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vintage amps

howdy, folks.
looking to upgrade my secondary system, and have been looking at vintage amps. this system is all vintage with PS Audio 4.5 PreAmp, McIntosh MC50 SS Monos, Rotel CDP 955AX, Magnum Dynalab FT101A Tuner and Tannoy Eyris 3 Speakers.

i have been thinking i'll upgrade the MC50s. something about them seems lacking. i have been trolling on A-gon regularly and there seem to be a goodly number of 80s amps on lately, from brands like Carver or Adcom. some of the Adcoms were made by, or in conjunction with Nelson Pass, and the Carvers seem to have had a good rep over the years.

i have also been watching Rotel and Bryston. bottom line is i've been leaning toward Solid State, and would love some input on any or all of these brands. i also welcome any other suggestions.

all of these amps have considerably more power than the mere 50 watts from the MC50s. any reason to think the Tannoys would be better served for more juice? or no?

as an aside, i lean toward the vintage gear for budgetary reasons and i feel that there is a lot out there to choose from, so why not?
tommycosmo
schipo
1,268 posts
 
keep on your list a classe DR-9 amp powerful and reliable while excellent sounding even compared to much of the newer amps on the market.
heyraz
177 posts
 
I like my Aragon 2004 and 4004. The "poor man's Krell" can be had used for less than $400 if you are patient.
phasecorrect's avatar
phasecorrect
2,013 posts
 
Avoid 80s carver gear...poor reliability...older Agagon, Conrad Johnson, McCormick, Belles, etc would be my starting point...and Bryston ofcourse...Older NAD and Rotel would work as well...but a step down in sonics and reliability...just my .02...
markus1299
252 posts
 
A while back I purchased a vintage Sansui G9000 integrated amp. I had it all recapped and the sound in my 2nd system is excellent. A little alarming because sound is close to my main system which is about 50K
almarg's avatar
Ag insider logo xs@2x
almarg
9,670 posts
 
Avoid 80s carver gear...poor reliability...
FWIW, in a second system I have a Carver M400t, which still works like new after 25+ years of light to moderate use. For a number of years during the 1980's I also had a C4000 and a TX11, which were completely reliable.

The M400t "cube" amplifier, whose design was intended to emulate the sound of a Mark Levinson ML2, is, despite its small size, fully as powerful as its 200W rating suggests. Its sound quality is certainly very competitive in its price class, at least with speakers that are easy to drive (I have no knowledge of how well it can handle difficult loads). I would not recommend its predecessor, though, the M400a, which is quite poor sonically.

Regards,
-- Al
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