Your Favorite Power Amplifier that you have ever owned or currently own and what makes it your favorite

[30 Ounce]

Audio Research Classic 120 monoblocs are my favorites. I’ve tried dozens of solid state and tube amps but none of the recreate a soundstage as realistic and convincing as these. Just got these back from ARC after a full capacitor and opto coupler replacement. They do not sound like classic tube amps!

 

[GXAlan]

Probably my Marantz PM-90.

Marantz PM-90 Review (Vintage Amplifier)

This is a review and detailed measurements of the Marantz PM-90 Vintage stereo integrated amplifier. It was purchased by a member from japan and drop shipped to me for testing. It came out in 1991 with a price of 160,000 Yen (about $1,500 in today's exchange rate). I looked online and I can...

www.audiosciencereview.com

I have had the usual suspects like McIntosh tube and solid state, Accuphase, Adcom stereo and monoblock, PS Audio 200cs, Proceed/Mark Levinson, Pioneer ICE amps, Denon, Primare, JVC Victor, Sony ES, Sonic Frontiers/Anthem, NAD, Parasound…

The PM-90 was the first amplifier to show me in the present SINAD focused world that gosh, sometimes a bit of coloration is good. I can tell myself with headphones or better measuring amps that the Marantz is not as accurate, but even though it is cheaper than the other amps, and I know it’s not a transparent amplifier, it’s a consistently good amplifier where most of the time I enjoy listening to it over other setups and is the setup I choose when listening to something for the first time.

It’s good enough that I have taken the plunge on a PM-11S2 to see if I can have the same type of sound with the convenience of a remote control and another 20 years or so of newer capacitors.

Number 2 has to be my JBL SA600, soon to be reviewed here. One of the world’s first solid state amps and continues to sound very impressive with modern speakers. As timeless in look as my vintage McIntosh stack.

 

[drewdawg999]

My current amp, the March P502 is my fave. Clarity and definition are a huge step up from anything I've had before. 500 watts into 4 ohms is just what my little Maggies need, and 350 watts into 8 ohms for my Vandersteens is just peachy. My inefficient speakers have never been driven so well (with ease) in the 20 years or more that I've had them. Brute force power in such a small form factor, it's a beauty of modern engineering. Too bad they don't make it anymore, it was a great bang for the buck, but VTV, Buckeye, and Audiophonics still make some fine amps based on the NC502MP Hypex module, a sweet spot in the Bruno lineup.

 

[egellings]

My home-brewed circlotron style tube amps.

 

[levimax]

My home-brewed circlotron style tube amps.

pictures please

 

[egellings]

pictures please

The center is a two box all-tube minimalist preamp: power supply on the bottom, preamp proper on top. Two monobloc amps flanking it are circlotron style (bridge type with 2 floating plate & two floating screen supplies) power amps, and the output transformers use a patented winding approach, where instead of sectionalizing the primary and secondary as is usually done, a ribbon made of a number of enameled (quad build) wires is wound on the core; some wires in the ribbon become primary while others become secondary. They do about 170 watts each, way more than I'd ever likely use. And, I was never, ever afraid to put some IRON on a transformer.

 

[egellings]

The power transformer has two HV windings for the plate supplies, and two separate HV windings for the screen grids, and all 4 supplies are floating, as they must be. The original circlotron design idea had the tubes' screens on one side connected to the plate supply of the tubes on the opposite side. Under high power use, the plate voltage on one tube's side would sag as current draw went up, while its screen voltage would rise, since the opposite side draws less current, and its plate voltage, which supplies screen voltage to the opposite side, would rise. This causes the screen voltage to be higher than the plate voltage during peaks, and the poor little grid gets its head shot off by the high current it attempts to, but was not designed to, conduct. Having the screens independently supplied assure true pentode operation always. Screen voltage is never above plate voltage.

 

[RichB]

My favorite (and current) amplifiers are the Benchmark AHB2 for the following reasons.

• Completely silent at the speaker.
• Completely mechanically silent (no transformer hum)
• Light weight (12.5 lbs)
• Small form factor
• Low idle power 12 watts (or so)
• Class leading SINAD
• Excellent clipping protection - shut off at 1% distortion protecting the Salon2 tweeters (these cost about $1K)
• Class leading clip indicators
• Bridgeable while remaining capable of driving 3 Ohm loads
• Increased apparent detail observed in 0.1 dB level matched A/B tests

- Rich

 

[andrewjohn007]

My favorite and current amplifier is the IcePower 1200AS2 which I placed into a DIY enclosure which was previously a gray metal front step for a server rack. It's driving a pair of JBL Studio 580s. And driving them well. The first photo is the 1200AS2 as mounted to a steel plate that forms the bottom of the oak faced base unit as shown in the second picture. The third photo shows the backside where the binding posts and TRS jacks are found.

 

[NiagaraPete]

Linn Klout with out doubt.

 

[Lattiboy]

When I had these going I was absolutely terrified of volume spikes or pops. If you turned both on at the same time you'd trip the breaker in my garage.

Pure audio violence:

 

[hdspeakerman]

McIntosh MC2100 - purchased new in 1976. Played almost every day with only one repair in 45 years. I love the sound and the look. Would not sell or trade for anything! Classic Mc sound. Full, rich and clear.

 

[egellings]

What I like about my amplification is that it's entirely home-brewed. It also turns in a creditable performance, as far as my nun-handles can tell.

 

[NiagaraPete]

My favourite amp form the past is a Meridian 103D. Dual power supplies, DIN connectors and horrid speaker connects. You could swap modules for various different cartridges. I had one for a Supex 9000.

 

[egellings]

Those levers & knob sure want you to know that they are there in no uncertain terms.

 

[mhardy6647]

Those levers & knob sure want you to know that they are there in no uncertain terms.

Sorta like the Kinky Kinki integrated amp that was all the rage for about 45 minutes a few years back.

All of the grotesquerie of those baleen-whale grilles that scar the front ends of so many automobiles (particularly expensive ones) these days... with even less real-world benefit.

A modern pickup truck in its native habitat.

 

[fpitas]

Sorta like the Kinky Kinki integrated amp that was all the rage for about 45 minutes a few years back.

All of the grotesquerie of those baleen-whale grilles that scar the front ends of so many automobiles (particularly expensive ones) these days... with even less real-world benefit.

A modern pickup truck in its native habitat.

When electric vehicles get grilles like that, we'll know they're mainstream.

 

[fpitas]

My J2 horn amp in its plain-Jane hobby box enclosure. It does have two(!) blue LEDs.

Since there's a lot of loose talk about Pass stuff all being distortion boxes, distortion @ 1W into 8 ohms.. I run mine at about 20mW average, into more like 20 ohms, so the distortion is substantially less than shown.

 

[Gary_G]

UPDATES

 

[NiagaraPete]

UPDATES

Hard to sit a beer on top of those speakers.