Hi everyone,
firstly a huge thanks to anyone with any knowledge helping anyone like me - great site!!!!
So I have this gorgeous Technics SU-VZ220 stereo amp which I bought in 1991. I have four speakers attached to it (new BOSE301 and some wondeful older Infinity floor-standing speakers). Recently the left speakers are almost mute and crackly until I fiddle around with the volume, give the tape monitor button a jiggle and kick it in its side. Then it kinda warms up a bit and after a few minutes plays perfectly again. I brought a €400 Marantz home a few weeks ago and sent it back because it just couldn't deliver the sound that my old Technics can... Today I was almost talked into buying the NAD C326BEE amplifier, because I went out shopping in a state of worry that my technics is about to completely give up the ghost. Someone else tried to convince me to get the award-winning Yamaha AS500. I have read reviews of both that don't convince me - the yamaha not really enveloping you with sound and the NAD being too bassy...
I'm no music prof, but I have bladdy good ears, and I know good sound when I hear it. I have recently started building up my vinyl collection and listen to lots of folk, alternative and electronic stuff - you know like Midlake, Radiohead, Antlers, Fever Ray, Joanna Newsom, blah blah blah. Is it really possible that my old Technics tops the rest, or have I just grown accustomed to sound??? When I go to a shop, they try to convince me that a new amp in a €500 range has to sound better than my old amp.
I suppose my question, quite plainly is: should I get the Technics fixed for ca €100, or should I keep kicking it until it explodes and then be forced to buy a new amp??? I don't want to spend more than €500 on one...
Thanks so much for your ears
firstly a huge thanks to anyone with any knowledge helping anyone like me - great site!!!!
So I have this gorgeous Technics SU-VZ220 stereo amp which I bought in 1991. I have four speakers attached to it (new BOSE301 and some wondeful older Infinity floor-standing speakers). Recently the left speakers are almost mute and crackly until I fiddle around with the volume, give the tape monitor button a jiggle and kick it in its side. Then it kinda warms up a bit and after a few minutes plays perfectly again. I brought a €400 Marantz home a few weeks ago and sent it back because it just couldn't deliver the sound that my old Technics can... Today I was almost talked into buying the NAD C326BEE amplifier, because I went out shopping in a state of worry that my technics is about to completely give up the ghost. Someone else tried to convince me to get the award-winning Yamaha AS500. I have read reviews of both that don't convince me - the yamaha not really enveloping you with sound and the NAD being too bassy...
I'm no music prof, but I have bladdy good ears, and I know good sound when I hear it. I have recently started building up my vinyl collection and listen to lots of folk, alternative and electronic stuff - you know like Midlake, Radiohead, Antlers, Fever Ray, Joanna Newsom, blah blah blah. Is it really possible that my old Technics tops the rest, or have I just grown accustomed to sound??? When I go to a shop, they try to convince me that a new amp in a €500 range has to sound better than my old amp.
I suppose my question, quite plainly is: should I get the Technics fixed for ca €100, or should I keep kicking it until it explodes and then be forced to buy a new amp??? I don't want to spend more than €500 on one...
Thanks so much for your ears