Classic Integrated Amplifiers!

[Mikig]

My oldest partner... has been with me since '93, I connect to him every now and then, always pleasant.
Then I have other integrated amplifiers, the two that I like most are the Musical Fidelity M3 and the Onix A55, concludes with a Myryad, a Rotel and a Cambridge.

 

[001]

First amp I ever bought, from Encel in Melbourne I think. I wanted the silver model, I mean everyone had the chocolate brown(?) model. I traipsed along to the shop with my then fiancee with Donald Fagen's 'The nightfly' and listened to it there and then. It's still working and sitting in my 'office'. Good memories.

(not my photo)

 

[restorer-john]

First amp I ever bought, from Encel in Melbourne I think. I wanted the silver model, I mean everyone had the chocolate brown(?) model. I traipsed along to the shop with my then fiancee with Donald Fagen's 'The nightfly' and listened to it there and then. It's still working and sitting in my 'office'. Good memories.
View attachment 344485(not my photo)

Awesome memory for sure. The silver one is definitely the better looking, and the plastic stood the test of time better.

 

[GaryY]

I think I had bought this in ~ 1995. After having all new gears, sold it for 90 euro. It had been good friends for lonnnnnnnng time.

 

[norman bates]

interesting

 

[pablolie]

I think I had bought this in ~ 1995. After having all new gears, sold it for 90 euro. It had been good friends for lonnnnnnnng time.View attachment 344488View attachment 344489View attachment 344490

Those were neat looking and compact and had great reviews. Weird that the Mission branding in the back surprises me, I didn't remember that.

 

[001]

Now this is strictly off-thread, but this triggered another memory of pairing AR25's with the NAD 3020 and apparently they must have sounded so nice that a friend offered to do a trade for the AR25s plus my DIY heavy duty stands and a fistful of dollars for a swap of a HG premier station wagon. We had a baby on the way so I think we did a good swap. Sincere apologies for the off-thread post.

 

[GaryY]

Those were neat looking and compact and had great reviews. Weird that the Mission branding in the back surprises me, I didn't remember that.

At that time the competitors were musical fidelity a1, audiolab8000a and so on and cyrus 3 was one of affordable integrated amplifier for me. It's true it looks optically so solid. However, after upgrading systems, I regognize this amplifier has been limiting the potential of mission 751 speakers quite a lot.

 

[Tryphon]

Someone gave me one of these! Hooked it up and it works, just missing a dial. I know its swiss made, do I understand I should be keeping it!

You should obviously. Btw it's a relatively rare item as most of B750 are the MkII (as in the same thread above). You could even find the missing knob on ebay for a price not that expensive.

 

[Galliardist]

I had one of these (picture's from a dealer on the web, the only one I can find) for a decade - the last version of the A&R A60, the one with the dedicated CD input.
I auditioned different versions of it in previous years but didn't like them: this last version (subjectively) didn't have the overdone warmth of the earlier ones.

I believe this version was only available for a couple of months before they replaced it with the A60+, which I never got to hear.

Mine went out the door in yet another burglary, like all the hifi I owned in the UK except my Coda IIs, which went to a friend. Mine had the CD input but the previous black sleeve, which went well with the rest of my LP system at the point when it walked (Linn Axis and Celestion DL6 speakers). The only UK component I've owned since moving to Australia was a Goldring cartridge which didn't stay long.

It's the older versions of the A60 that are the "classics" of course - but in British hifi terms only. I still like the understated look of this model, but realistically I should have stuck with decent Japanese amps.

 

[brunes]

You should obviously. Btw it's a relatively rare item as most of B750 are the MkII (as in the same thread above). You could even find the missing knob on ebay for a price not that expensive.

I can even get a service from Revox its 35minutes away from my house apparently!
Not sure I need a 3rd amplifier, maybe for the cellar!

 

[restorer-john]

The only UK component I've owned since moving to Australia was a Goldring cartridge which didn't stay long.

The Goldring was likely a rebadged Japanese Excel anyway...

 

[Rottmannash]

I preferred to have a separate Denon tuner. I've long lived in rural areas away from radio towers, so I needed the superior sensitivity. Denon tuners are hard to beat in that respect. Even their stereo receivers tended to have excellent station pulling abilities. No matter how good your tuner sounds, it's not much use if it can't pick up your favorite stations.

I actually have an old Denon separate tuner that I've had for a thousand years. Wish someone would buy it so I could get it out of my closet.

 

[DanielT]

I now have a classic, vintage Cyrus 1 amplifier with PSX power supply on loan. Or rather to help my friend spray it black. He borrows my Topping E30 DAC, which he might buy. I am thinking of buying the SMSL D-6 DAC because it has balanced outputs with 4 Vrms out which I need for my power amps (SELA and Fostex 600).

Back to Cyrus 1. Why not. It works well. Guessing around 70-80 watts with the PSX power supply. As usual I hear no difference between this amp power supply combo vs my other amplifiers. With 90 dB sensitive speakers and the fact that I rarely play louder than 65 dB in the apartment, I don't need many watts.

