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Which Classic Amplification?

Which Brand


  • Total voters
    54
Original P3 or LP12
72 / 140 or 180
Linn Kan

Can't get more Classic than that !!
Agreed - some of the Naim kit mentioned above (e.g. 42/110) is over 40 years old and apparently still too young to be classic HiFi?

Julian was making bolt down 160s over 50 years ago and the 250 is 46 years old

Linn Wakonda/LK140 ceased production in 2006 so that's fair enough
 
Surely as the decades roll by, ever more gear falls into the classic category.

Unquestionably. It’s impossible to think of designs such as the LP12, Planar 3, SL1200, Gyrodeck, ‘chrome-bumper’ Naim, early Audio Research, Krell, Conrad Johnson, Mark Levinson, early Maggies, Apogees, LS3/5As, silver-face Pioneer, Marantz etc as anything other than classics. If people are still talking about a hi-fi product and actively seeking out good examples on the second hand market 30, 40 or more years later it is a classic, simple as that. Some are still in production too, e.g. SME V, Gyro, LP12 etc.
 
Complete nonsense. Antique audio is pre 1940…

If classic audio includes equipment 20 years old then some of my electronics would be included. Maybe look into the history of Audio. John Howes produced a book on it.

So in the year 2099, will only pre-1940 equipment still be antique?

"Complete nonsense."
 
Probably, as 99% of Hifi made after 2000 will long be in land fill…

In which case an extant amp from 1999 would be modern kids' stuff, all bells and whistles and still 40 years shy of "classic" status, let alone "antique" status at a sprightly 100 years of age?
 
FWIW part of my decision process for buying the Pass Aleph 3 class A amp I landed recently it’s just hovering just on the brink of ‘classic’ status and is likely not any financial risk to own long-term. It may even prove an investment. Whilst only 25 years old it is an innovative and highly rated early amp from one of the most respected current high-end designers, and most importantly it is reliable, remarkably simple, and fully documented with the full schematic freely available. I’ve already fully recapped it so it should have a long life ahead. Maybe not a classic right this minute, but I suspect it will be in time.
 
Garrard 401/SME 3009/V15 - QUAD 33/303 - QUAD ESL57s. Now that is Classic!

And what rubbish it was back in 1974,

Garrard 401 rumbled - it needed a proper plinth
SME 3009 was too lightweight for a decent cart
V15 was so undynamic it made classical music a dirge
Quad 33 was poor until you hit the CANCEL button
Quad 303 was excellent into ESLs despite dealer recommendations
ESL57s fantastic once you put them on lightweight rigid spiked stands

FM radio was great with a big Japanese tuner and reel to reel Akai deck, that was where the real action was:)

Old amps - Exposure 6/7/8 gets my vote after 20 years trouble free service
 
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I understand that you don't consider kit from the 70s to be classic, but the OP might well do. If so, he should steer well clear of the 70s Leak sold state amps. They were all stinkers even when new! Now the older valve kit.... a different matter entirely!
 
I understand that you don't consider kit from the 70s to be classic, but the OP might well do. If so, he should steer well clear of the 70s Leak sold state amps. They were all stinkers even when new! Now the older valve kit.... a different matter entirely!

The Leak Stereo 30 and 70 were good amplifiers in the day. However, when the Rank Organisation bought Leak in the 1970s the emphasis was on the aesthetics. I do remember some of their receivers were quite good though, maybe not quite as good as Rotel, but not far short.
 
The Leak Stereo 30 and 70 were good amplifiers in the day. However, when the Rank Organisation bought Leak in the 1970s the emphasis was on the aesthetics. I do remember some of their receivers were quite good though, maybe not quite as good as Rotel, but not far short.

If I recall correctly, the Delta 70 replaced the Stereo 70 in the early 70s but that the circuitry behind the facias was the same. A friend had the Delta 70 at the time and it was unreliable and dull sounding. Not a patch on the contemporary Quad 33/303 or, for that matter, Rogers Ravensbourne (which I recall sounded far better). As for build quality, I'm not surprised that very few of these Leak amps have survived, whereas there is a plentiful supply of 303/33 combos and, for that matter, contemporary Rotels, Sonys, Kenwood/Trios and other well made far eastern amps.

Maybe the earlier pre-Rank amps used better quality components, I don't know!
 


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