Vintage High End Tube amps list
- Thread starter 930turbo
- Start date
Blue Shadow
Waiting for Vintage Gear from this century
That list is way too short.
Luxman MB3045 and all others using the 8045G tube.
8B
Luxman MB3045 and all others using the 8045G tube.
8B
TubeHiFiNut
Super Member
Audio Research: D150, D76a, Dual 51, D79
Conrad Johnson: Premier 1, MV75a-1, MV45a-1
Quicksilver: M135, MX190, 8417 Mono
Marantz: 9, 8B, 5, 2
McIntosh: MC30, MC225, MC240, MC60, MC275
Harman-Kardon: Citation II, Citation V
Dynaco: Stereo 70, Stereo 35
Heathkit: UA2
Conrad Johnson: Premier 1, MV75a-1, MV45a-1
Quicksilver: M135, MX190, 8417 Mono
Marantz: 9, 8B, 5, 2
McIntosh: MC30, MC225, MC240, MC60, MC275
Harman-Kardon: Citation II, Citation V
Dynaco: Stereo 70, Stereo 35
Heathkit: UA2
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soundmotor
super modified
How does Dynaco anything get into the high-end / Marantz 2 altitude?
Fairchild 255,255a,260,275 
hunter00
Super Member
Im assumeing you've owned the ubove mentioned Dynaco's hence your opinion they don't meet "high end tube amps" list.
I would agree on fit/ finish for sure not being up to Marantz 2 territory,but sound wise they are NO slackers.My tech buddy and I have been buying/rebuilding these pieces for some time ,Robust power/output trany's,recapped with quality caps/nos tubes, paired with good quality vintage tube preamps will shock a lot of people.Altho their Pas2/3 tube preamps can be quite good performers sound wise I prefer the Fisher /HHscott tube pre's with Dynaco Mono amp offerings..
honorable mention goes to the Dyna MKiv and dyna mkiii's awesome mono amps!
hunter
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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.
hunter00
Super Member
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
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930turbo
Active Member
How can I forget the Marantz 9 & 8,2 and of course the HK Citation 2 the 1st tube amp auditioned in our system w/c prompted us to buy our 1st tube amp the audio research D79B.
930turbo
Active Member
930turbo
Active Member
Pilot amps they said are a poor man's Marantz 8B .
930turbo
Active Member
soundmotor
super modified
Yes, I've had a few and I like them too. I am not trying to gore anyone's ox. Fit & finish especially on the amps is not where I would ding them. In dead stock circuit form though, Dynaco does not perform as well as others from the same era and that isn't news. The design was driven by price point and obtaining the best possible performance from that.
Strip it down further and look at the output transformers Dynaco used. They are good but they are not even close to what was the best available at the time. Some Scott & Fisher integrateds outperform in bandwidth, square wave response, and lack of resonant peaks. Amps that did use the best available components were more expensive and less produced. That tends to remain true today for the tube high-end as well.
Blue Shadow
Waiting for Vintage Gear from this century
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.
hunter00
Super Member
Well considering At the time of design, then production David Hafler"s {formerly of Accrosound...excellent trafo's}Dynaco Amps were considered the"poor mans McIntosh"
and his early MKii/MKiii/MKiv mono's gathered a huge following as is apparent by the numbers sold and available to this day.I very seldom happen upon a dynaco tube product that still to this day doesn't sport its original OPT's or Trafo's after all these yrs, a testimony to their build quality!Were there some penny pinching in Haflers products of the day..im sure...but his Ultralinear circuitry incorporated in his amps and Trafo's were well respected. He both sold Kits and factory assembled Amps to the audiophile mass's and made hi-end sound available at a lower price point.
If you consider the Hafler designed tube products "second rate" id say that's not bad!!!In my experience In a blind test against period matching tube mono blocks from Mac and Dynaco all things being equal wpc/preamp/speakers/and source your ears or mine would have a hard time decerning the difference,there are tube amps that measured "better " in square wave/bandwidth exc ...sure,doesnt always mean the product is inferior when considering end "sound".
All in all if meeting Hi end tube amp criteria is amps that produce a richness of tone,sweetness across the audio spectram then yes in my opinion Dynaco can be included on this list.
hunter
and his early MKii/MKiii/MKiv mono's gathered a huge following as is apparent by the numbers sold and available to this day.I very seldom happen upon a dynaco tube product that still to this day doesn't sport its original OPT's or Trafo's after all these yrs, a testimony to their build quality!Were there some penny pinching in Haflers products of the day..im sure...but his Ultralinear circuitry incorporated in his amps and Trafo's were well respected. He both sold Kits and factory assembled Amps to the audiophile mass's and made hi-end sound available at a lower price point.
If you consider the Hafler designed tube products "second rate" id say that's not bad!!!In my experience In a blind test against period matching tube mono blocks from Mac and Dynaco all things being equal wpc/preamp/speakers/and source your ears or mine would have a hard time decerning the difference,there are tube amps that measured "better " in square wave/bandwidth exc ...sure,doesnt always mean the product is inferior when considering end "sound".
All in all if meeting Hi end tube amp criteria is amps that produce a richness of tone,sweetness across the audio spectram then yes in my opinion Dynaco can be included on this list.
hunter
Well said hunter.
soundmotor
super modified
I am well aware of Hafler's pedigree with Acrosound (one c). You will note this Acrosound amp with the big H on it.... oh wait, it's a K. That was for Herb Keroes, someone generally forgotten now but the other 50% of Acrosound -
Further, Ultra-Linear (marketing term) was not a Hafler-Keroes invention but the application of British audio patent that goes back before WW2. More properly, they should be known as the first to commercialize it.
As far as Dynaco being a "poor man's McIntosh", that doesn't speak to it actually being high-end but something that approximates rather than equals. I don't recall seeing that phrase in anything other than online. If there is something in print from the era I would like read it.
None of this takes away from what Dynacos are, good products that absolutely introduced affordable performance audio gear to many. Now about that Heathkit W-4M.....
