweighted s/n closer to 100 dB. These (among other things) are elements that make an amplifier special, with that extra speed and clarity that can enhance musical satisfaction and involvement.

I have an Emotiva surround processor, and for $599 it's "nice" and finally brings lossless surround to my HT rig, but it doesn't knock my socks off. The 2-channel amp I'm looking for would anchor my analog rig, and I'm looking for total musical involvement.

... But, you really have to do your homework in choosing a technician. You need someone who is capable of doing much more than just replace parts and first and foremost their heart has to be in it. I have numerous amps I've had this done with and am not sorry for a single one.

A full refresh of the Perreaux with new parts would take care of my long term concerns. If you have any technicians to recommend, please PM me. From your statement it seems that it would be worth 2-way shipping if necessary.

Csontos, thanks for your information.

And thanks to everybody for putting in on this. Getting a new Emotiva for $449 w/5-yr warranty was a pretty compelling option. You may find this hard to believe, but the Emotiva's large footprint (it's deeper than my rack, which has a center column in the back) helped swing me toward the Perreaux, which has a shallow footprint.

I think I'll swing for the fences and get the Perreaux. If the Perreaux isn't noticeably better than my Heathkit AA-1600 (which was shockingly good for the $239 I paid), I'll get the Heath repaired and return the Perreaux. I anticipate, however, that the Perreaux will move me into a new amplifier paradigm and I'll fix and sell off my accumulating dead amps from the '80s. Well, maybe I'll fix and keep one for when I send the Perreaux out for a rebuild as you suggest.