Vintage Tube gear - The true classics that are still worthy!
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My good man ehoove, Thank You for the invite to contribute to this thread....
There are way too many vintage tube amps and preamps worthy of collecting, restoring, retro-resto upgrading and enjoying forever. However, that list could fill pages. While I prefer two mono amps for my stereo system, the early stereo era 1958 to 1963 is well deserving of mention. At that time, the serious competition among manufacturers produced intensely good units. I am a huge fan of the first two stereo years, 1958-1959. The early stereo era would be when the following list of stateside made stereo goodies came along:
Arkay SP-6 preamp, a seriously versatile early stereo effort by an obscure kit company.
Bell Carillon 6060 integrated (top shelf 25 wpc); 3D integrated (historically relevant as it was introduced ca.1953).
Brook: any and all...
Craftsmen: mono amps.
Dynaco: PAS-2 (later 3 and 3X) preamps; the combo of two stacked PAM-1 mono preamps alongside the DSC-1 stereo controller;
Dynaco: Stereo 70 amp; Stereo 35 amp (considered top shelf stereo EL84 amp by most who hear it). twin Dyna mono amps.
EICO: HF-81 integrated (among the first three stereo integrateds); HF-85 preamp; HF-86, HF-87, HF-89 amps; Eico mono amps very worthy of top shelf mention, especially HF-50, HF-60, HF-35.
Fairchild: 248 stereo pre (two stacked 245 preamps alongside their super rare stereo controller); Fairchild mono amps are all top shelf, if you can find them. They feature Todd Electric opt. iron...
Fisher: 400C preamp; PR-66 phono stage; SA-100 amp (perhaps the finest stereo EL84 amp?); SA-300 amp; 400CX preamp; The 101 or X-101 int. amp. Twin Fisher mono amps worthy of mention here are the 50 series and 20A.
Gott: also labeled "Bigg of California" P3D stereo preamp, which might have "copied" the McIntosh C-8 switchable phono EQ.
Harmon Kardon: Citation 1 pre; Citation II amp (top shelf); Citation IV pre; Citation V amp.
Heathkit: all mono and stereo.
Lafayette: KT-600 preamp; KT-550 amp; KT-310 amp (top shelf kits or factory assembled).
Madison Fielding: 320 int. amp; 340 preamp; 360 int. amp. (Mad.-Fldg. use top notch Todd Electric opt iron as found in early Fisher and all 1950s Fairchild amps).
Marantz: 7C pre; all Marantz amps...
McIntosh: C-20; C-22; C-11 preamps; all Mac amps...
Pilot: 210, 215 and 216 preamps; 232 and 260 amps.
Sargent Rayment: stereo preamp and amps; twin mono amps if u r lucky to find two.
Scott (HH Scott): LK-150 amp (top shelf); LC-21 pre.; most Scott integrateds.
Sherwood: S-5000 int. amp. (highly regarded by many); more of their amps...
This list is anything but complete. It's just the beginning of a "worthy contender" list from the early stereo era. I will certainly edit and add more thread lists and comments...
There are way too many vintage tube amps and preamps worthy of collecting, restoring, retro-resto upgrading and enjoying forever. However, that list could fill pages. While I prefer two mono amps for my stereo system, the early stereo era 1958 to 1963 is well deserving of mention. At that time, the serious competition among manufacturers produced intensely good units. I am a huge fan of the first two stereo years, 1958-1959. The early stereo era would be when the following list of stateside made stereo goodies came along:
Arkay SP-6 preamp, a seriously versatile early stereo effort by an obscure kit company.
Bell Carillon 6060 integrated (top shelf 25 wpc); 3D integrated (historically relevant as it was introduced ca.1953).
Brook: any and all...
Craftsmen: mono amps.
Dynaco: PAS-2 (later 3 and 3X) preamps; the combo of two stacked PAM-1 mono preamps alongside the DSC-1 stereo controller;
Dynaco: Stereo 70 amp; Stereo 35 amp (considered top shelf stereo EL84 amp by most who hear it). twin Dyna mono amps.
EICO: HF-81 integrated (among the first three stereo integrateds); HF-85 preamp; HF-86, HF-87, HF-89 amps; Eico mono amps very worthy of top shelf mention, especially HF-50, HF-60, HF-35.
Fairchild: 248 stereo pre (two stacked 245 preamps alongside their super rare stereo controller); Fairchild mono amps are all top shelf, if you can find them. They feature Todd Electric opt. iron...
Fisher: 400C preamp; PR-66 phono stage; SA-100 amp (perhaps the finest stereo EL84 amp?); SA-300 amp; 400CX preamp; The 101 or X-101 int. amp. Twin Fisher mono amps worthy of mention here are the 50 series and 20A.
