All time greatest amplifiers

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chebby

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Blacksabbath25 said:
chebby said:
JVC JA-S31
found a mint one on eBay with box and instructions https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F322869581023

£160

Rip off for a 40 year old mass market amp. I doubt if it is any good nowadays and will need a service just to check it’s safe.
 

Blacksabbath25

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chebby said:
Blacksabbath25 said:
chebby said:
JVC JA-S31
found a mint one on eBay with box and instructions https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F322869581023

£160

Rip off for a 40 year old mass market amp. I doubt if it is any good nowadays and will need a service just to check it’s safe.
that’s eBay for you ! The fees are high
 
NAD 3020 would get my overall prize for its sound quality, modest cost, and huge reach.

Quad 33/303 for its industrial looks, but not its sound.

The original Devialet for sound and looks.

Any Harman/kardon receiver as my first love.

Any Marantz with blue lights and/or meters.

McIntosh for looking the same for ever.

Luxman and Accuphase for needless luxury and longevity.

The original Naims for representing the hair shirt industry.

Lecson for style above everything

Audio Research valve pre and Krell power ks50a for redefining for me what quality could sound like.
 

rainsoothe

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Webern said:
I think the NAD 3020 should definitely be on the all-time list. A true classic, and a gateway into the world of hifi for many including me. I wish I hadn't sold mine. Even if I didn't stll use it somewhere in the house it would be nice to look at such an iconic design. It sounded okay too and was loud enough to bother the neighbours occasionally.

Here's the first one Vladimir was probably talking about, the other one being Pioneer A400 :)
 

Blacksabbath25

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rainsoothe said:
Webern said:
I think the NAD 3020 should definitely be on the all-time list. A true classic, and a gateway into the world of hifi for many including me. I wish I hadn't sold mine. Even if I didn't stll use it somewhere in the house it would be nice to look at such an iconic design. It sounded okay too and was loud enough to bother the neighbours occasionally.

Here's the first one Vladimir was probably talking about, the other one being Pioneer A400 :)
Vladimir is holding back to see what everyone else going to put and then sink us all lol
 

chebby

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Blacksabbath25 said:
rainsoothe said:
Webern said:
I think the NAD 3020 should definitely be on the all-time list. A true classic, and a gateway into the world of hifi for many including me. I wish I hadn't sold mine. Even if I didn't stll use it somewhere in the house it would be nice to look at such an iconic design. It sounded okay too and was loud enough to bother the neighbours occasionally.

Here's the first one Vladimir was probably talking about, the other one being Pioneer A400 :)
Vladimir is holding back to see what everyone else going to put and then sink us all lol

His opinion can’t ‘sink’ the 1.1 million unit sales of the 3020 amp. It simply was such an incredibly important product for the hi-fi industry as a whole no matter what any of us think.

I should - in fairness - state that I owned two of them between 1981 - 1984 and loved them.
 

Blacksabbath25

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chebby said:
Blacksabbath25 said:
rainsoothe said:
Webern said:
I think the NAD 3020 should definitely be on the all-time list. A true classic, and a gateway into the world of hifi for many including me. I wish I hadn't sold mine. Even if I didn't stll use it somewhere in the house it would be nice to look at such an iconic design. It sounded okay too and was loud enough to bother the neighbours occasionally.

Here's the first one Vladimir was probably talking about, the other one being Pioneer A400 :)
Vladimir is holding back to see what everyone else going to put and then sink us all lol

His opinion can’t ‘sink’ the 1.1 million unit sales of the 3020 amp. It simply was such an incredibly important product for the hi-fi industry as a whole no matter what any of us think.

I should - in fairness - state that I owned two of them between 1981 - 1984 and loved them.
did the Nad 3020 sound any good then as I’ve never owned or heard a Nad amplifier yet
 

rainsoothe

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Blacksabbath25 said:
chebby said:
Blacksabbath25 said:
rainsoothe said:
Webern said:
I think the NAD 3020 should definitely be on the all-time list. A true classic, and a gateway into the world of hifi for many including me. I wish I hadn't sold mine. Even if I didn't stll use it somewhere in the house it would be nice to look at such an iconic design. It sounded okay too and was loud enough to bother the neighbours occasionally.

Here's the first one Vladimir was probably talking about, the other one being Pioneer A400 :)
Vladimir is holding back to see what everyone else going to put and then sink us all lol

His opinion can’t ‘sink’ the 1.1 million unit sales of the 3020 amp. It simply was such an incredibly important product for the hi-fi industry as a whole no matter what any of us think.

I should - in fairness - state that I owned two of them between 1981 - 1984 and loved them.
did the Nad 3020 sound any good then as I’ve never owned or heard a Nad amplifier yet

I think it sounded good FOR THE MONEY. I only got to hear one once, when I took my tt in for servicing, it was a refurbished one, and sounded pretty bad imo. But the speakers were very bad, something he was just using for testing, something took off an older all-in-one stereo type of thing. I don't think it holds a candle to modern Nads (meaing C316 or 326, haven't heard the newer). It was very veiled, but if you like an overlywarm presentation and are on a budget and can get one for 50 pounds, I guess it's worth it.

