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Amp history / progression..?

Integrateds
Amstrad IC2000 (1972)
Sansui AU3200 (1976)
NAD 3020A (1982)
Onix OA21 (1987)

Pre-Amps
NAC62 (1989)
NAC72 (2003)
Quad 77 (2012 experiment)
B4 (2011)

Power Amps
NAP90 (1989)
NAP140 (2003)
ZAP250 (2008)
Parasound Halo A21 (2015)

I'm currently using the NAC72 with RSL boards and TPR4 HiCap with the A21, and I still have lots of the other stuff (Naim, ZAP etc.) which I intend to sell on.
 
1977 - JVC something
1988 - Mission Cyrus 1 - it would probably have been great but blamed it rather than speakers for poor sound - a mistake I think.
1988 - Audiolab 8000a - lasted a long time - used as a pre-amp for a while as well when I had a nap140 but no pre-amp
2009 - Temple Audio Bantam - bought as a cheap small compact amp for PC - pretty amazing for £90
2009 - Bantam Gold - upgraditis set in for a while
2011 - Temple Audio Monoblocks
2012 - Naim CB 62/140 - what I wanted when I bought the Audiolab - currently wondering what to do with them
2013 - Back to Temple Audio monoblocks - they are the best amps I've tried so far (and likely to stay with)
 
A Grundig receiver (combined amp/tuner - no idea of model)
A home made Sinclair chip amp
Solavox integrated from Comet warehouse (I think their own make)
Ferrograph F307 (at last, a decent amp - and I still have it)
A&R A60
Exposure VII/VIII
Exposure VII/IV
Naim 52/2 x 250s (running active)
Naim Supernait+Hicap

Now I want to hear some Teddy Pardo stuff...
 
1986 Cyrus 1
1991 72/140 after being sold on the Naim ladder at one of their musical evenings.
1993 72/250. Got it second hand for an OK price, thought I might as well take advantage.
2000 102/250. Remote control! Another second hand purchase.
2012 82/250. Bought second hand on here, no improvement noticed cf 102.
2013 ATC SIA2-150. Second hand on here. Nice powerful SS amp, don't have any plans to change.

This makes me realise that the only amps I ever bought new were the Cyrus, 72/140 and a Hicap, which was a slight surprise.
 
1978:
- Rotel Receiver
1989:
- Arcam 90.2 Integrated
Mid 90's:
- Naim - 90/92 progressing quickly to 52/135s (Olive). This paired with SBLs, NBLs, and finally SL2s. - All sold around 2006.

Fast forward to 2012...
- Naim again (I had lost touch with HiFi so started in familiar territory!) tried 202/200 and SuperUniti. Realised there was a whole other world out there...

With a variety of speakers, notably Shahinian Obs and Arcs, and back to SBLs

- Dynavector L100/Meridian 599
- Red Wine Audio

At this point I discovered ATC active 50s, so needed a pre to run into them...

- Modwright 36.5 - was in flux and did not keep the demo unit. Perhaps I should have...
- Tom Evans Vibe/Pulse
- Leema Pyxis 2

And here I remain. Love the build, functionality and sound from the Pyxis into the ATCs.

I may experiment some more (because it is fun) - but think I'd be hard pressed to do better for sensible money.
 
I suspect I'll edit this as memories re-emerge...

Stirling Sound amp modules built into a home made integrated
Heatkit Germainium transistor kit - truly awful, but they were donated by a family friend
Canal integrated valve amp - no bass whatsoever, and then the electrolytic exploded
Amstrad integrated - it was really quite good, but I would never admit it
Pioneer 6500 - bought in preference to A&R A60, as the mags said go and listen - it sounded better, but of course never became a classic.
Leak Stereo 20 with matching preamp - preamp was awful, power amp turned out to be better than I thought...
Home built preamp using Graham Nalty's passive RIAA circuit, originally driving Leak, then wanted/needed more power so bought...
Nytech CPA602 which went really loud, and ran warm enough that the trim kept falling off.
Nait 1 - heard this and decided power corrupts...
NAC42/NAP110
NAC32/Home Made HiCap/NAP110
Orac preamp - based on Naim boards, but with multiple PSU's relay switching, vishay stepped attenuator, complex control electronics.
3xLinn LK280/spark for my Isobariks, for some reason I didn't like the sound... so quickly replaced by...
A few experiments with Rotel, NAD, and Quad 405 power amps, none of which were happy with Isobariks, so I bit the financial bullet and bought...
NAC72/HiCap/2 x NAP160 1 x NAP250 (with Akitv X-Over, then a NAXO)
This combo lasted many years, with the occasional appearance of my Leak Stereo20 on midrange duties. (The Orac was shelved when one of the remote circuits stopped working and was never repaired) - the "temporary" NAC72 became permanent.
NAC82 replaced the NAC72
Quad 57s replaced Isobariks so the 160s were sold, but the NAP250 continued, but it couldn't cope with my Martin Logans, so I bought an....
Esoteric Audio Research EAR890
The NAC82 went off for (very expensive) service, so I built a passive, and when the NAC82 came back I realised it wasn't doing anything for the sound, so sold it, and quickly afterwards the Audiolab MDAC appeared and that is now my preamp.

