So what is your favorite vintage stereo amp? McIntosh, Marantz, Fisher or???

I'll let the next owner do it.

 

Lots of love for Sansui's AU-n17 series amps here, not least the 717, that could almost have been constructed on the Clyde...

 

I'm astounded. You have real talent. I still can't forget your Airedales.
This is the only DIY wood project with tubes that has ever looked good to me.

Regards,


Steve

 

Thank you, I do enjoy this hobby/passion very much. From building to listening, I derive much pleasure from all facets of audio.

 

I own one of these too. I agree it's got a seductive sound, but what speakers do you use with it? I'm trying to figure out how to use it.

 

Ideally, an efficient speaker with an easy load.

Looks like your Spendors are close to ideal. This from the Stereophile review:

http://www.stereophile.com/content/spendor-s100-loudspeaker-measurements

 

Thanks. I'll try it.

 

Those will work fine, if not a bit too far to the warm side. I used an LK-48 (299B but with 7189 outputs) with an old pair of KLH speakers, which I had restored and updated with good results. Also a newer but still aging at this date, pair of JM Lab stand mounts to good effect.
-Bill

 

Lots of nice stuff on this thread some of it drool worthy one of my favorites still here is a
Pioneer SX 980 recap and rebiult power supply in 1990 its still going strong
has outlived a lot of other stuff. includng a 5 yr old Sony ES avr (fried itself) also have an 11 yr old Technics avr
still working no service req. yet it has outlived the Sony too .

Picture lifted from Classic Audio

 

Is it tube rectified now? VERY cool.

 

My favorite piece of vintage gear is listed in my profile. Someday, I might get around to taking a picture.

It's ugly, actually, but it has a heart of gold: KT66 power tubes driven by L63 and ECC35 (think 6SN7) with massive iron everywhere, including a huge choke. The power supply also powers the preamp, which is tethered umbilically to the amp, to minimize noise. Two EF86 tubes act as the preamp section, and two act as the phono preamp, offering tons of quiet gain.

It's made to professional standards, but it appears to be some sort of home-brew, from Britain.

 

I've never owned them but the Pioneer Spec 1 & 2 have always had a soft spot for me.

 

For my favorite Vintage Amp, it's probably a tie for me. I think that my two favorite modern sounding vintage amps that I have heard are probably the Eico HF87, and the HK Citation II. The Citation II excells in extreme accuracy, but the HF-87 excells in the beauty department (glorious mids), while retaining not sounding remotely rolled-off on top.

 

I’m with you there. I had that along with the companion PAS-3X preamp. It was what I considered my first “real” hi-fi. I sold it to a buddy when I moved on to McIntosh, but later bought it back to give to a girlfriend. I had to marry her to get it back. LOL. We all lived happily ever after, although the Dyna is sitting in a closet somewhere.

 

Seven pages of vintage stereo amplifiers and not one of them a

? Got to do something about that!

Not my picture, but I have one in daily use in my second system, and it's also the second best amp I've heard with my 57s in the main rig.

 

Totally forgot about that one. You don't see to many around these days.

 

They call that “3 Mile Island"

 

Why do some MC240 amps have the speaker tapes more towards the rear of the chassis, with two PAM sockets instead of one?

 

The original early 1960's amps had the two sockets. This changed in the later mid to late 60's version.

 

What's the story here? How did u find it and why was it in such bad condition?

 

You may read all about it in this thread: http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/showthread.php?t=254814

 

Thanks, the one I'm looking at is an earlier one, but has the later style cast name plate on the front.

 

Gonna revive this one, because why not

Just wondering what your thoughts are on the mc250? (or the metered version MC2505) I suppose in comparison to the 240 you've mentioned above. I realize tube vs. solid state will be an apples and oranges comparison.

 

Now, it's my Fisher 480a. So nice and with bass.

 

One here too! Mine is completely rebuilt with Dada Electronics boards and is in the main system at present:



I've got a soft spot for the 303 as it was the very first amp I ever owned. My first one, now long gone, bought second hand as a 15 year old back in the late '70s. When fully working to spec (or slightly better as my current one is now) and with speakers they are happy driving (8 Ohms and above) they really are nice sounding amps with a lovely natural almost tube-like mid. It seems very happy driving the Lockwood Tannoys.

I've also got a Leak Stereo 20 that I recently finished completely rebuilding, but that's in another system at present. A superb sounding amp assuming 10 watts is enough and the context enables using a passive preamp (too much gain to use an active pre).