BUT one thing that annoys me is the hopeless placement of the speaker connectors. Partly because they are too close and partly because the power cable between the PSX power supply and Cyrus 1 goes over the speaker connectors. See the last attached picture, there you see the hopeless solution. What was Cyrus thinking in that case?

Cyrus 1 - Cyrus Audio

Traditionally budget amplification was considered to have “budget sound”. The appearance of the Cyrus One in 1984 upset this established norm and revolutionised the audio industry. It demonstrated unequivocally, that an audiophile integrated amplifier was well within the grasp of the music...

www.cyrusaudio.com

Edit:
That didn't sound good: "Freq Resp – -3 dB". What that means in practice? I do not know.

 

[Byrdsmaniac]

I actually have an old Denon separate tuner that I've had for a thousand years. Wish someone would buy it so I could get it out of my closet.

You could always give it away. Try Craig's List.

 

[Mikig]

I now have a classic, vintage Cyrus 1 amplifier with PSX power supply on loan. Or rather to help my friend spray it black. He borrows my Topping E30 DAC, which he might buy. I am thinking of buying the SMSL D-6 DAC because it has balanced outputs with 4 Vrms out which I need for my power amps (SELA and Fostex 600).

Back to Cyrus 1. Why not. It works well. Guessing around 70-80 watts with the PSX power supply. As usual I hear no difference between this amp power supply combo vs my other amplifiers. With 90 dB sensitive speakers and the fact that I rarely play louder than 65 dB in the apartment, I don't need many watts.

BUT one thing that annoys me is the hopeless placement of the speaker connectors. Partly because they are too close and partly because the power cable between the PSX power supply and Cyrus 1 goes over the speaker connectors. See the last attached picture, there you see the hopeless solution. What was Cyrus thinking in that case?

Cyrus 1 - Cyrus Audio

Traditionally budget amplification was considered to have “budget sound”. The appearance of the Cyrus One in 1984 upset this established norm and revolutionised the audio industry. It demonstrated unequivocally, that an audiophile integrated amplifier was well within the grasp of the music...

www.cyrusaudio.com

Edit:
That didn't sound good: "Freq Resp – -3 dB". What that means in practice? I do not know.

Nice classic Cyrus. One of the devices I would like to have in my collection. I would also like; Musical Fidelity A1 from the 80s, Onkyo A809, the AG10 is too expensive, Crrek CAS, YBA Integreè, and then…..uuu the list is long!!!

 

[DanielT]

Nice classic Cyrus. One of the devices I would like to have in my collection. I would also like; Musical Fidelity A1 from the 80s, Onkyo A809, the AG10 is too expensive, Crrek CAS, YBA Integreè, and then…..uuu the list is long!!!

Sure, but I wonder. At least with my ears and my speakers. I forgot I had a Pioneer SX777 in storage. Can't remember when or why I bought it. It is rather "unsexy" but it does its job well with its 65 watts.Presumably, since it is not a sought-after HiFi gadget, around $50 for one. I hear no difference between it and Cyrus 1 with PSX power supply.

https://www.hifiengine.com/manual_library/pioneer/sx-777.shtml

 

[Mikig]

Sure, but I wonder. At least with my ears and my speakers. I forgot I had a Pioneer SX777 in storage. Can't remember when or why I bought it. It is rather "unsexy" but it does its job well with its 65 watts.Presumably, since it is not a sought-after HiFi gadget, around $50 for one. I hear no difference between it and Cyrus 1 with PSX power supply.

https://www.hifiengine.com/manual_library/pioneer/sx-777.shtml

You know what? they are the devices that I saw in shops and in magazines that I would have liked to have....but obviously at the time when I was studying, finances were tight!!! Surely today, like most of the devices I have, they would be wonderful ornaments to play with!!!

PS I had the PD7700 CD player from Pioneer at the time!!

 

[DanielT]

You know what? they are the devices that I saw in shops and in magazines that I would have liked to have....but obviously at the time when I was studying, finances were tight!!! Surely today, like most of the devices I have, they would be wonderful ornaments to play with!!!

PS I had the PD7700 CD player from Pioneer at the time!!

But now you can buy. Just figure out a reasonable used price and you can buy and sell for roughly the same price, .. BUT why do that if you can't hear a difference? Or rather, I hear no difference with my speakers. Maybe you would, what do I know as the old saying goes:
Put most of the gunpowder on the speakers.

Top notch modern speakers plus various EQ tricks together with a boring, but perfectly ok/good $50 receiver from the early 1990s, .well just because it can be done.
I like that approach. Therefore, I will have my vintage Luxor 7082A amp in my main system going forward.

 

[rdenney]

Here's my entry:

This was the cheapest of the Kenwood integrated amps of the day (1977). Specs are modest: 40wpc, 0.8 distortion, 90 dB S/N ratio, and a damping factor with 8-ohm speakers of 50. So, it's not the amp for big spaces or difficult speakers. But for the Advents mine drove for decades, in smaller listening spaces, it was and continues to be an excellent performer. For me, it's yet more evidence of how we overestimate the importance of distortion in amps sized appropriately for their spaces and applications.

I currently have this powering a pair of Canton GL260 speakers, with an old Tascam CD player as the source, in a smaller bedroom.

Rick "for playing music" Denney