The MDAC / EAR890 combination is really a lot better than anything that preceded it, but I am looking forward to the Lakewest VFET amplifiers, as they should be optimised for my Martin Logan's punishing impedance.
 
Alba UA900 (1975)
Nytech CA202 (1980) still got it. Might need a re-cap?
Bryston BP5/4BST (1999) still got them (and still under warranty!), but upgraded to a Townshend Allegri preamp 2 years ago.
 
Here are those I can remember, in no particular order at all:

NAD Model 90
NAD 160a
NAD 3020A
NAD 3020E
NAD 3120
NAD 301
NAD Monitor Series 3300
NAD C370
NAD C355BEE
Marantz 1030
Marantz 1040
Marantz 1060
Marantz 1070
Marantz 2215b
Marantz 2230
Marantz 2245
Marantz Model 22
Marantz PM-66SE KI
Marantz PM-7200
Pioneer SA-608
Pioneer SA-7800
Pioneer SA-8800
Pioneer A-616
Pioneer A400
Pioneer A400X
Pioneer A300R Precision
Teac Reference A-H300
Teac Reference A-H500
Yamaha CA-1000
Yamaha CR-800
Technics SU-8080
Technics SU-8600
Technics SU-9060 / SE-9060
Technics SU-V6
Technics SU-V7
Technics SU-V8
Technics SU-V90D
Technics SU-V650
Technics SU-A300
Technics SU-A900mkII
Technics SU-MA10
Technics SE-M100
Technics SU-C3000 / SE-A3000
Sony TA-F3ES
Sony TA-F30ES
Sony TA-F3000ES
Sony TA-F500ES
Sony TA-F700ES
Sony TA-F670ES
Sony TA-F770ES
Sony TA-N55ES
Sony TA-FB920
Sony TA-FB930
Sony TA-FB940
Sony TA-F6B
Denon PMA-400
Denon PMA-250
Denon PMA-737
Denon PMA-255UK
Denon PMA-355UK
Denon PMA-1500AR
Denon PMA-2000AR
Copland CSA14
Primare A20 MKII
Micromega Tempo
A&R A60
Arcam Alpha 5
Arcam Alpha 8
Arcam Alpha 10
Arcam Delta 290
Arcam Delta 60
Arcam DiVA A65+
Arcam DiVA A75+
Arcam FMJ A18
Myst TMA3
Nytech Obelisk
Linn Majik
Naim 12 / 160
Naim 72 / 140
Naim Nait 2
Naim Nait 3
B4 Buffer / NAP140 clone
Quad 33 / 303
Quad 34 / 306
Quad 44 / 405
Leak Point One Stereo / Stereo 20
Leak Stereo 30
AVC "Silver" KT66
Puresound A10
Yarland FV-34C
Yaqin MC-34L
Yaqin VK-2100
Rega Brio
Rega Luna
Rega Mira
Rega Elex
Exposure X
Exposure XX
Cyrus 1
Cyrus 2
Cyrus 3
Audiolab 8000s
Cambridge Audio P100
Cambridge Audio A500
Cambridge Audio 640A
Cambridge Audio C500 / P500
Cambridge Audio A3i
Cairn Aria HE
Harman/Kardon Citation 11/12
Harman/Kardon A401
Harman/Kardon HK6550
Harman/Kardon HK980
Trio KA-7100
Trio KA-701
Kenwood KA-9100
Kenwood KA-7090R
Kenwood KA-3020SE
Music Angel EL34
Acoustic Research "The Amplifier"
Amptastic Mini-T
Sonic Impact Tripath amp
Sugden/Richard Allen A21
Inca Tech Claymore
Luxman L30

There's doubtless more but I cant remember... Its all a blur.
 
istari_knight said:
Here are those I can remember, in no particular order at all:

