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Continuous Vintage Failure: Please Recommend New "Modern" Amp

michaelm101

michaelm101

Active Member
I still have my old Kenwood KA-5700 I was awarded for straight "A"s in the fifth grade and I have fond recollections of going to the Federated Group and Cal Stereo dreaming about other gear.

I've since collected several other amps/receivers of the 1970s era of Japanese crafted stereo gear. BUT, unfortunately, they're all taking some form of dump after all these years.

I've been thankful for FINALLY finding a local tech, who's my age and sees it as a labor of love, but, the fixes are expensive and aren't guaranteed to last.

I have no idea what's out there today so can anyone recommend a "modern" amplifier line that has 1) value per dollar spent, and 2) the sonic characteristics that I'm accustomed to?

Thanks all, for your help in advance!
 
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Seriously!

Luxman makes units like yesteryear, but they are not inexpensive.
 
Sounds like you're in the exact same predicament I was in several years ago. The constant trips to the tech do get time consuming and expensive and then you're still left with an antique piece of gear that is at best compromised while you wait for the next issue. My fix was to sell it all and use the proceeds towards Mcintosh gear. My one and only trip to AC in those years rather than monthly trips to a local tech tells me their vintage gear is far more reliable. If you're careful and patient in your purchases the high resale value also means that using Mac gear is basically free when it comes time to sell.
I have no doubt I made the right decision.
 
When I changed directions from old "vintage" crap to new, I went with Emotiva after hearing a few.

IME great bang for the $

emotiva.com

Amps

Discover Emotiva amplifiers—from affordable BasX to our best selling modular X Series. Built for every system and budget, engineered and assembled in the USA.
emotiva.com emotiva.com
 
michaelm101 said:
I still have my old Kenwood KA-5700 I was awarded for straight "A"s in the fifth grade and I have fond recollections of going to the Federated Group and Cal Stereo dreaming about other gear.

I've since collected several other amps/receivers of the 1970s era of Japanese crafted stereo gear. BUT, unfortunately, they're all taking some form of dump after all these years.

I've been thankful for FINALLY finding a local tech, who's my age and sees it as a labor of
Thanks all, for your help in advance!
Click to expand...
I hooked up my Kenwood KA-5700 a weeks ago, and I'm amazed at how awesome it sounds. It was serviced once, like 40 years ago according to a sticker inside. Just sayin, that's a special sounding unit and looks first class. Decent amount of power too. There's no reason why it won't be reliable after a recap/rebuild if something goes awry. If you're not comfortable working on vintage gear, ditch the other stuff and just enjoy your nice Kenwood! Wish I could help you with modern gear recommendations. I like Parasound, but mine are 90s models lol.
 
michaelm101 said:
I still have my old Kenwood KA-5700 I was awarded for straight "A"s in the fifth grade and I have fond recollections of going to the Federated Group and Cal Stereo dreaming about other gear.

I've since collected several other amps/receivers of the 1970s era of Japanese crafted stereo gear. BUT, unfortunately, they're all taking some form of dump after all these years.

I've been thankful for FINALLY finding a local tech, who's my age and sees it as a labor of love, but, the fixes are expensive and aren't guaranteed to last.

I have no idea what's out there today so can anyone recommend a "modern" amplifier line that has 1) value per dollar spent, and 2) the sonic characteristics that I'm accustomed to?

Thanks all, for your help in advance!
Click to expand...
Increase the budget with more digits. Or get cost-cut. What's your budget?
 
Ditto on the budget.
Perhaps an Akitika, the power amps are designed to sound like a vintage Dynaco. Available as a kit or assembled and tested.
Lots of good options available depending on your taste and what speakers you need to drive. I've considered a Rouge Audio Sphinx but headed into the DIY rabbit hole.
Personally I've got a few vintage, but I needed to learn how to work on them myself. Buy cheap. Get them to a working condition, then a full rebuild. Expensive if you need to pay someone, but a decent retirement hobby.
 
Something to consider when dealing with vintage gear and expectations: Sending a vintage amp to a tech is different than a full tear down and restoration. A tech can most likely fix what doesn’t work, but won’t be able to bring it back to spec. A restorer will replace active components like electrolytic caps, transistors, diodes, etc. A restoration on a 1970’s era Marantz power amp may run over $1000, but it will be good for another 50 years.
 
Save some money and get one of the newer Luxmans and you won't regret it. Good old Japanese sound and all the bells and whistles as older units. Also a great internal Phono section.
 
my theory on owning old things is that you must have a good repair person. Doesn't matter what the thing is, old cars, old stereos, an old house, or even just being an older human. Need someone that knows how to fix it. Can be yourself, can be someone else, but its going to break eventually. How well it works and how long it will go between repairs depends greatly on how good the tech is too.
 
michaelm101 said:
I still have my old Kenwood KA-5700 I was awarded for straight "A"s in the fifth grade and I have fond recollections of going to the Federated Group and Cal Stereo dreaming about other gear.

