 
|
Audio Asylum Thread Printer Get a view of an entire thread on one page |
For Sale Ads |
|
|
Audio Asylum Thread Printer Get a view of an entire thread on one page |
For Sale Ads |
74.72.246.129
Basically I never played with SS amps. Budget $600-$700. McIntosh MC2505? Sansui AU series? Yamaha M series. Kenwood KA-9100? Older Creek? NAD? I can rebuild vintage with better parts?
Any ideas? Have extra Cornwalls not in use so high power is not an issue.
Follow Ups:
Very nice sounding integrated amp. Back in the 1960-s I used to sell these with Cornwalls, a nice match. Probably only 15wpc but very sweet sounding. Hard to find though!
"Knowing what you don't know is, in a sense, omniscience"
I found a Sony TA-4650. I am out of town, will be back in two weeks to play with it.
the diodes can die and take out the veryrarium outputs. You should like, very tube like and not too powerful. With the mute dropping volume you should have nice control of those cornwalls.
Yes. Instsll new diodes, new bias pots, new caps (all except ceramic as bypass), solder PS wires on amp board vs connector & re-grease the VFets plus clean the VFet TO-3 sockets.
alway pleased me. interesting industrial design.
Three most important things in Audio reproduction: Keep the noise levels low, the power high and the room diffuse.
I use Klipsch Lascalas powered by a Technics SE-A5 power amp and SAE Mark 1B preamp with great results. The power amp is extremely clean and neutral sounding even at very, very low power levels (few milliwatts). The preamp is very upfront and detailed; a bit over-the-top with some music if your tatse goes for a more mellow presentation. But the power amp is fantastic, and it looks amazing.
...and they like the cheap Dayton or Lepai (with tone controls) Tripath amps, found at Parts Express.
That discovery after years of tube fiddling, go figure.
What preamp and impedance is the preamp?
What speakers are you going to use?
What music do you listen to and at what levels do you intend to listen to them at?
Some basic observations are
McIntosh is over rated. However they are great if you plan on listening to music at an extremely loud level.
NAD in general makes a very articulate sounding amp. They have a nice quality of working very well with various speakers. Some find them to hot on the top end so be careful with what speakers you use.
Marantz makes a nice sounding amp. Very full and robust sounding. Look for a 250 - a true classic!!!!
The Sansui's AU series was nice. but look at the older ones over the later models.
Also look into Onkyo amps or integrated amps. Excellent quality sound. I would go with Marantz, Onkyo, NAD first. this is not in any order.
charles
McIntosh has always been under rated. However they are great if you plan on listening to music at lower levels using the loudness controls.
McIntosh :> The compensation switch automatically provides the correct amount of bass required to compensate for the change in response of the human ear at low loudness levels. When the volume is reduced, the music will seem to lose much of its bass and some of its treble. This effect is due to the sensitivity characteristic of human hearing. The response of the human ear to bass and treble pitch decreases more rapidly than its response to pitch centered in the mid-tonal range.
~~~
The Driver smiled when he lost the car in pursuit...
Bedini Class A 100/100
Is the only SS amp I still own.
The Mind has No Firewall~ U.S. Army War College.
BGW 100Bs come up pretty often, and, recapped, can be stunning.
WW
New Orthophonic High Fidelity
I'd recommend vintage Bedini , any of them although I only heard 100/100. Can be plagued by some hum and noise from old PSU but sounds delicious. Also an old British Exposure amps (little creamier NAIM in plain clothes). Both little hard to find but great . Wouldn't waste my time on any consumer grade Japanese or old SS McIntosh amps if you want more than looking at pretty face plate .
I recommend separates. I recommend the Yamaha M series power amps (M40, M60 or M80) with the matching (C-60, etc.) preamp. I sold Yamaha in the 80's and Yamaha separates pair very well with Klipsch. Also, the Class A operation switch on the M-XX series amps, will give you smooth and clear sound for anything less than ear-bleeding volume. When you want to blast, put it on Class A/B.
Dave
I am going to purchase the Yamaha too. Why buy one vinatge SS when one can have 3-4 or even 5 amps.
That is how I feel too!
Dave
I am a fan of the early 70's Sony. I have STR 6055 reciever and a Sony 1130 intigrated. I have compaired these to a Pioneer SA 9100. People love the old Pioneer, but I find it too edgey and not a good fit for Klipsch. I also have an Eiko HF 87 amp and I reciently picked up a Sony 1130 intigrated. I have listened to these 4 amps through Klipsch kg4's, JBL L77's and ADS 1230's. The Eiko on the ADS is the best, but the Sony 1130 is very close. This is a very good ss amp. They are not too expencive either. I would recomend the 1130 or STR 6055. I think STR 7045 would also be outstanding. The lower watt Marantz recievers are also said to be smooth and tubey.
Also with my Klipsch kg4's I put in the titanium tweeter domes. Big improvement. Much more detail.
I became a fan of early Sony after I bougnt a Sony TA-2000F preamp and a Sony TA-3200F power amp. The build qality is among the best I have ever seen. Actually, the Sony came with a pair of ADS 810's.
Dave
I tried a Marantz 2216. Good sounding & musical amp, but the SET 2A3 creamed it. I got redicilous results from a Philips 7851 receiver & this is what triggered my quest on SS amps or say how bad are SS amps venture. The Philips 7851 is not a 2A3, but not that far off either. I do lean on a dynamic & detail sonic edge though. Some may cringe at that thought.
