Blue Shadow
Waiting for Vintage Gear from this century
Mike dropped by today and we listened to 5 different amplifiers. Here is the line-up in alphabetical order:
Crown PSA-2 The pro version of the SA-2 Distinction Series amplifier. Rate 265@8Ω and 460@4Ω. No modifications. Low voltage set exactly other voltages were within spec. Unit is from about 1980 and sold for about $2000 new. Available for about $3-500 today.
Hafler DH-200 rated 100@8Ω, but we used only one channel each from a pair of these providing a bit more oomph. These were well built from kits and supervised by Bill Hearn, as he wrote on my owner's manual. Recently recapped except the main caps. Bias set on these and matching driver transistors installed to lower DC offset. These are from 1980 and sold for $299 each. They sell for about a c-note or two today.
Harman Kardon Citation 22 rated 200 wpc at 4 or 8 Ω with switching for 8Ω high current and 4Ω high voltage according to the manual. This amp has only had one cap replaced to allow it to come out of protection. This amp is from about 1987 and sold new for $1149. It seems to sell for about 400 today.
Luxman MB-3045 Tube mono amplifiers rated 50 watts but converted for use with KT88/6550 tubes instead of the 8045G proprietary tube they came with, which is NLA . Tubes in this unit are new production Tung Sol KT88 operating in UL mode. Some electrolytics have been replace but none of the multi-cap cans have been changed. These amps are from 1978 or so and sold for $495 each. They sell for 2000 for a pair today or there abouts.
McCormack DNA-1 is an early standard version rated 150 wpc. This amp is stock with no modifications and is ready for a revision or upgrade, if desired. It is from about 1991 and sold for $1995. These are just cracking the $1000 mark used today.
Mike has extremely sensitive ears. He also has one hell of a memory when it comes to sound. He can notice differences in my system for month to month. He also has the ability to explain what he hears so others can hear it, too. Very helpful since I spent a lot of time switching amps and cables.
All amps are in very nice operating condition. Bias, offset and other adjustments have all been done, except the DNA-1. There were differences in the cables but these will be small differences in sound compared to the sonics of the amps. The speaker wires were not the same. Some longer, some shorter, some big heavy stuff some not so heavy. The input cables were also a number of different cable/construction. We'll worry about this later when Mike brings over some high end cables for evaluation.
The system used for this evaluation was a Thorens TD-160 Super, Magnepan Unitrac I, Dynavector 23R (50% used), Crown DL-2 Phono Module "B", Audio Research SP-9 II and Magnepan MG-IIIa speakers. Because Mike has the ability to hear the differences quickly and describe them it is very easy for others to understand these differences and notice them as easily as he did.
All amplifiers are more than adequate and sound very good. One could be happy with any of them and when using the sonic characteristics, could pair them with speakers to bring out the best in a system. None showed exceptional synergy with the system by being significantly better than the rest but there was a clear winner and sonic differences in them all.
Alphabetically, again:
The Crown was the most powerful amp on the group but a very good margin. The bass authority of this amp is easily evident and along with that it had very good drive. The imaging was very good. This amp had a crisp top end, one that some would call harsh when used with less than ideal tweeters. The Magneplanars have a 55-inch long ribbon tweeter and it does a great job with this amp. The tonal balance of this amp, top to bottom was that is has more meat on the bones down low. You gotta like big butts and this amp is perfect.
The Haflers had all the macro and micro detail one would want in an amplifier, best in the group. These were very good with the spaciousness of the sound. Each instrument has lots of air around it and the sound is like sitting farther back in the audience with a fine view of the stage with all the players easily identified and their individual work appreciated. These amps had more depth than the Crown and everything that any of these amps could show was there. It is just that these lacked a little meat on the bones compared to the best in the group. These are the skinny chick but oh, what a looker. I can see where the Musical Concepts upgrades could take this amp up a few levels. It is that good to start and can be even better.
The Citation 22, the bigger of the last two Citation amps (the Cit 24 is 100 wpc) was fuller than the Hafler and very close to the DNA-1 with its overall sound. The micro details such as the sounds heard when one plays an acoustic guitar, not the sound of the strings, but the mechanical movement on the guitar were very good. This amp had a fuller sound than the Haflers overall. There was less air around the performers but the image was good.
The Luxman amps did everything exceptionally well. A much fuller presentation. All the detail one could want. Mike's jaw, once pulled up off the floor, said these have everything, grunt, drive, body, solidity, even presentation (top to bottom frequency-wise) and off the chart imaging. People here extol the virtues of tube amplification for good reason.