NAD Model 90
NAD 160a
NAD 3020A
NAD 3020E
NAD 3120
NAD 301
NAD Monitor Series 3300
NAD C370
NAD C355BEE
Marantz 1030
Marantz 1040
Marantz 1060
Marantz 1070
Marantz 2215b
Marantz 2230
Marantz 2245
Marantz Model 22
Marantz PM-66SE KI
Marantz PM-7200
Pioneer SA-608
Pioneer SA-7800
Pioneer SA-8800
Pioneer A-616
Pioneer A400
Pioneer A400X
Pioneer A300R Precision
Teac Reference A-H300
Teac Reference A-H500
Yamaha CA-1000
Yamaha CR-800
Technics SU-8080
Technics SU-8600
Technics SU-9060 / SE-9060
Technics SU-V6
Technics SU-V7
Technics SU-V8
Technics SU-V90D
Technics SU-V650
Technics SU-A300
Technics SU-A900mkII
Technics SU-MA10
Technics SE-M100
Technics SU-C3000 / SE-A3000
Sony TA-F3ES
Sony TA-F30ES
Sony TA-F3000ES
Sony TA-F500ES
Sony TA-F700ES
Sony TA-F670ES
Sony TA-F770ES
Sony TA-N55ES
Sony TA-FB920
Sony TA-FB930
Sony TA-FB940
Sony TA-F6B
Denon PMA-400
Denon PMA-250
Denon PMA-737
Denon PMA-255UK
Denon PMA-355UK
Denon PMA-1500AR
Denon PMA-2000AR
Copland CSA14
Primare A20 MKII
Micromega Tempo
A&R A60
Arcam Alpha 5
Arcam Alpha 8
Arcam Alpha 10
Arcam Delta 290
Arcam Delta 60
Arcam DiVA A65+
Arcam DiVA A75+
Arcam FMJ A18
Myst TMA3
Nytech Obelisk
Linn Majik
Naim 12 / 160
Naim 72 / 140
Naim Nait 2
Naim Nait 3
B4 Buffer / NAP140 clone
Quad 33 / 303
Quad 34 / 306
Quad 44 / 405
Leak Point One Stereo / Stereo 20
Leak Stereo 30
AVC "Silver" KT66
Puresound A10
Yarland FV-34C
Yaqin MC-34L
Yaqin VK-2100
Rega Brio
Rega Luna
Rega Mira
Rega Elex
Exposure X
Exposure XX
Cyrus 1
Cyrus 2
Cyrus 3
Audiolab 8000s
Cambridge Audio P100
Cambridge Audio A500
Cambridge Audio 640A
Cambridge Audio C500 / P500
Cambridge Audio A3i
Cairn Aria HE
Harman/Kardon Citation 11/12
Harman/Kardon A401
Harman/Kardon HK6550
Harman/Kardon HK980
Trio KA-7100
Trio KA-701
Kenwood KA-9100
Kenwood KA-7090R
Kenwood KA-3020SE
Music Angel EL34
Acoustic Research "The Amplifier"
Amptastic Mini-T
Sonic Impact Tripath amp
Sugden/Richard Allen A21
Inca Tech Claymore
Luxman L30

There's doubtless more but I cant remember... Its all a blur.
Click to expand...

Wow!
 
Marantz PM230
Nad 3020B
Inca Tech Claymore
Then onto the Exposure ladder;
6/7/4DR, added second 4DR (bi amping), 7 out 11 in, 6 out 9 in, added 5 (for SBLs)
Sold the lot due to marraige and first owned house.
Audio Analogue Puccini SE

I then managed to "collect" at the same time, Exposure 15, Naim Nait 2 (Olive) and another Claymore. The Claymore stayed and is now in system 2.

* DIY Aclass pre & power

Am now eyeing up the second and better-er-rer SECA DIY design from Colin...
 
Long time ago I started with a Onkyo intergrated.
Then a big upgrade Exposure X SUPER
Then a side steps Exposure 17 +2x 18s
Exchange 17 with a Exposure 9 +11 PSU+Pre
Exchange the 2x 18 with 2x Expusure4DR
Last exchange 9+11 with a Croft Basic25Rplus SE
 
Pioneer A400
Exposure 2010S
LFD PA0
LFD PA0 (SE)
LFD PA2M (SE)*

...not much, but I hate box swapping & decided to go all-out with a final amp that'll outlive me. :)
 
Technics integrated (Class AA)
Yamaha AX-550 integrated
Added two Rotel RMB100 mono blocks. (now driving my surround speakers)
Replaced the Yamaha with a Rotel RSP1068 as a preamplifier.
Added a Rotel RMB1095 (4 channels driving the front speakers, 1 for the centre)
 
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