Way under your budget but look for a Sherwood S9500 or S9600 ss integrated amps. Go through them to assure the caps, resistors and controls are all up to snuff and I think you'd be very surprised. I use a S9500 on my Bozak Symphonys and one of the few amps I can connect to the Heresys IIs and it is one of a very few amps I can listen with theHeresys for days on end with not fatique.
Yes, the Philips amps are amazing. Seeing I used a Philips receiver already, I'll find a Sherwood S9500/9600. The rebuild will be fun. Like that older vintage look too. I will also find out if I can get the Sanaui AU-X701 to 'play ball' too.
Thanks for your knowledge & all that responded.
I have a McIntosh MA5100 & like it a lot. Though it's SS, I think it sounds rather "tubey". Warm, lush, musical... Very nice. Pretty versatile preamp section & nice phono section, too.
Cheers,
Bobbo :-)
I found the 5100 and 6100 to slow to work with the Cornwalls (1st series) I had. It sounded like and felt like drivin a 6-cyl Vette, yeah it could work but, seemed to need something under the hood to better mate with the rest of the car; not necessarily just an issue of more power, though.
That's cool. I know it's all about synergy & ears. I'm running it with a pair of B&O 120.2 speakers & it loves them. I'm happy with the combo.
Cheers,
Bobbo :-)
I always felt those two integratd amps were McIntosh's secret failures. Poorly designed and prone to failure with difficult speaker loads.
charles
I need every type of gear there is to feed my addiction..
depending on the model & era. They won't sound like tubes but they won't burn your ears off either, like the Jap stuff tends to do.
and even good SS drives me out of the room, but if I were to take another swing at it I'd build a First Watt clone.
I have looked at the first watt as a project. I have Forte & Cornwalls. Use a DIY SET 2A3. The Klipsch speakers will show unrefinement quickly. I was surprised how well a Philips 7851 receiver played thru the Forte. Not a 2A3, but did not run me out of the room.
I enjoy my Philips 785, 796 and, 797 through my Heresys IIs.
and my take is that the Forte was a bit more forgiving and the Kg-4 more forgiving than that. I didn't really have any success with any of them using SS though. YMMV, and I hope that it does. The First Watt looks like a great, and fairly simple, project though.
I will switch the Cornwalls to the 2A3 SET amps & place the Forte on the SS amp. The Cornwalls are better at jazz & classical music & Forte are preferred on rock music.
nt
Are you wanting an integrated amp, or a power amp?
Lots of good choices in both types. Cornwalls may not be the best match for an SS amp as they were designed well before SS amps became popular. It should come as no surprise that speaker designers design for compatibility with contemporary amps. Maybe something like the ADS L710 or L810; Yamaha NS-670 or 690; JBL L110's; later AR's, Boston would also do well. In any case the best match to an SS amp will most likely come from the late 70's or later. Speakers in the late 60's and early 70's were often in a transition mode between amp types. Advents do well with SS as do EPI/Epicure.
For a well engineered amp, try some of the later 70's Sansui or Onkyo.
Jerry
Prefer integrated. Matching speakers are important. Perhaps buy some vintage speakers too.
I simply should get informed with vintage SS and play a little for fun. rom what I read I assume Kenwood KA series would be a little bright on Cornwalls. Perhaps the Kenwood KA-907 is more refined? I read Yamaha CA-1010 is smooth with good phono section. Perhaps another candiate is Onkyo A-8190.
I have a Sansui AU-X701 on the way. I read these are refined compared to the early Sansui AU-xxxx series. I can go inside and replace caps & clean up the PS in these vintage amps with superior components. All in fun.
Of course, my tube amps are available at anytime.
Neff,
I had an A-8190. It's on the bright side and lacks authority in the bass. There are things you can do to help it; but I think there are better choices. The line level preamp is 100% passive; but the power amp is bright. I'd try to find the next generation, the A-8800 is good.
The best Kenwoods are their L series. Luxman also had some good stuff.
I'd also look into Scott. They slip under the radar; but are quite good and have good phono stages.
In somewhat newer stuff, take a look at Rotel and the BEE suffix NAD's. The British mags loved the Rotel RA-971. "the quintessential integrated amp". Right now I'm using a Rotel RTC940AX tuner-preamp, RCD971 CD player and an RB1050 power amp. Really nice sound.
A caveat: later stuff often lack a phono stage.
Jerry
Hi Neff,I saw an interesting site on how to update your Dynaco,this being the Dynaco Stereo 120,non tube.They even have a video included and say they have tried the rebuild out with beginer solderers with nary a problem.There are always a ton of these on E-bay for low prices...(www.updateyourdynaco.com)
.
As a tube-a-holic, I hate to admit this, but I've had one of these in my TV room for 10 years now. And it's been stone-cold reliable. Hasn't even used a spare fuse or anything. No bells & whistle. Not glamourous. But, never a problem.
Of course, not that I said it... prolly blow up.
8^)
Post a Followup:
| FAQ |
Post a Message! |
Forgot Password? |
|
||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||
This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors:
Top of Page ]
[ Contact Us ]
[ Support/Wish List ]
[ Copyright © 2024, Audio Asylum, all rights reserved ]
