2. amps-preamps
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harman kardon citation 16 amp?????

How do some of you older audiophiles like this amp? Is it a good amp for driving psb gold speaker? I have a tube preamp and i am not sure how it will perform with it. I can pick it up for around 300 bucks, is this a decent deal or too much for this vintage amp? Sorry so many questions i just am on the fence about purchasing it. Is there any way to check it out with a volt meter before buying it. I am no electrician at all but with some guidance i may be able to check it out further. Its a all black face and doesnt have the v pattern lights like most ive seen. ANy way to tell what the amp is? Just says citation sixteen on the front with 2 leds and a toggle switch. thanx for the info, much appreciated
flyin2jz
hifigeek1
770 posts
 
Very good amp. BTW the Citation 12 was the first amp to use a differential input stage. I believe both the 12 and the 16 were designed by Matty Otala. A very gifted designer in the day. I don't know if he is still designing. The Citation 12 was the first amp to deliver wide bandwidth and he showed that an amp that delivered good square wave response had sonic advantages. High Fidelity and Stereo Review Magazines started to publish square wave responses of the amps under test. He also did pioneering research on transient inter-modulation distortion. All of his pioneering designs are still in use today in most amplifier circuits.
hifigeek1
770 posts
 
Sorry for the misspelling. His name is Matti Otala.
noisehead
3 posts
 
I just purchased a Citation 16 amp in excellent working order, the second owner said he has not had it serviced at all for all the years he had it, so it must be very reliable. I plan on servicing it though, checking the specs and probably replacing some common parts due to the age. Any amp as old as this one, from 76 or 77, will need checked over at least, by a good tech. This was a good design, which many still value today. However, for daily duty, i use newer amps in my system, because i dont want to destroy the value of a vintage amp and chance that something happens to it from my carelessness.
hifigeek1
770 posts
 
Make sure they clean and repack the output devices. Heat sink paste tends to dry out and crumble and no longer acts as a good thermal conductor.
tots
26 posts
 
I know this is old, but in response to the Normansizemore 2-16-11 post, I agree. I have a McIntosh MC-250 amp and C-27 pre-amp. I also have a Harmon-Kardon Citation 16AS and 17S amp and pre-amp. I never would have thought the recently swapped in H-K would sound better, but it does. I am using ADS L810 speakers which are pretty efficient, so the 50 wpc of the MC-250 versus the 150 wpc of the 16AS shouldn't be a case of too wimpy an amp for the purpose. Plus I play classical and 60s LPs at reasonable volume and the listening area isn't too far at all. The H-K sounds more musical, and I really do hear some soft percussion not heard before.
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