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Vintage amplifiers that could challenge or approach current state of the art amplifiers
- Thread starter restorer-john
- Start date
Luvchampagne
Active Member
That is definitely a head scratcher. But what is Yamaha going to do after selling a $5k Class D amp with every bell and whistle in 2005? Come out in 2025 with a $3k amp with the same stuff?I think it’s pretty cool -and kind of funny -that Yamaha dropped a Class D amp like a mic-drop and then never bothered to follow up on it.
Old_School_Brad
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From a practical standpoint, they have no reason to. The MX-D1 was a statement piece -"Look what we can do."
Since then, their lineup has covered all bases without class D. I’m not sure how much they’d gain by shifting their well-established approach to class D now.
These days, the residential market has TI chips, Purifi, and Hypex and it’s mostly about packaging it in the most appealing way. Not exactly thrilling, if you ask me.
The Yamaha MX-D1, on the other hand, is exciting. Consider yourself lucky to have one, I’ve been hunting for one for years.
Luvchampagne
Active Member
I got very lucky. Picked it up on ebay for $500 7 years ago. It's a wonderful amp in its own way. The Stereofool review nails it. I would highly recommend not getting one so I'm not competing with you . Would love to get a 2nd one.
Just got my 2 MC7270s rebuilt and the Yamaha stands up to them and then some except for the cool blue meters.
Just got my 2 MC7270s rebuilt and the Yamaha stands up to them and then some except for the cool blue meters.
Old_School_Brad
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Yeah the pro line moved all to Class D. After having owned a PS-7000 for some years, I moved to a PX-10 which only required a fan update to be decently quiet. I could not hear a difference between the two. Both where too powerful and I never saw them anywhere close to clipping.
Why has their HiFi lineup not reflected on that move, I don’t know, but Yamaha must have a good reason.
Luvchampagne
Active Member
I wonder how the Mxd1 would test vs. Purifi 9040. Guessing that SINAD would be lower. But I'm also guessing that difference would not be audible. Power is about the same. Build quality car superior for the MXD1. Even against Appolon, in guessing the build quality of the MXD1 would be superior.
Thoughts?
Thoughts?
Suspect it ties in with the 'traditional' appearance of their equipment. Class AB old school configuration in old school boxes - their market niche.
EJ3
Master Contributor
I'll have to look into them since they have old school boxes.
Plattenspieler
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Well,
I just stumbled across this thread a few days ago. After working my way through half of it I decided to register. I believe the Sansui AU-D11 ll deserves a spot
in this? About seven years ago I got one with the matching tuner for $400 which I thought was a fair price. I've been enjoying it ever since. It runs a pair of
Infinity RSllb''s, (they would probably benefit from a bit more power) It sounds great to me
http://www.sansui.us/AU-D11II.htm
I just stumbled across this thread a few days ago. After working my way through half of it I decided to register. I believe the Sansui AU-D11 ll deserves a spot
in this? About seven years ago I got one with the matching tuner for $400 which I thought was a fair price. I've been enjoying it ever since. It runs a pair of
Infinity RSllb''s, (they would probably benefit from a bit more power) It sounds great to me
http://www.sansui.us/AU-D11II.htm
Old_School_Brad
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It's likely a high-current design. Honestly, I don't think you'll gain much from a higher 8-ohm power rating. Infinity speakers -being, well, Infinity -tend to thrive on high current more than anything else.Well,
I just stumbled across this thread a few days ago. After working my way through half of it I decided to register. I believe the Sansui AU-D11 ll deserves a spot
in this? About seven years ago I got one with the matching tuner for $400 which I thought was a fair price. I've been enjoying it ever since. It runs a pair of
Infinity RSllb''s, (they would probably benefit from a bit more power) It sounds great to me
Review is here:Well,
I just stumbled across this thread a few days ago. After working my way through half of it I decided to register. I believe the Sansui AU-D11 ll deserves a spot
in this? About seven years ago I got one with the matching tuner for $400 which I thought was a fair price. I've been enjoying it ever since. It runs a pair of
Infinity RSllb''s, (they would probably benefit from a bit more power) It sounds great to me
Sansui AU-D11 Integrated Amplifier Review price specs - Hi-Fi Classic
www.hifi-classic.net
Note that they tested it at 4ohm and 2ohm as well - it managed 200W into 2ohm, before the protection circuits kicked in...
That means that it can handle low impedance loads without too much trouble (like the Infinity speakers)
Great classic amp!
Sansui at the height of its prowess.... from memory the next generation after this one, was a bit of a disappointment, and then Sansui went distinctly downmarket....
SirPaulGerman
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I just got a Crown Studio Reference 1
Here are the specs
Any good ?
The only thing is too much power for home use
Here are the specs
Any good ?
The only thing is too much power for home use
EJ3
Master Contributor
Various CROWN higher powered amps are perfect for home use with the very inefficient Dahlquist DQ-10 speakers with a
Great American Sound Thaedra preamplifier
(Stereophile: We are prepared to report that the present one, designed by James Bongiorno, is the most deeply satisfying of any solid-state preamplifier we have tried to date (as of May 22. 1976)(And still today: EJ3 [The only thing that I have found comparable is both of my APT/Holman pre-amplifier's, one of which was tested here]).
150 watts a channel of amplification gave us conversational level volume back then, so we switched to the higher powered CROWNS.
