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Heathkit AA-1640 amp class

Hifisaac

Hifisaac

New Member
Looking at replacing my QED-440, which is sliding A/B bias, with a Heathkit AA-1640 but I can't find anything saying what class the Heathkit is running at. Otherwise I have sights on a Peachtree Nova 300 which has about the same power but 2x the price? Do any of you old school guru's have info on how the AA-1640 operates at?
 
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It’s class A/B and sounds really good. Huge transformer, lots of power, and much better sounding than other early high wattage amplifiers. Very heavy at around 56 lbs, keeping in mind that this is all amp. (No fancy wood case, tuner and preamp like a receiver.)

Look for Information on the Leach Super Amp for the technical details. The Heath was designed by one of his students using Leach’s design principles.

I was stunned as to how good it sounds. Mine is doing duty as the bass bi-amp on my NHT 3.3’s while fully bridged GAS Grandson of Ampzilla are doing top end duty. I’ve also used it extensively with AR98L, KLH Model 5’s, Paradigm 7se, and RTR 180D/ESR-6. Not the last word in detail, but good enough in that department and exceptional everywhere else.
 
Stuff like this is why audiokarma is #1

I'm going to use it to drive my ESS AMT6 Pro's so more power the better. Still debating whether vintage A/B will be better $/W than modern class D but that's an apples to oranges debate as we're all aware
 
Hifisaac said:
Stuff like this is why audiokarma is #1

I'm going to use it to drive my ESS AMT6 Pro's so more power the better. Still debating whether vintage A/B will be better $/W than modern class D but that's an apples to oranges debate as we're all aware
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I’ve gone both routes. (Black Ice and several different vintage amps) You won’t be disappointed in the Heathkit or a high quality Class D. The only downside to the Heath is how heavy it is. You will need to find a pricey class D to match its capabilities. Cheap class D will have way more distortion at rated power. High end class D is a better comparison, but cost prohibitive when comparing new to the old Heathkit.

Some class D are very good amps (great even) and won’t break your back because they use switching, but the ones that beat a Heathkits performance are going to cost more.

Edit…
Doh, meant Ice Power. Black Ice was the tube integrated….
 
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