Vintage High End Tube amps list

your ears or mine would have a hard time decerning the difference,

Then there really isn't a "high end" at all as nearly everything is more or less indistinguishable. Or to quote Syndrome, "When everyone's super, no one will be.".

there are tube amps that measured "better " in square wave/bandwidth exc ...sure,doesnt always mean the product is inferior when considering end "sound".

I did not say amps in regards to quality, I said transformers. When it comes to a tube amp you can fix output response issues with feedback or you can fix it with iron. One approach costs less, guess which one?
 
I didn't take the time to mention the Others Sam
Fisher 30a
Fisher 55a
Fisher 50az
Fisher 80az
Fisher sa-1000
Fisher 200a
Special mention goes to the 50a/55a for their magical midrange sonics~!

hunter

hunter

The 70A/A-2/AZ, too. :)
 
I'd put all of the Fisher stand-alone amps on that list.




I think you mean "Citation V." Someone at H/K came up with the clever numbering scheme where the preamp was one number lower than the amplifier in each line, but the upper and lower lines shared the tuner. I and IV were the preamps.

Thank you, Sam. You are correct and I will edit my typo.
 
Then there really isn't a "high end" at all as nearly everything is more or less indistinguishable. Or to quote Syndrome, "When everyone's super, no one will be.".

Is the Dynaco Stereo 70 on the same level as the MC30? The 8B? The ARC amps? No, but William Zane Johnson thought enough of the lowly Stereo 70 to build the Audio Research ST-70-C3 amp on the chassis and using the ST70 transformers.

Maybe the Stereo 70 is not a member of the vintage ultra high end pantheon but I certainly think is deserves consideration for a place on the entry level of any high end list from that era.

YMMV.....
 
Is the Dynaco Stereo 70 on the same level as the MC30? The 8B? The ARC amps? No, but William Zane Johnson thought enough of the lowly Stereo 70 to build the Audio Research ST-70-C3 amp on the chassis and using the ST70 transformers.

Maybe the Stereo 70 is not a member of the vintage ultra high end pantheon but I certainly think is deserves consideration for a place on the entry level of any high end list from that era.

YMMV.....

Increasing the horsepower of my Mustang won't make it a Ferrari though. With the exception of the transformers, nothing of the original ST70 front-end, power supply, or output stage was reused. Factoring in the early 80s availability of the ST70 likely had as much to do with the ARC mod as anything else. You could still find ST70 kits & parts from Stereo Cost Cutters then.
 
Well with your inclusion of these amps you 'forgot' I recommend a quick read: http://www.tonepublications.com/old-school/luxman’s-luscious-mb-3045-monoblocks/ since you did not 'forget' this amp. It is very highly respected without some of the extra premium on price that the 8b and MC30 have. 50 wpc top tube sound for about 2000 is 'under the radar' pricing for these units.

These amps are from later than many of the great tube amps, 1975 or so, but that means they are more modern in build like the ARC gear. Their sonics are pure Luxman TOTL.


Blue shadow thanks for reminding and for the link regarding this tube amps forom luxman . Btw love the BMW in the profile picture , is it a E28 M5 ? Im also a BMW enthusiast I have an 84 E24 635 CSi euro .
 
It is a rare Hartge H7s, a € 735i modified by Hartge before sold new at a BMW dealer to a guy in FL.

Those Luxman amps have gotten great reviews all the time but seem to fly way too low compared to the MC30 and 8b. But the Luxman's look so much better.
 
Increasing the horsepower of my Mustang won't make it a Ferrari though. With the exception of the transformers, nothing of the original ST70 front-end, power supply, or output stage was reused. Factoring in the early 80s availability of the ST70 likely had as much to do with the ARC mod as anything else. You could still find ST70 kits & parts from Stereo Cost Cutters then.

You are certainly entitled to your opinion and I recognize it as just that - your opinion.

In my opinion, the Stereo 70, while certainly not at the same level (didn't I already state that) as the 8B. MC30, etc. still deserves mention as the first amp many budding audiophiles of that era owned who had any aspirations to build a high end system. YMMV.

And,IIRC, we didn't even use the term 'high end' when most of the earlier amps we are discussing were made.

