Vintage amplifiers that could challenge or approach current state of the art amplifiers

[dlaloum]

Perfect amp. Clean power. Silent operation. Fans don't start until it reaches 50 deg. which it does, but only when playing louder than conversation for 45 minutes and I can't actually hear them spin at low speed anyway even of I turn the music off.
EDIT: Oh, and it idles at a cool 32 W, have stepped calibrated attenuators that I use to know the whereabouts of safe listening. Yours have them too of course. Do you have the P2500S / P3500S or the P5000S? -The P2500 and P3500 have toroidal transformers, the P5000 and P7000 have SMPS.



It's an A/B class but with SMPS.

Seems to me that a lot of designers are missing opportunities for their amps in the power supply area - SMPS are relatively cheap for the amount of clean current they can deliver... and there are plenty of designs out there that are unnecessarily current limited by their power supply...

 

[Deleted member 48726]

Seems to me that a lot of designers are missing opportunities for their amps in the power supply area - SMPS are relatively cheap for the amount of clean current they can deliver... and there are plenty of designs out there that are unnecessarily current limited by their power supply...

You are right. The power supply section is often hit by cost cutting. I also think some of the decisions are made because of audiophile tradition. -Like the toroidal transformer is more sought after than EI.

 

[AdrianusG]

Perfect amp. Clean power. Silent operation. Fans don't start until it reaches 50 deg. which it does, but only when playing louder than conversation for 45 minutes and I can't actually hear them spin at low speed anyway even of I turn the music off.
EDIT: Oh, and it idles at a cool 32 W, have stepped calibrated attenuators that I use to know the whereabouts of safe listening. Yours have them too of course. Do you have the P2500S / P3500S or the P5000S? -The P2500 and P3500 have toroidal transformers, the P5000 and P7000 have SMPS.



It's an A/B class but with SMPS.

Hi Everyone,

How about this one? i'm kinda looking at this one for my next purchase, anyone has experience with this Yamaha?
it would very nicely combine with my Yamaha C2x Pre-amp

The shop that sells them (they have several) i trust 100% , my Pre- amp came from them.

 

[Videopac]

I have owned that & the wonderful MX10000,

Ever had a better amp than the Yamaha MX-10000?

 

[Jaxjax]

Perfect amp. Clean power. Silent operation. Fans don't start until it reaches 50 deg. which it does, but only when playing louder than conversation for 45 minutes and I can't actually hear them spin at low speed anyway even of I turn the music off.
EDIT: Oh, and it idles at a cool 32 W, have stepped calibrated attenuators that I use to know the whereabouts of safe listening. Yours have them too of course. Do you have the P2500S / P3500S or the P5000S? -The P2500 and P3500 have toroidal transformers, the P5000 and P7000 have SMPS.



It's an A/B class but with SMPS.

I have a few of the P2500S
I run 1 in my bedroom system. It's superb. The P3500S was also extensively tested on AP gear by an EE who I think is also a member on ASR. The test results were really good & worth finding his test results. I'll link it if I find it.
Joe

 

[Jaxjax]

Ever had a better amp than the Yamaha MX-10000?

Maybe...but not in stand alone. The pascals in my core 59's are really good. But for stand alone it was a serious amp & did it's job very well. It was also jewelry of the nice kind.
Joe

 

[Deleted member 48726]

I have a few of the P2500S
I run 1 in my bedroom system. It's superb. The P3500S was also extensively tested on AP gear by an EE who I think is also a member on ASR. The test results were really good & worth finding his test results. I'll link it if I find it.
Joe

I know. It's the one on the french forum, right?

YAMAHA A-S701 - tear-down, thoughts about the internals & few measurements

The R-N803 has the same mechanical build, power supply, heat sinks and power amp section as the R-S700, A-S700/701/801 and R-N800A. However, they have different signal-to-noise at 200mv input, according to Yamaha: A-S700 has 110dB A-S701 has 99dB R-S700 has 107dB R-N803D has 100dB R-N800A has...

www.audiosciencereview.com

 

[Jojo]

Kenwood KA-660. 0.006% thd / 107db SNR
60 watts/ 8Ω
As far as i understand, it is pretty similar to the "basic" series amplifier wich was presented here (M1-M2-M1A-M2A).
You got a tone control bass/treble plus one control related to sub bass.

For the story, it was a gift for my father wich had a very tired denon from the 80's. He needed an amplifier with cd/phono/aux connects.
I don't have any data to prove anything, but for the ears the difference between the two amplifiers on the same pair of speakers was impressive. Like having a new pair of Speakers. I saw the smile at my father face ; i saw the young man he was, who wanted to have a good sounding amp but didn't had the money back in the days.
Since then, every time i go to visit him, he's happy to remind me how good this amp sounds. And i'm very happy for him.

PS : i bought it 40€ on "leboncoin", french ebay. Even when you considere the actual offers, i think it's a bargain. There is the KA-880D too, more or less the same thd/snr but with much power (100w/8Ω)
Don't confuse with KA-660d.

 

[Angsty]

Not without a very large stepdown transformer. Personally, I always prefer a correctly wound transformer or a multitapped, multivoltage unit.

Big power amplifiers rarely perform well when sitting behind stepdown transformers in my experience.

Hoping that I can get some insight. I have a Luxman 100V turntable that I use a small step-down transformer to power. Recently I have found that the transformer is injecting noise into my MM phono stage.

Is it safe to operate the turntable on 120V or should I replace the transformer with a quieter model? Open to other suggestions as well, but do plan to keep the turntable.

 

[AdamG]

Hoping that I can get some insight. I have a Luxman 100V turntable that I use a small step-down transformer to power. Recently I have found that the transformer is injecting noise into my MM phono stage.

Is it safe to operate the turntable on 120V or should I replace the transformer with a quieter model? Open to other suggestions as well, but do plan to keep the turntable.

Please start a new separate Thread for your question. Thank you for your cooperation and understanding.

 

[Angsty]

Please start a new separate Thread for your question. Thank you for your cooperation and understanding.

Sure. I think I found the answer from @restorer-john on a different thread anyway.

100V Electronics in US - Voltage Converter Really Needed?

Simple question: If I use a Japan market amplifier rated for 100V in the US do I really need a voltage converter?

www.audiosciencereview.com