Finally, the McCormack, an amplifier I have been using for years, thanks to my brother not being able to put it to use in his home. This amp has more center fill than the Crown and is smoother top to bottom. Although the bass is looser than on the Crown, it is there. This amp, listened to after the Crown was compared to it a lot. The micro details were better and the top to bottom sound was more balanced. This is the one for 36-24-36 dimensions, but the image was just a bit fuzzed up.
Fuzzed-up, what? Well it was explained that the Haflers would be a nectarine along with the Crown. The Citation would be a shaved peach and the DNA-1 would be the fuzzy peach. All there with just a bit of width to the lines drawing the instrument/performer.
These amps all perform well. Each has its own performance benefits and matching them to the speakers would produce the best outcome from the system.
This is not an esoteric equipment review. One amp is on very long term loan. Others were acquired at very nice prices. I have under 600 in all these amps, not counting parts, labor and tubes which are really the cost of use not cost to obtain. The Luxmans, Crown and Harman Kardon all needed repair after I got them. The Luxman needed to be modified and finding that information took me 20 years (hey, Al Gore needed to invent the internet) and then Gadget73 needed to look em over and finish the mod since the last step, a wire from the tube through a resistor to the choke was not called out in the mod instructions. The Citation would not come out of protection. The Crown was running on high speed fan and needed a full cleaning. I had to build the Haflers and one day my brother may want the McCormack back. That is why I have undertaken this comparison, to identify a replacement when needed.
For general listening, all these amps perform just fine. The Citation might be closest to the DNA-1 in general but it leaves something to be desired. The Haflers are a fine amp and were my main amp for years and years driving Time Windows. Again one per channel, one idle channel in each amp. If one wants all the details without all the extra meat on the bones these are the amp. I'm sure those with the Musical Concepts upgrades to these amps can comment on what that brings to the party but I have an idea.
The Luxman amps, tube units, are the real deal. Many talk about the McIntosh MC-30 but I have always thought of the Luxmans as nicer looking, more powerful and less expensive to buy. I traded for mine over 30 years ago and they have enjoyed the inside of the original boxes for years. These would not have driven my system to the levels I used to listen to music and sometimes these will not drive the Magneplanars enough today. So I keep the Time Windows when I need to dump more power into the speakers.
I had fun today finding out about my amps in such a quick, concise way. I have more listening to do and what with the cold weather arriving today, it might be time to get some hours on the Luxman amps.
Crown PSA-2 The pro version of the SA-2 Distinction Series amplifier. Rate 265@8Ω and 460@4Ω. No modifications. Low voltage set exactly other voltages were within spec. Unit is from about 1980 and sold for about $2000 new. Available for about $3-500 today.
Hafler DH-200 rated 100@8Ω, but we used only one channel each from a pair of these providing a bit more oomph. These were well built from kits and supervised by Bill Hearn, as he wrote on my owner's manual. Recently recapped except the main caps. Bias set on these and matching driver transistors installed to lower DC offset. These are from 1980 and sold for $299 each. They sell for about a c-note or two today.
Harman Kardon Citation 22 rated 200 wpc at 4 or 8 Ω with switching for 8Ω high current and 4Ω high voltage according to the manual. This amp has only had one cap replaced to allow it to come out of protection. This amp is from about 1987 and sold new for $1149. It seems to sell for about 400 today.
Luxman MB-3045 Tube mono amplifiers rated 50 watts but converted for use with KT88/6550 tubes instead of the 8045G proprietary tube they came with, which is NLA . Tubes in this unit are new production Tung Sol KT88 operating in UL mode. Some electrolytics have been replace but none of the multi-cap cans have been changed. These amps are from 1978 or so and sold for $495 each. They sell for 2000 for a pair today or there abouts.
McCormack DNA-1 is an early standard version rated 150 wpc. This amp is stock with no modifications and is ready for a revision or upgrade, if desired. It is from about 1991 and sold for $1995. These are just cracking the $1000 mark used today.
Mike has extremely sensitive ears. He also has one hell of a memory when it comes to sound. He can notice differences in my system for month to month. He also has the ability to explain what he hears so others can hear it, too. Very helpful since I spent a lot of time switching amps and cables.
All amps are in very nice operating condition. Bias, offset and other adjustments have all been done, except the DNA-1. There were differences in the cables but these will be small differences in sound compared to the sonics of the amps. The speaker wires were not the same. Some longer, some shorter, some big heavy stuff some not so heavy. The input cables were also a number of different cable/construction. We'll worry about this later when Mike brings over some high end cables for evaluation.