I believe that the venerable Harry Pearson first coined that phrase in the 1970s.
 
You are certainly entitled to your opinion and I recognize it as just that - your opinion.

In my opinion, the Stereo 70, while certainly not at the same level (didn't I already state that) as the 8B. MC30, etc. still deserves mention as the first amp many budding audiophiles of that era owned who had any aspirations to build a high end system. YMMV.

And,IIRC, we didn't even use the term 'high end' when most of the earlier amps we are discussing were made.

I believe that the venerable Harry Pearson first coined that phrase in the 1970s.

You are more than welcome to declare loudly and often that the Dynaco ST70 is a high-end amplifier.
 
Ah the argument about whether a unit is Performance or not. Sure would be nice if this discussion was not necessary and the threads could be about any preamp or power amp that is not currently available on the market new. Then folks wouldn't need to defend or condemn different chunks of gear. Just discuss what they want to discuss.
 
Ah the argument about whether a unit is Performance or not. Sure would be nice if this discussion was not necessary and the threads could be about any preamp or power amp that is not currently available on the market new. Then folks wouldn't need to defend or condemn different chunks of gear. Just discuss what they want to discuss.

Amen to that Blue Shadow.

Well put.
 
It sounds like the st70's output transformers are the only thing high end about the original design.
That really shouldn't put it on the list of high end amplifiers.
 
I happen to agree on the st-70 , I find them very pleasing running my bozak symphony's and even have one running some Khorns nicely.
Although not a stand alone amp my Fisher 500C is the most wonderful smooth sweet sounding piece of gear I have ever had the pleasure of enjoying.
I have it running some large double driver Altec/JBL/Klipsch monsters I built with 511 horns on top, they are extremely detailed speakers and highly efficient, the 500 does a very good job and I would highly recommend one.
I have some w4m heath kits and w5m's also,I can not speak for the mc tubes but for the money and pure listning pleasure Fishers are a great deal.
 
I think of high end is cost-secondary rather than cost-cutting design. Marantz vs Dyna is one good example, the Stereo 70 for one had a "stingy" power supply and a somewhat marginal cathodyne splitter driver. The Marantz 8 used a Mullard driver and adequately spec'd ps. The single envelope cathodyne driver is elegantly cost effective and adequate for sensitive output tubes, like 6BQ5 and the later beam tetrodes.
Tho' there were better switches and pots to be used, McIntosh never seemed particularly cost concious to me.
 
Is the Stereo 70 a great amp? Yes!

Is it HIGH END ??? :no:

David Hafler never tried to build the best gear around. He was always trying to get the best sound for low cost. He did this with the Stereo 70 for tube gear and the Hafler DH-200 for solid state gear and both live on today as excellent examples of value for the money when bought new. High end, not really, great sound, sure but there are upgrades and tweaks available for both amps making them considerably better so I don't consider them high end. Still wouldn't mind having a Stereo 70 to go along with my DH-200s. Be a nice David Hafler amp selection.
 
Probably or possibly the best tube amp of the 20th Century was the Mcintosh MC3500. With 1/3 distortion ratings of other Mcintosh/Marantz/Citation units it had a smoothness the other amps only wished for. Whether driving a home system at 1 watt or pushing big commercial JBL or Altec systems the 3500 was a real performer, I still miss to this day. Sure a 2301 is quieter and maybe some of the ARC amps sound more appealing to some, but that 3500 had a smoothness and bass quality that captured my heart. Sure they had issues, input and output connectors for instance, and they weighed a ton, the fan could be noisy, and the meter wasn't big enough and didn't have a large enough dynamic range. But taken as a whole it pushed the envelope a large distance at the time and is still a great piece today. But where would I put 8 or 9 of them. I wouldn't need a heater in winter, but would have to double the capacity of my HVAC for the summer. So I'll stick with my 207's.

A 3500 putting out 35 watts indicated with a 500 watt a maximum capability could drive anything.E ither making the speaker they were pushing the best it could be or making a speaker that was dynamically challenged say uncle. They smoothed out harsh JBL ring radiators and could make a Mcintosh ML-4s grab your body an make you want to dance all night.
 
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