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1990s Power Amplifiers

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gravity113

New Member
So I recently bought a secondhand Rotel RB-985 to power my MartinLogan bookshelf speakers. I'm running a somewhat modest Yamaha Aventage AVR. I knew the MartinLogans would open up with a little more power, but man, I was surprised how well the mid-90s Rotel improved attack and overly clarity of the speakers.

I also own a Parasound A51 amp. It's a fantastic amp. but I was really taken aback by how well the old Rotel sounded. Between the A51s and the Rotel, the sound was very similar.

This got me thinking... what 90s power amps can hang with modern offerings from the likes of Parasound, NAD, Rotel, and Hegel?

My impression is that modern power amplifiers are often a lot more efficient, but do they actually sound any better?

Take a pricepoint of like 1k.... what forgotten power amp gems are out there that can go toe to toe with the newest gear?
 
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Lots of 90s amps are fantastic sounding. There hasn't been as much progress as you may think. I think 90s gear really is some of the best value for money right now. I would add to the list:

Mission Cyrus 1 and 2 (not the 3 though because if it breaks good luck fixing it)
Linn Majik - i
Anything Sonic Frontiers
Anything Krell
Anything Levinson
If you can get a deal on ARC or VTL tube gear
Luxman had some great stuff in the early 90s
You might be able to get some kind of Mac for a grand, if you're lucky
Nakamichi PA-7 (oh wait that might be 80s)
 
If you can find UHER products, (made by Harman Deutchland in Korea start 90s) You really get a firm bass for your dime, the UMA 1000 Sounds amazing , very open midrange and tight bottom , great stereo perspective/soundstage!
The preamp for these are not quite as good (UPA 1000) but try pairing it up with a Proton AP1000, suddenly you feel the bassdrum kicks in your chest and all recorded will be revealed..I think the UMA 1000,2000,3000(tubeamp) are distinkt regarding this sound, other products from the company is nice but chipamps as far as i recollect..
 
jackSorensen said:
If you can find UHER products, (made by Harman Deutchland in Korea start 90s) You really get a firm bass for your dime, the UMA 1000 Sounds amazing , very open midrange and tight bottom , great stereo perspective/soundstage!
The preamp for these are not quite as good (UPA 1000) but try pairing it up with a Proton AP1000, suddenly you feel the bassdrum kicks in your chest and all recorded will be revealed..I think the UMA 1000,2000,3000(tubeamp) are distinkt regarding this sound, other products from the company is nice but chipamps as far as i recollect..
Click to expand...
Interesting.
The AP1000 is one fine sounding preamp.
IMHO is way harder to find a REALLY good sounding preamp, then a amp.
There aren't that many out there.
But more then a few great sounding amps.
After all these years-I'm down to 2.
The aformentioned Proton and a Van Alstine Transcendence 10RB
 
@automojo I have just ordered capacitors and upgrade resistors for my Uher upa 1000 preamp, to give it a chance against the Proton ap 1000 as design matters too for me and i really want to have amplifier kit that both are visual and soundwise satisfying, But its gonna be tough run, its a damned fine pre amp that proton, powersupply like a poweramp, quality components and the riaa stage is fine too, ill try to make some pictures of the upgrade proces along the way and put up here. BTW Yesterday i finally received the Uma 2000, a poweramp i have being looking for for a long time so for me it was xmas eve, I have tried it with he Proton with same result, it just sounds darned good :)
 
jackSorensen said:
@automojo I have just ordered capacitors and upgrade resistors for my Uher upa 1000 preamp, to give it a chance against the Proton ap 1000 as design matters too for me and i really want to have amplifier kit that both are visual and soundwise satisfying, But its gonna be tough run, its a damned fine pre amp that proton, powersupply like a poweramp, quality components and the riaa stage is fine too, ill try to make some pictures of the upgrade proces along the way and put up here. BTW Yesterday i finally received the Uma 2000, a poweramp i have being looking for for a long time so for me it was xmas eve, I have tried it with he Proton with same result, it just sounds darned good :)
Click to expand...
Nice!
Yep the Proton-you don't want to recap-replace everything with the same-or you will kill the sound.
I think you would like the Van Alstine-similair but different-but cut from the same cloth.
Even @ $999 new made in USA in good 'ol Woodbury MN-(just down the road 8 miles or so)-the value is astonishing.
With a world class phone preamp-it $1300 or so.
Can't say enough about this preamp.
But if one can find a Proton @ a good price-not many preamp that are really "better" when you think about it.
 
@automojo Funny you should mention, The Uher stuff i use and has come to like very much is made by Harman Germany, They made it for he picky german audience and the sound is defenitely Harman Kardon ish ;) I just checked the Van alstine, very cool stuff!
 
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