Gott: also labeled "Bigg of California" P3D stereo preamp, which might have "copied" the McIntosh C-8 switchable phono EQ.
Harmon Kardon: Citation 1 pre; Citation II amp (top shelf); Citation IV pre; Citation V amp.
Heathkit: all mono and stereo.
Lafayette: KT-600 preamp; KT-550 amp; KT-310 amp (top shelf kits or factory assembled).
Madison Fielding: 320 int. amp; 340 preamp; 360 int. amp. (Mad.-Fldg. use top notch Todd Electric opt iron as found in early Fisher and all 1950s Fairchild amps).
Marantz: 7C pre; all Marantz amps...
McIntosh: C-20; C-22; C-11 preamps; all Mac amps...
Pilot: 210, 215 and 216 preamps; 232 and 260 amps.
Sargent Rayment: stereo preamp and amps; twin mono amps if u r lucky to find two.
Scott (HH Scott): LK-150 amp (top shelf); LC-21 pre.; most Scott integrateds.
Sherwood: S-5000 int. amp. (highly regarded by many); more of their amps...
This list is anything but complete. It's just the beginning of a "worthy contender" list from the early stereo era. I will certainly edit and add more thread lists and comments...
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When it comes to current availability, circa June 2020, all prices for these classic, vintage units are now considered high. Along with high demand, I would like to caution collector buyers concerning matching transformers for the early stereo era.
For example, the original, earliest versions of Fisher 101 and EICO HF-87 have been found with unmatched output trannies ! This could require us to buy extra units, in the interest of truly matching opt iron. Buying two mono amps can also result in differing opt iron(output transformers), as well as power trannies ! You have been warned (Caveat Emptor)...
For example, the original, earliest versions of Fisher 101 and EICO HF-87 have been found with unmatched output trannies ! This could require us to buy extra units, in the interest of truly matching opt iron. Buying two mono amps can also result in differing opt iron(output transformers), as well as power trannies ! You have been warned (Caveat Emptor)...
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Though it is my first foray into tube audio, I feel that the SC ASR-444 integrated (1959) should make the list. I have been moving this unit and the accompanying SR-445 tuner from house to house since the mid 70s. With more time at home due to covid-19, I decided to replace needed components and finally fire up the ASR-444. A couple of my audio friends with Mac amps have commented on the sound quality of this system. I have setup this unit with a Technics SL-1300 and a pair of Klipsch KG4s. Needless to say I have been bitten by the tube bug.
Rick
peguinpower
Well-Known Member
I think 90's gear can be considered vintage at this point. The Audio Research VT100 MkII and MkIII are great amps.
Jazz Junkie
Super Member
tube-a-lou
Addicted Member
My Vintage A Fisher 202-C, I hook it up and still has that sound.
Blue Shadow
Waiting for Vintage Gear from this century
Finally found this thread with @ehoove calling me out. Leaving out the space between my first and last name meant I didn't get the ping.
Anyway. I have a pair of Luxman MB3045 amps which came with the NLA 8045G and 6240G proprietary tubes. This amp was bias to within an inch of its life on those 8045G power tubes and Tim Di Paravicini designed it to sound most excellent for the month or so that the tubes lasted. Now that all the 8045Gs have been used up, decades ago, Luxman came up with mods to the circuit to allow use of the KT88/6550 family in either Ultralinear or Triode mode. Thain, gadget73, has other ideas about what mode it is operating in, and I respect his opinion but forget what he said. Anyway this 50 watt mono amplifier is my best sounding amp and handles Dahlquist D-10s just fine, thank you very much. I have sand power for loud listening, a full 4dB louder or so.
Thain likes the way they are build. These mid-70s units just don't seem to be ancient as many good tube amps are. But then Luxman kept building tube gear as some other companies did.
First pic is not mine.
Anyway. I have a pair of Luxman MB3045 amps which came with the NLA 8045G and 6240G proprietary tubes. This amp was bias to within an inch of its life on those 8045G power tubes and Tim Di Paravicini designed it to sound most excellent for the month or so that the tubes lasted. Now that all the 8045Gs have been used up, decades ago, Luxman came up with mods to the circuit to allow use of the KT88/6550 family in either Ultralinear or Triode mode. Thain, gadget73, has other ideas about what mode it is operating in, and I respect his opinion but forget what he said. Anyway this 50 watt mono amplifier is my best sounding amp and handles Dahlquist D-10s just fine, thank you very much. I have sand power for loud listening, a full 4dB louder or so.
Thain likes the way they are build. These mid-70s units just don't seem to be ancient as many good tube amps are. But then Luxman kept building tube gear as some other companies did.
First pic is not mine.
arts
Addicted Member
I'm still using mine
They are nice. You have to spend a ton of cash to beat them.
tubelectron
Super Member
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