I've since collected several other amps/receivers of the 1970s era of Japanese crafted stereo gear. BUT, unfortunately, they're all taking some form of dump after all these years.

I've been thankful for FINALLY finding a local tech, who's my age and sees it as a labor of love, but, the fixes are expensive and aren't guaranteed to last.

I have no idea what's out there today so can anyone recommend a "modern" amplifier line that has 1) value per dollar spent, and 2) the sonic characteristics that I'm accustomed to?

Thanks all, for your help in advance!
Click to expand...
You're stepping into rarefied air on the AK forums stating that you want to move into modern audio components. Hopefully, you won't be deterred by the sticker shock that typical vintage audio fans encounter when shopping for new gear. You're about to discover a huge array of options at many price points that could fit your needs. Are you set with speakers or are they on your modern shopping list too? What type of amplification are you interested in, separate power amp and preamp, integrated amp, or receiver, tubes or solid state? What sources will you want to use, digital music streamer, turntable, cd player, etc.? Even though I'm a proponent of McIntosh gear, the price of entry can be a complete deal breaker for many. If you have the means, want something that maintains one of the lowest costs of ownership in the industry, has top notch build quality and performance, and is made in America, you really can't go wrong with McIntosh no matter which type of amplification you choose. There are quite a few other brands in that price category that would also be worth your time investigating. And there are many lower price point brands that offer fine pieces to build a nice system around. Determining what your top dollar budget is should be your first task. That will help whittle down the options and send you on the most realistic path toward finding what's best for you. Anyways, welcome to AK's black sheep flock. We're in the minority here, but you can still get some good advice from people who've chosen the same path you're about to take.
 
michaelm101 said:
I still have my old Kenwood KA-5700 I was awarded for straight "A"s in the fifth grade and I have fond recollections of going to the Federated Group and Cal Stereo dreaming about other gear.

I've since collected several other amps/receivers of the 1970s era of Japanese crafted stereo gear. BUT, unfortunately, they're all taking some form of dump after all these years.

I've been thankful for FINALLY finding a local tech, who's my age and sees it as a labor of love, but, the fixes are expensive and aren't guaranteed to last.

I have no idea what's out there today so can anyone recommend a "modern" amplifier line that has 1) value per dollar spent, and 2) the sonic characteristics that I'm accustomed to?

Thanks all, for your help in advance!
Click to expand...

The speakers you choose will go a long way towards getting you the sound you like.

As for amplification, are you open to integrated amplifiers? What about separates? What is your budget? What functions, capabilities, and cosmetic characteristics are important to you?

In my experience, if you want reliability and best performance from older gear, most of it needs to be fully restored. Fixing problems on an ongoing basis is much more expensive over time, and is annoying to boot....especially given the long turnaround times most good techs seem to have.
 
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GChief said:
When I changed directions from old "vintage" crap to new, I went with Emotiva after hearing a few.

IME great bang for the $

emotiva.com

Amps

Discover Emotiva amplifiers—from affordable BasX to our best selling modular X Series. Built for every system and budget, engineered and assembled in the USA.
emotiva.com emotiva.com
Click to expand...
I have to confess that if my hearing was as good as it was in my 20's, I'd probably be all over modern equipment, rather than all my 70's separates. I figure they'll last me the rest of my life, though (I'm almost 70). Only one has failed, and that one appears to only need a new power supply capacitor. If I really needed that amp right now it would already be fixed.
1694614501310.png
 
I liken using vintage equipment to using this as your daily driver:
1694614845048.png
I have a great FR-S, and it's GREAT for cruisin' the twisties here in Kentucky or going to the golf course, but as a retiree, mostly driving to Harbor Freight and Lowes, this is what I spend most of my time in:
1694615078992.png
This also demonstrates the difference between men and women. I love driving that thing (it's a five speed, BTW) but my wife refuses to be seen in it.
However, we drove it to the butcher yesterday to pick up their handiwork on a beef we dropped by a week ago, and she did go with me, but she was not happy about it.
 
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malden said:
Doesn't he sell mods for Dynaco amps that make them sound like modern amplifiers
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They way I read his site it is more about preserving the Dynaco, though I haven't gone over his "update my Dyanco section" all that closely as I don't have a Dynaco to update.
In the Akitika section he says the Akitika amplifier design is about getting the Dynaco sound. The choice of a capacitor coupled design was part of this.
 
That is for the amps he designed, though I think the "upgrades" to the Dynaco amps are similar.
At the moment I do not recall if I saw this on his site on in an email exchange about the Akitika amps being cap coupled.
 
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