We were also doing 2.2 sound with a couple of 24"Hartley subwoofers built into the floor (no rear reflected sound wave).
I suspect (but don't know) that various CROWN amps from that era would be worthy.
Hartley:
SirPaulGerman
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That would be very interesting test.We need a reconditioned Phase Linear 700B tested. If not to show the world how good Mr. Carver was before he lost the plot.
Carver Crimson 275 Review (Tube Amp)
This is a review and detailed measurements of the Carver Crimson 275 tube stereo power amplifier. It was purchased new by member @paulbottlehead and given to me for testing. It costs US $2750. I really like the way the amplifier looks. The burgundy color is attractive as is the handle. On the...
Old posts I know but still deserving of a comment or two.
Flame Linear or some variation on the spelling was a popular term 40+ years back.
To add some detail, first I owned the 700B for a bunch of years and it did "blow up" a couple times, NO they don't burst into flames, but had the occasional bad habit of dumping a LOT of DC into your speakers and taking out drivers etc.. Mine confused me by making a LOUD thunder into my Klispch LaScala's which I immediate turned off. After a bit I turned it on again at which time it seemed of operate normally but one of the speakers had blown drivers. I repaired the speaker and went back to normal use till the "big bang" happened again and blew up drivers again??? Long stupid story short, after getting the amp and speakers repaired, shop that repaired the amp never quoted the needed repair. I then went back to normal use till the "subjective" writers duped me into buying VTL tube amps and selling the 700B.
Now I'm not sure how true this is but I did read a that the main issue of the 700s problems was caused by the output transistors high heat causing the screws mounting them to the chassis coming loose, which would then cause them to loose their ground and dump the DC. If true it sort of possibly explains my problem being intermittent and one of those almost unforeseeable problems that can happen to any designer.
Folks can say anything that makes them happy about Bob Carver but to me he was definitely one sharp cookie in his day. Witness the Phase Linear 1000 Auto Correlator Noise Reduction unit top right. What a great addition for removing rumble, surface noise and much of the rest of vinyls nasty ill's! It stayed in my system trouble free for a couple decades till CD's came along replacing vinyl and it became superfluous in my rig.
YMMV
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EJ3
Master Contributor
I was involved with a number of people who had the big CROWNS in the 70's & 80's, I guess that some people, even then, had more disposable income than me.
I did not ask, I just enjoyed & learned from people like that. One in particular is currently involved in the restoration of French Shot Guns(a rather niche undertaking, I would think) from the U.S. Revolutionary war era, which is apparently a quite lucrative business for him.
I know that this is an ancient thread but after reading about hearing switching power supply noises in the speakers was something I was up against myself about the exact same time that this discussion was taking place. I also agree on the points made about DSP's affect on the overall sound.
Firstly, I traced the switching noise to my computers 1200W psu, with it unplugged my electrostatic speakers were silent. Now here's where I'll probably be pissing people off, not everyone will hear this, it really depends on how revealing your speakers are. Mine were exceptionally revealing and demanding on any amp. Using 14 JansZen panels per side and 4 power supplies for the panels per side, they would come to life using an old QSC series 3 3500 amp(s), with a 4 ohm bridged rating of 1300w. Most amps mentioned in this thread either use fans or theyre unable to cope with 1 ohm loads, the QSC's did it for years and never shut down. Even after surviving a fire at my place, they're still going strong. I've tried other amps and they lack the overall impact that the QSC's deliver and the subtle nuances they deliver are enough that I could easily hear the loss in the music from the A/D to D/A conversion. I tried 5 different DSP's and it was there in them all.
To say someone doesn't hear something, based solely on the fact that you didn't, is really not a good case to argue. If your not hearing the loss with a DSP, your system is just not revealing enough to allow you to hear it or your hearing is so bad that you can't determine these factors being part of a system.
I would never consider buying an amp that uses fans, but thats me, I also have a need to have an amp that has no issues with dips down in the 1 ohm range to be able to safely run my speakers, with that said, that removes most amps posted here as the definitive amp. I came looking for some insight into the Denon monoblocks, what i saw was claims of 450w with a 350w max current draw? That made me wonder how Denon, who is obviously not a truthful company, was able to defy the laws of physics, putting them in the same class as Pyle and other truth stretching manufacturers. I know Denon from my own experience and they have a hard time stating the truth, using max outputs and tests using 1kHz bursts with 1 channel only and consider 10%THD to be within their allowed specs.
When a manufacturer posts 4 to 16 ohms why would someone think that they're going to be ok with 1 ohm loads? I know I would never come to that conclusion unless they posted it somewhere and said run at your own risk, but could be possible, as QSC has done. Another old amp maker I'm currently running right now is BGW, (gains maxed, totally silent ear next to panel) they are fan less and they too claim their amps can handle any load, they give 4 ohm ratings but go on to say they are capable of any load and are perfect for electrostatics. They might not be doubling their power into those extremely low loads but they aren't making that claim. I'm running 1 in stereo for Martin Logan Prodigy's panels and 2 in mono on the bass, the bass crossover has been bypassed and it has made me change my mind on what MLs can sound like. The load is now 3 ohms mechanical but I dont know the actual fluctuations that may occur, those amps have not faulted or even hiccupped running the bass drivers and do it without fans all day long. ML makes a decent speaker once its modified properly, they just can't seem to get out of their own way before they start manufacturing.
