KLH Model 55 Receiver

[HankScorpio]

This being New York City, unless you're hunting pretty much non-stop, the bargains aren't really to be had. That said, I spotted a KLH Model 55 out in the wild offering for $85, and got the seller down to $75, which is still higher than the $50 - $60 I'd realistically consider spending.
Am I passing up some rare diamond in the rough, or is my $50 even too high. The seller is claiming it's in working condition, but needs some lamps. I can't find anything on this particular model anywhere. This would play second fiddle, so to speak to a Marantz 2230.
I'm asking, beause I'm still kicking myself for passing on a pair of Advent Legacy III's for $15.

 

[relaximus]

I'd think that your $50 limit might even be a tad high. AFAIK, the 55 was only 13wpc.

Dave

 

[HankScorpio]

That's kind of what I figured. I was thinking about bringing it to work and using it at my desk, if he came down. Thanks for the input.

 

[gadget73]

Low power isn't neccesarily a deal killer. With efficient speakers you can make plenty of sound. My best sounding amp is good for about 17 a channel and on not tremendously efficient JBL L-40s it makes all the sound I need. The JBL's are 88 db/1w/1m.

 

[relaximus]

Low power isn't neccesarily a deal killer. With efficient speakers you can make plenty of sound. My best sounding amp is good for about 17 a channel and on not tremendously efficient JBL L-40s it makes all the sound I need. The JBL's are 88 db/1w/1m.

Is that 17wpc of SS or tubes? There is a huge difference!

Dave

 

[gadget73]

No there isn't. 17 watts is 17 watts. In this case its a tube amp, but my KLH 24 is similar power out of sand. I also listen at low levels most of the time because loud music for extended lengths of time really cranks up the tinnitus. I have little desire to listen to 12 hours of sirens as punishment for one or two loud albums.

 

[Brian]

This series of KLH receivers were considered to trade power for a sound that is easy to listen to long term and nonfatiquing after hours of listening. Provided the sound meets your taste and you have a set of speakers that are not inefficient and can open up in the power range and not have dynamic range, I'd suggest getting it. We found them to be very good in their price range and well laid out. We sold a lot of them with the Model Six speakers and in smaller spaces the pair did very well togetrher. A lot of lower powered amps tend to sound better than higher powered amps as parts selection is broader allowing for better voicing.

I use the prior gen 27 that is an entirely different animal but the goals were the same. A good sounding receiver of practical specs usable for most persons into listening rather than into spec wars.

 

[relaximus]

No there isn't. 17 watts is 17 watts.

Agreed. However, a tube amplifier can be pushed well beyond it's limits without sounding awful.

Amps are normally "rated" for their Vrms^2/8 ohms RMS power of a sine-wave. A perfect square wave would be Vp^2/8 ohms. The difference is with SS you'd NEVER want to use that power cause it's the fingernails on a blackboard form of distortion as compared with the sweet tube-wave-inverted distortion components. That would remain true even when modeled-tube-sound is comming out of the SS amp. It's a case where the amp is putting out distorted power in addition to the clean rated sinusoidal power. And that's substantially different than modeling it and then having the modeled waveform clipped.

So what it means is that a 15W (rated) Tube amp can deliver near 20 Watts of enjoyable power. That's < square-root-of 2 times more actual power while not meeting the distortion specification of the amplifier.

Dave

 

[damnedcat777]

This being New York City, unless you're hunting pretty much non-stop, the bargains aren't really to be had. That said, I spotted a KLH Model 55 out in the wild offering for $85, and got the seller down to $75, which is still higher than the $50 - $60 I'd realistically consider spending.
Am I passing up some rare diamond in the rough, or is my $50 even too high. The seller is claiming it's in working condition, but needs some lamps. I can't find anything on this particular model anywhere. This would play second fiddle, so to speak to a Marantz 2230.
I'm asking, beause I'm still kicking myself for passing on a pair of Advent Legacy III's for $15.

I'm a huge fan of these klh receivers, they look great, they sound great, an excellent choice for a small to medium size bed room. I own 4 or 5 of these. In one room I use two, one for radio and cds and one for my mac book. Pull the trigger if u want a really non fatiguing unit.

 

[slateef]

Does anyone know what year the fifty-five was produced?