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I am in the market for a KT88 amp (mono or stereo) to be paired with electrostatics, although I'm still going to hang onto my horns and hot rodded Sherwood S5000.I have a Audio Research SP3a-1 preamp that will be restored by one of our esteemed members, but not until I find a suitable power amp(s).
Has anyone compared a McIntosh mc60 or Heathkit W-6 with a modern counterpart such as a Rogue Stereo 90, Quicksilver, Music Reference RM-200 or similar.
I want to avoid buying a suitable vintage amp(s) for top dollar and then sink a lot of money into them to bring them up to spec if I will not be getting better sound by doing so.
The Quickies and Rogue offerings seem to present a good value especially if found used.
Thanks.
Meat; It's the right thing to do. Romans 14:2
Edits: 02/09/16Follow Ups:
I have not done a sonic comparison, but my technician asserts that my lightly modified original Mc275s are "much better built" than current versions.
Jeremy
The nice thing about the mono blocks is the separate power supplies. I do a level 2 McShane on the Mc275s and the Mc240s as on the Deuce where we put the extra diodes in with extra filtering after you split the channels.On the Mac stereo amps,you split everything but the input 12AX7 because that is hard to split being it feeds both channels..It still works well tho.
Nobody ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public
H. L. Mencken
Dont overlook the classic AR D70. Setting between the 'classics' and modern, it is an excellent amplifier. It is probably easier and cheaper to find than a 275 or other vintage tube amp.
I would follow on to Eli's comments and expand a bit-
the big difference between a Deuce / Mc-275 and others, like the Heathkit are the driver circuits-, but otherwise it is the Out Put transformers that are the heart of the amp-
the Marantz, McIntosh and HK - as well as other oldies have great OPTs-
Yes, caps, resistors and power supplies all need some attention-
as for the amps of the '80s & '90s - there are a few that are worth looking at - depending upon your preference-
I still use an RM-9 (though I have it running RTV EL-34s) and think it is a great amp - the RM-200 has lots more power...
The Rouge and quicksilvers get great comments - though i have not heard them -
another one to consider is the VAC 70/70 (I think that one has 6550s) they build a great transformer-
The newer amps should have decent components and PS - but not always-
Good luck
Happy Listening
Remember, the MC60 and W6M are monoblocks. You need to acquire either of them in pairs. Having said that, with proper overhaul, they are excellent.
Yes, a project of acquisition and overhaul of a H/K Citation II or an original McIntosh MC275 is a major expense. The money is (musically) well spent. In proper repair, the "Deuce" and the "275" are (IMO/IME) approximate analogs of the Stradivarius and the Guarneri del Gesu. :> )
When the PSUs of the "vintage" giants are brought up to contemporary standards, they are unmatched. The reason is O/P transformer quality.
I'm not denigrating the nice "current" amps, but they don't match the performance of well maintained "old time bad boys".
Eli D.
Also another advantage of the vintage is their reliability. So many modern tube amps seem to have nagging problems. I have owned a Deuce since 1968 and never had one problem with it. I rebuilt it about ten years ago, at the time of rebuild it was still working with many tired out of spec parts and even one open capacitor.
I have rebuilt over 70 of them now. It is funny, but I work on lots of gear and therefore get to listen to many fine tube amps. When all is said and done I am happy my Citation II goes back into the system. Everything else sounds colored to me. The Macs have a very nice color and you could happily listen to one for a long time, but the citation II just sounds like music to me. It is so clean and detailed, but never bright or in your face. Effortless. Funny how we have our preferences. You can put other fine amps on the bench and they measure just as well, but there is something about the sound of the citation II when it has been totally rebuilt. Must be that iron....
It's kind of ironic that most everything else that is newer has gotten better.
Better cars, boats, planes, refrigerators, ovens, speakers, lawn mowers, televisions, phones, and on and on.
Amps, specifically transformers have gotten worse?
What gives? Are there any newer amps that can compete with the classics?
Meat; It's the right thing to do. Romans 14:2
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