As for Vladimir, yes, he will sink us. The ones I listed are the ones he thinks the others will be posting most, not what he's gonna list. Sansui incoming :D
 

chebby

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Harnessed to AR18s the sound from the 3020 was infectious. More ‘get up and dance’ than ‘sit back and reflect’ (which suited me and my gf as 18 year-olds at the time).

During the last year of my second 3020 (3020a) I had the Rega Planar 3 with the (then) brand-new RB300 tone-arm and Nagaoka MP11 Boron cart.

Great little system in the living room of our one bedroom flat.
 

Electro

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A touch predictable from me perhaps *yes3* but the Electrocompaniet '2 channel audio preamplifier' and the '2 channel audio power amplifier' from 1973 .

They were described as the best sounding amplfiers in the world by some and they changed the way many other amplifiers were built and measured from that point onwards.

https://www.electrocompaniet.no/files/reviews/2012_jan_Hifi-news_Vintage_EC.pdf
 

davedotco

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chebby said:
Harnessed to AR18s the sound from the 3020 was infectious. More ‘get up and dance’ than ‘sit back and reflect’ (which suited me and my gf as 18 year-olds at the time).

During the last year of my second 3020 (3020a) I had the Rega Planar 3 with the (then) brand-new RB300 tone-arm and Nagaoka MP11 Boron cart.

Great little system in the living room of our one bedroom flat.

I had the amp/speaker pairing with the Dual player and standard MP11, brilliant. The AR18s (with the flat front) was the most engaging speaker at anywhere near the price, together with the 3020(a) it was unbeatable, as I found out to my cost when I tried to upgrade!

I would have loved to have heard the setup with an LP12/Basik/MP11 front end, danceabiliy would have been off the scale.
 

Alberich

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Al ears said:
Anything by D'Agastino or Luxman C900u / M900u combo or going back more Sugden A21

Another vote for Sugden - A21a. Been in production since 1989 and still going with the series 2. Gem of an amp.
 

davedotco

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Following on from my post above, the next amplifier to really change my (hi-fi) world was the Nac12s/naps/Nap160. With the Nap250 being virtually unobtainable for hi-fi use, this was the best Naim you could actually buy.

Used with the Linn/Grace/Supex front end, it was revolutionary, I had access to this system driving ELS57s, a match made in heaven (sound quality) and hell (blowing up if you switched it on or off without disconnecting the speakers).

Not really practical but it gave me my first experience of what I was to come to know as the 'hi-end'.
 
Harnessed to AR18s

I had a hi-fi love affair with AR18s - they were really the only speakers I hankered after. Can't recall what amp, but something from Laskys. Alas they were out of my budget, so had to settle for a pair of Wharfedale Linton XP2 speakers.

If I'm being selfish, the amp that still fondly resonates with me was the Pioneer SA-706. Owned one for 17-years... loved its punchy sound (as it sounded back then).
 

lindsayt

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Blacksabbath25 said:
lindsayt said:
The Sony TA-1120 amplifier. The first all silicon amplifier, from 1965. I'd love to try one of these. Some people say they sound very good.
https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F302549180088

found a mint one on eBay starting bid £550
That is a 1967 TA-1120A, which has a different pre-amp and power amp circuit to the 1965 TA-1120
 

abacus

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The Quad 22 series is a classic, as is the 405 power amp released in the 70s (It was also used in professional studios which is always a good sign) and the way it operated seems to be the forerunner of Class G, after that the NAD 3020 rewrote the rule book for budget amps causing all the other manufactures to go scrabbling to their R& D dept. to try and get something to compete, and the Lecson was the start of the super amp generation.

After the above there is not anything of note as a number of manufactures started engineering a house sound into their products, and the rest just refined what was already there. (The development of Class D & Class G amps was a step change but are used mainly in AV)

Bill
 

Blacksabbath25

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lindsayt said:
Blacksabbath25 said:
lindsayt said:
The Sony TA-1120 amplifier. The first all silicon amplifier, from 1965. I'd love to try one of these. Some people say they sound very good.
https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F302549180088

found a mint one on eBay starting bid £550
That is a 1967 TA-1120A, which has a different pre-amp and power amp circuit to the 1965 TA-1120
I did wonder but see it so I thought I would show you anyway it’s a lot of money the TA-1120A
 

Blacksabbath25

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abacus said:
The Quad 22 series is a classic, as is the 405 power amp released in the 70s (It was also used in professional studios which is always a good sign) and the way it operated seems to be the forerunner of Class G, after that the NAD 3020 rewrote the rule book for budget amps causing all the other manufactures to go scrabbling to their R& D dept. to try and get something to compete, and the Lecson was the start of the super amp generation.

After the above there is not anything of note as a number of manufactures started engineering a house sound into their products, and the rest just refined what was already there. (The development of Class D & Class G amps was a step change but are used mainly in AV)

Bill
I am sure ages ago we all had a thread on here about if hifi companies do there own house sound on there amplifiers .

because at the time I thought Marantz had a house sound but I was wrong as people on here showed dater that Marantz do not have a house sound
 

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