Kelly Holsten's restored HF-81 looks great.
View attachment 263170
Indeed it is, inside and out.
Kelly Holsten, in those days a fixture on the Klipsch forums, started the big run-up on cost for these nice stereo pp EL84 integrated amplifiers (essentially two EICO HF-12 mono integrateds in one box) with his beautifully-done website chockablock with sexy photos of his well-restored HF81.
The
Stereophile review of a restored (somewhat resto-modded, as I recall) HF-81 by the late Peter Brueninger finished the job.
If you spotted an EICO HF-81 at the local Goodwill, you'd think nothing of this plain-Jane integrated amplifier in its nondescript gray case. But if you kept on walking, you would have passed up one of the best-kept audio secrets of all time. The HF-81 hails from hi-fi's pioneer days, before...
www.stereophile.com
Kelly was/is a good guy. I have totally lost track of him, though.
25W, that will clip pretty fast at decent listening levels with most consumer loudspeakers.
Key word there being
most.
We could strip wallpaper with 25 watts at my house.
That's why I (usually) only use about 3 watts (per channel) -- although, in fairness, we don't
have any wallpaper.