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switching from tube to solid state advice

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frozenintime

New Member
hey all

a few years back, my uncle passed his beautiful mcintosh mc30 monoblocks down to me. after thousands of dollars to get them working again and many more $ to KEEP them working over the years, i'm going to sell them and move on.

i'm wondering if you guys might take pity on a newbie like me and suggest a cheap-ish ($500ish?) solid state amp that would happily power my JBL 4312A's.

i have a mcintosh mx115 preamp that i'm happy with so i'm not looking for something integrated necessarily.

i'm cool with something vintage, assuming vintage solid state will behave.

i've googled around about this but am really starting from scratch with my knowledge of home audio.

i'm a musician and composer and spend all day at my studio working through studio monitors. but our listening environment at home is much more relaxed and certainly not treated. so i'm looking for the "serviceable" end of the audiophile spectrum. :)

thanks for any advice, i really appreciate it!
 
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I love my Fisher 500B receiver, but when the weather gets hot in the Bay Area like it did over the last few days, or I just desire a little more kick, I love to slide in my solid state amps. One of them is a Yamaha M-4 which you should be able to find for $150-$200. Great amp, rated at 100 wpc, but really shoots quite a bit higher. Will easily drive your JBL's. Also have a Harman Kardon Citation Nineteen, same power ratings, also very nice sounding.

This is assuming you want to go vintage. If not, others will chime in with later period stuff.
 
If you can find a good pair of Crown D150s, you can either biamp a system, or bridge them for 150wpc.
 
Are you looking for a warmish sound after a long day of being in the studio, or do you want to listen to a detailed analytical through the other system also? For $500 you should be able to get any kind of sound you want and tons of options so with a good description of the sound your looking for and features needed you should get a lot of good suggestions.
 
hey pete

good question.
as i said, our listening environment is not great. it's an open, loft-style room and a bit bouncy. aiming for analytical would be a waste of resources. warm is a decent subjective adjective, lets go with that one :)
 
ONkyo Integra integrateds from mid 80s are warmish as are Luxman (R-117 is legendary but prone to need servicing, notably relays replaced and switches cleaned, if panel is dead steer clear as the chip is unobtainable) Late 70s luxman is a great option but some of the stuff they did from 80 to 85 is good but not their best effort. Sansui has lots of good options made from early 70s to 79ish then a few in the mid 80s. These are easy to find, post when you see one that peeks your interest and folks will let you know what to look for and give opinions. Just check epray completed listing to get idea of values before overpaying. These are just a few examples of coarse.
 
the yamaha m-4 is certainly priced right. looking into that!

i found a luxman m-120a. i gather those are from 80-82, putting it in your "not best effort" category. what do you all think of those?

most of the other luxman amps i see on ebay are either from the 80's, or i can't find a year of production but certainly LOOK 80's :).

thank you all so much for your help, this forum is amazing.
 
IMO since you already have the mx 115 preamp, I'd be looking for a power amp

maybe a used Bryston 3B? 120wpc

116067-bryston_3b_pro.jpg


or a Sansui BA-2000 would look great under the Mac. 110wpc

ba-2000.JPG
 
hey there!

the bryston and sansui are a bit out of my price range unfortunately.

that said, unless i'm losing my mind, a yamaha m-4 o the luxman are power amps...
 
frozenintime said:
the yamaha m-4 is certainly priced right. looking into that!

i found a luxman m-120a. i gather those are from 80-82, putting it in your "not best effort" category. what do you all think of those?

most of the other luxman amps i see on ebay are either from the 80's, or i can't find a year of production but certainly LOOK 80's :).

thank you all so much for your help, this forum is amazing.
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The Yamaha M-4 is an excellent amp. Is the one you've got a line on in good operating condition?

I'm not familiar with the Luxman M-120a, but from what I read about it on The Vintage Knob it's probably a very nice amp.
 
frozenintime said:
i found a luxman m-120a. i gather those are from 80-82, putting it in your "not best effort" category. what do you all think of those?
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I have not heard the M-120a. I searched and didnt see much opinion about that one. Remember the economy was pretty crappy in the early 80s and it effected all manufacturers of audio gear to a certain extent as they were trying to produce more affordable gear for consumers and it didnt always pan out.
 
I wouldn't throw the baby out with the bath water on a good integrated. I'm not too impressed with the preamp. at 0.1 thd even rated is way way above the quality match for your speakers. The good pre amps are like less than 0.02 and many 0.xxx just to get into the SS market for pre's. better cd players are rated same in output thd.

You just don't need the wattage in an output amp with those speakers at watts per meter. need an amp about 100w about 0.05 thd w/higher frequency response to match your speakers. Like a matched set pre and output by brand is usually a good match up. As designed to work together. again you have monitor grade speakers. match the low frequency response to amp. high end 20khz but many can be very high in khz above about 22.5 khz you will never hear.

The pisser on your situation is shipping a heavy amp. forget the meters and eye candy led's. If tight in the budget? A serviced receiver amp with a guarantee. again good specs all around.

It's a hunt.. good stuff requires waiting.
 
I'm not in agreement with pete's pick on the demise of the audio industry. He seems to think 1980 was the end. I sold gear from 77-81 and Luxman in particular. There is nothing wrong with their gear or many other manufacturers in that time frame. Sure the M-120a is not an M-2000 and earlier amp of similar power but it was $295 less expensive and although the unit shows this cost cutting (no surround around the faceplate making it appear to float in the cabinet, a vinyl cabinet, no meters and such) the sound quality is there.

The demise of the audio industry was the introduction of the all in one system with the black gear in a glass fronted cabinet, tt on top with matching height speakers, using the same vinyl wrap as the cabinet...all one maker. This did not happen until a couple years later. Neither did the sale of Luxman to Alpine which was in 1984. So the early 80s Luxman gear is nice gear overall.
 
Don't forget the vintage Nikko units. Great value for the money. Some of the Hafler stuff would suit too.
 
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