The system used for this evaluation was a Thorens TD-160 Super, Magnepan Unitrac I, Dynavector 23R (50% used), Crown DL-2 Phono Module "B", Audio Research SP-9 II and Magnepan MG-IIIa speakers. Because Mike has the ability to hear the differences quickly and describe them it is very easy for others to understand these differences and notice them as easily as he did.
All amplifiers are more than adequate and sound very good. One could be happy with any of them and when using the sonic characteristics, could pair them with speakers to bring out the best in a system. None showed exceptional synergy with the system by being significantly better than the rest but there was a clear winner and sonic differences in them all.
Alphabetically, again:
The Crown was the most powerful amp on the group but a very good margin. The bass authority of this amp is easily evident and along with that it had very good drive. The imaging was very good. This amp had a crisp top end, one that some would call harsh when used with less than ideal tweeters. The Magneplanars have a 55-inch long ribbon tweeter and it does a great job with this amp. The tonal balance of this amp, top to bottom was that is has more meat on the bones down low. You gotta like big butts and this amp is perfect.
The Haflers had all the macro and micro detail one would want in an amplifier, best in the group. These were very good with the spaciousness of the sound. Each instrument has lots of air around it and the sound is like sitting farther back in the audience with a fine view of the stage with all the players easily identified and their individual work appreciated. These amps had more depth than the Crown and everything that any of these amps could show was there. It is just that these lacked a little meat on the bones compared to the best in the group. These are the skinny chick but oh, what a looker. I can see where the Musical Concepts upgrades could take this amp up a few levels. It is that good to start and can be even better.
The Citation 22, the bigger of the last two Citation amps (the Cit 24 is 100 wpc) was fuller than the Hafler and very close to the DNA-1 with its overall sound. The micro details such as the sounds heard when one plays an acoustic guitar, not the sound of the strings, but the mechanical movement on the guitar were very good. This amp had a fuller sound than the Haflers overall. There was less air around the performers but the image was good.
The Luxman amps did everything exceptionally well. A much fuller presentation. All the detail one could want. Mike's jaw, once pulled up off the floor, said these have everything, grunt, drive, body, solidity, even presentation (top to bottom frequency-wise) and off the chart imaging. People here extol the virtues of tube amplification for good reason.
Finally, the McCormack, an amplifier I have been using for years, thanks to my brother not being able to put it to use in his home. This amp has more center fill than the Crown and is smoother top to bottom. Although the bass is looser than on the Crown, it is there. This amp, listened to after the Crown was compared to it a lot. The micro details were better and the top to bottom sound was more balanced. This is the one for 36-24-36 dimensions, but the image was just a bit fuzzed up.
Fuzzed-up, what? Well it was explained that the Haflers would be a nectarine along with the Crown. The Citation would be a shaved peach and the DNA-1 would be the fuzzy peach. All there with just a bit of width to the lines drawing the instrument/performer.
These amps all perform well. Each has its own performance benefits and matching them to the speakers would produce the best outcome from the system.
This is not an esoteric equipment review. One amp is on very long term loan. Others were acquired at very nice prices. I have under 600 in all these amps, not counting parts, labor and tubes which are really the cost of use not cost to obtain. The Luxmans, Crown and Harman Kardon all needed repair after I got them. The Luxman needed to be modified and finding that information took me 20 years (hey, Al Gore needed to invent the internet) and then Gadget73 needed to look em over and finish the mod since the last step, a wire from the tube through a resistor to the choke was not called out in the mod instructions. The Citation would not come out of protection. The Crown was running on high speed fan and needed a full cleaning. I had to build the Haflers and one day my brother may want the McCormack back. That is why I have undertaken this comparison, to identify a replacement when needed.
For general listening, all these amps perform just fine. The Citation might be closest to the DNA-1 in general but it leaves something to be desired. The Haflers are a fine amp and were my main amp for years and years driving Time Windows. Again one per channel, one idle channel in each amp. If one wants all the details without all the extra meat on the bones these are the amp. I'm sure those with the Musical Concepts upgrades to these amps can comment on what that brings to the party but I have an idea.
The Luxman amps, tube units, are the real deal. Many talk about the McIntosh MC-30 but I have always thought of the Luxmans as nicer looking, more powerful and less expensive to buy. I traded for mine over 30 years ago and they have enjoyed the inside of the original boxes for years. These would not have driven my system to the levels I used to listen to music and sometimes these will not drive the Magneplanars enough today. So I keep the Time Windows when I need to dump more power into the speakers.
I had fun today finding out about my amps in such a quick, concise way. I have more listening to do and what with the cold weather arriving today, it might be time to get some hours on the Luxman amps.
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