Personal amp evolution

started with the sonic frontiers power 2
then went to a graaf gm-100(I HATE THIS AMP sounds like garbage) then i went to a BAT VK-75SE, Which i really liked but i decided that i still liked the power 2 the best so i sold the BAT and bought another power 2, i am thinking about having it upgraded to SE+ status by parts connexion. I have heard they upgrade is dumb-founding. Sidenote, one of the very few amps i have liked as much as the SF was a heavily modified set of NYAL OTL3s. In the future I may go the OTL route. Actually i will be moving to japan soon so i may end up getting bitten by the single ended bug.

Nikko NA-850 Integrated Amp, 1978-1986
Tandberg 3006A, 1986-2002 (Still use as sub amp for HT)
Rowland Model 10, 2002-present

At this rate, I'll have the Rowland until 2034 :)

Funny to see this thread going so long but thought the Adcom starting thread was amusing.

Since that Panasonic LP/Tape console thing some punk roommate left behind in '83, or that JVC Boombox I plugged that BIC 'table I stole from my cousin doesn't count, my first real piece of equipment was a 20 year old NAD integrated that was given to me('92) and I fronted with a Dual turntable with a Denon DL-165. I worked in the record store in a place that also sold high-end audio and my real entree was when I walked up to the audio guys and asked if they could repair the volume knob on my NAD. When they heard what I had (they asked if I had separates or an integrated - I called it the NAD "one piece amp thing")they started selling me on the idea of new equipment, and separates, but it was when they said that I could get "Cleaner Sound" that I was hooked. I couldn't believe it, here I was, this big record collector and I wasn't getting "clean sound", wotta chump. I started reading Stereophile to find out what I was missing, which was a lot, and that was the beginning.
After spending a coupla months reading, talking, listening - getting the audio thing down, the first amp I bought myself was the Adcom GFA-555 MkII. I enjoyed this piece very much, from everything I had heard previous in my life this was heaven. It had power and could play loud, the Stooges never sounded so good. Later a pair of Mark Levinson Prototype 25 Watt monoblocks ended up at our stereo shop that were donated to an art auction by old friends of his (along with a pair of Klipsch speakers they had been paired with). These were old and and in need of repair so working equipment replaced these at the auction and the monoblocks were repaired at our shop(rewired with Kimber Silver and new power cords made from Kimber wire). With classical music they were so much more detailed than the Adcom that I sold the Adcom and bought the Levinsons.
Later I decided to buy a new amp and bought a Sonic Frontiers Power 2 SE and this amp is stunning. It sounds great and my only gripe is the heat. Which possibly might be enough to get me to change amps to something solid state and cooler. Not to diss the SF at all, I love this amp but as this thread shows, we like to make changes......

Nice post.

Lafayette LR-500B receiver (1969)
Dynaco SCA-80 intergrated amp (1971)
Sony TA-1130 (???) intergrated amp (1974)
GAS Son of Ampzilla (1978)
Hafler DH-200 (1980) (used both Hafler & GAS)
Berning EA-230 (1987)
BEL 1001 (1990)
Music Reference RM-9 (1992)