Old amplifier vs new amplifier: which is better?

[What Hi-Fi?]

In 1984 an affordable stereo amp arrived that blew away the competition, but can it beat the best modern amps?

Old amplifier vs new amplifier: which is better? : Read more

 

[Mr. C Nation]

In 1984 an affordable stereo amp arrived that blew away the competition, but can it beat the best modern amps?

Old amplifier vs new amplifier: which is better? : Read more

I had a Musical Fidelity B1 from very early in its production run. I bought it because it was reviewed in the hardware review section of The Gramophone, an august mag that was 80% reviews of recordings [of which +/- 70% 'classical'] and 20% reviews of hardware commensurate with the quality of the music.

The comment that summed up the review was that this amplifier was "unnecessarily good". And it was very good. I had it for 25 years.

I saw no reason to 'upgrade' - ever. For the class of speaker I had - Rogers, Mordant-Short, Monitor Audio, it was, along with that other all-time great, the Marantz CD63 Mk 2 K.I. a wonderful reproducer of music. I got so worried that it would fail permanently that I 15 years later I bought a spare. I never needed that.

I'd still have it today if it had the digital connections I now need for my present set-up, with optical out from the TV. and BuRay.

I don't know because I never A/B'd them as you have A/B'd the Cyrus pair but I bet it would have kept its end up or perhaps surpassed the 'default' Marantz 6006 series that is its successor.

I see that the original Mission Cyrus 2 can be had for about £350 s/h. As the latest amp doesn't have digital connections, owners of the original won't be buying the new one, if they need digital. Would the additional £650 needed to buy the current amp be justified in terms of the quality of sound? I doubt it.

 

[aysil]

That's very fascinating. I have experienced many times in my audio life that a higher priced or a newer model from a certain brand is not necessarily better. I discovered lately, for example, that the original Mojo from Chord is better than the new model: https://forums.whathifi.com/threads/best-british-dacs-of-all-time.128232/

 

[Rui]

in the 80´s having two sets of speakers from Mission and very happy with them i choose to buy a entire Mission cyrus system ,the cyrus amp. ,tuner, cd player and turntable also other set of speakers the 707, all sound perfect but only in diferencies between diferent productions in cds or records ,sometimes one feels like needing some tone controls but it´s okay ,the Turntable, it as a nice cartridge and stylus (like they used to make them)with a lot more hours of listening and a deep sound , i had sold it fast to a friend but recentelly bought it from the same person i sold it, at a lower price ,i´ll keep it as today i have all components closed in their boxes but the speakers are in use , i have a SA-608(78/79) from Pioneer (integrated amplifier)with a set of 761 speakers at 4ohms ,anyone who listens to it say that it sounds perfect ,the later released speakers with similar look or reference are far from the original 761 speakers quality, i do like Mission brand , About the new released receiver i don´t think i´ll be better by having it ,i heard it in a store and it sounded ok but not enough to think in buying it, the tone controls are the problem or the non existing ones