eico hf-81 impressions....

[mike68]

Hey, recently picked up a hf81 eico. I have been wanting one of these amps for a while, and wondered what all the buzz was about. Well, I recapped this amp and cleaned up the knobs and polished the faceplate. I gave it a couple hour sound check this afternoon. I know now what the buzz is about. it is awesome! I have a bunch of different 6bq5 stereo amps, including scott 299, dynaco sca-35, pilot 240, sherwood s-5000 and a few others. It definetly scores tops. It is a keeper.

 

[ekmanning5]

Welcome to the club. :thmbsp:

 

[Patrice B]

I use one in my main system (living room) since a few weeks in our new apartment.

No doubt, what a sound comes from this little 14w/ch little beast.

 

[Tetrode]

Which inputs do you use?

 

[ARRAY]

.............

 

[jaymanaa]

Fabulous.

 

[Patrice B]

Which inputs do you use?

I don't know if the question is for the OP but I answer anyway:

Aux1: DVD/CD player
FM Multi: Eico HFT-90 tuner paired with an Heathkit AC-11 MPX adapter
Phono: a Lenco B-52 TT (I've not tried it yet, just moved here a couple of weeks ago...).

 

[shacky]

Yes welcome to the club. I had a go around with cap values and brands. I love the sound with original value coupling caps - Russian PIO. Craig at NOSValves did my last tweak. Narodow and Dan from Eico User Group also played major roles.

Dan has a nice mod for the phono section. Mine is dead quiet and sounds fantastic.

 

[Patrice B]

Well, I've finally tried the phono section (two Amperexes 12AX7's) and wow:

Listening to some Pat Metheny last friday and the guitar sound was like he was right there...

Unfortunately, my Lenco B-52 needs some work as the is flutters a bit (idler wheel probably).

The caps were replaced obviously.