restorer-john
Grand Contributor
I was asked by @GXAlan to suggest a "top 3" amplifiers, but to narrow down to just 3 seems an impossible task.
There have been thousands of wonderful products from many hundreds of manufacturers for well over half a century, but which ones have the performance chops to equal or better some of the modern offerings?
First we need to set the ground rules. Do we include professional products or not? Because in terms of sheer power, it will be the professional products that win the power stakes. In other parameters they can fall flat (noise etc)
Do we talk about power amplifiers or integrated amplifiers and what ranges of facilities or functions are a bare minimum?
Are all parameters considered or just some, and how do you weight one parameter vs another? 2ch Amplifiers were sold on THD in late 60s, facilities and features in the early 70s, power output in the late 70s, stripped back functionality and wide bandwidth in the early 80s, speaker driveability in the late 80s and convenience and connectivity in the 90s. Then came AVRs and a couple of decades of 2ch being in the wilderness.
Now 2ch is back with a vengeance, pared back to basics. Low gain, high performance amplifier "modules" that pass the buck in the ultimate performance stakes to the source and buffer stage (used to be called a preamplifier). They aren't rated for continuous duty, have issues with overly zealous protection and are in real terms "fragile". Many are also not economically repairable. Do these characteristics mean anything to people?
So what suggestions do you guys have for vintage challengers? We may have some of these classics sitting in member's basements or still humming along in their equipment racks.
There have been thousands of wonderful products from many hundreds of manufacturers for well over half a century, but which ones have the performance chops to equal or better some of the modern offerings?
First we need to set the ground rules. Do we include professional products or not? Because in terms of sheer power, it will be the professional products that win the power stakes. In other parameters they can fall flat (noise etc)
Do we talk about power amplifiers or integrated amplifiers and what ranges of facilities or functions are a bare minimum?
Are all parameters considered or just some, and how do you weight one parameter vs another? 2ch Amplifiers were sold on THD in late 60s, facilities and features in the early 70s, power output in the late 70s, stripped back functionality and wide bandwidth in the early 80s, speaker driveability in the late 80s and convenience and connectivity in the 90s. Then came AVRs and a couple of decades of 2ch being in the wilderness.
Now 2ch is back with a vengeance, pared back to basics. Low gain, high performance amplifier "modules" that pass the buck in the ultimate performance stakes to the source and buffer stage (used to be called a preamplifier). They aren't rated for continuous duty, have issues with overly zealous protection and are in real terms "fragile". Many are also not economically repairable. Do these characteristics mean anything to people?
So what suggestions do you guys have for vintage challengers? We may have some of these classics sitting in member's basements or still humming along in their equipment racks.