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Phase Linear 200 power amp?

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From what I've read and heard with my own ears, Phase Linear is completely top-shelf quality. If you have the opportunity to grab one, go for it. You will love it. Some of the nicest gear ever built imho.
 
Depends on how much it costs I would imagine. I have a model 400 that i picked up for 125. It is a very solid and powerful amp. Sounds pretty good, but not phenomenal. Have a model 3000 preamp also, but the relays have corrosion issues as they are not sealed.
 
I don't know much about the 200's. If you do buy it send it here for work.
http://www.hometown.aol.com/phasetek/

I just dropped off my 400 Series 1 today with Ed, and I have to say between he and Dean they can trick out a 4-700 and turn it into a "hard to beat" amp.
mpholland, your in Washington, send your amp to Ed, have him work his magic, and get a different pre. (he isn't that fond of Phase preamps) That's what I'm doing!:thmbsp:
 
The 400 will probably head "down the highway". I have too much stuff I like better (my Heathkit Pro System) and am going slowly to tubes for a secondary system. I do however have a Carver C500 that needs some work. The similarities between it and the PL 400 are uncanny.
 
Sorry about the links. The original 200 had 105wpc and the 200 series two had 120wpc. If yours had clips for speakers it`s the 200 if it has binding posts it`s a 200 series two.
 
You know whats neat? I recall the 400 had 401WPC, so if you were doing low level listening, you still had 400 watts available as reserve, as opposed to 399 with a 400wpc amp.

If I'm wrong, forgive me, this knowledge comes from reading AK in my college dorm in 2005-6, and I may have been sort of out of it at that time.

The PL 200 is a very capable unit regardless.... I would love to own one one day.
 
the amp I have is the series II. it seems to be a very powerful amp, I'm just wondering what sort of limits it has, like would I be overloading it with say, some vintage infinity's?
the kind that are notoriously hard on amps?
 
zenith2134 said:
You know whats neat? I recall the 400 had 401WPC, so if you were doing low level listening, you still had 400 watts available as reserve, as opposed to 399 with a 400wpc amp.

If I'm wrong, forgive me, this knowledge comes from reading AK in my college dorm in 2005-6, and I may have been sort of out of it at that time.

The PL 200 is a very capable unit regardless.... I would love to own one one day.
Click to expand...


My PL 400 series one only has 200 WPC, but the message is clear.
 
According to Ed, there was a law passed stating a manufacture couldn't have their model number be the wattage output. Maybe too much false advertising?:scratch2:
So PL stopped writing Four Hundred Watts RMS on the front panel and simply said the output was 401.
 
All I know about it is this model is that, thanks to AKer Beemer, there's one sitting in my basement :-P

A quick listen on a pair of small Ohm "Walsh" speakers (I think they may be Walsh 2s, but it's difficult for me to be sure) -- with which it came as a bundle -- suggested that it sounded pretty OK.
 
Heres a pic of the amp, the face is in mint condition. the fellow i bought it from really takes care of his stuff!
 
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There's a bonus to the 200. It comes with an output relay that the 400/700 doesn't have. It may be stable into 2 ohms but it doesn't have the heat sinks for it. None of the Phase linear amps were rated for less than 4 ohms. No problem unless you drive it hard. Remember that an amplifier gets hottest at 1/3 of it's power rating. The IHF standard for testing an amplifier, at that time, required it to run at 1/3 power level for an hour prior to testing. The Laboratory Standard version of the 400 had larger heat sinks, I presume to meet the IHF test standard. It seems logical then that the "Laboratory Standard" version of the 400 was a shot at the standards folks which Carver didn't see eye to eye with.
 
A little update on the amp, the previous owner "upgraded" the RCA inputs at the back, and I'm pretty sure with low quality solder, also, the right channel input was not grounding properly, there was a crappy metal washer in between the RCA and the ground plate, so I removed the washer and it fixed the grounding issue, but I'm going to get some new nicer RCA inputs to ease my mind.
 
I have had one since the late 70s and still do, although there is a problem with it. I had it fixed in the mid 80s for the erratic 'thumping' I got and then the same thing returned a few short years later. I never taxed it too highly as I lived in an apartment in NYC and I had neighbors. I still have the schematics and everything else that I received when I purchased it - $600.
 
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