Vintage Amps

[pete3632]

Should the quality of a 10 year old amp such as Parasound 885A be a concern if it is new old stock and never used? Would it compare to todays 85 watt per channel amps? Would this amp work well with using the Yamaha 663 receiver as a preout? My speakers are Paradigm monitors V5.

 

[markw]

Amp technology really hasn't changed significantly in many, many years.

 

[PENG]

Should the quality of a 10 year old amp such as Parasound 885A be a concern if it is new old stock and never used? Would it compare to todays 85 watt per channel amps? Would this amp work well with using the Yamaha 663 receiver as a preout? My speakers are Paradigm monitors V5.

I am not sure what qualifies an amp to be referred as vintage but I would not have considered the 885A to be one. Regardless, the 885A should compare favourably to today's 85WX5 amps though I suspect most (surely there are still a few) popular and inexpensive SS amps today don't go as low a 85W.

Now I know you did not ask but I want to preamble the point that it does not double down into 4 ohms. In my opinion most double down specs are BS because there is practically no way for relatively inexpensive amps to do anything to achieve double down (counteracting basic electrical principles including the commonly understood Ohm's law). So I suspect all they do is to under specify their 8 ohm rating to create the double down 'appearance'.

 

[pearsall001]

I wouldn't let age discourage you from going old school. My Nikko Alpha VI amp (manuf date of 1980) is still going strong, has looks to kill, & sounds wonderful. Being a dual mono design at 300w/8ohm it has plenty of balls to power any speaker out there.

I too believe that modern SS amp designs haven't progressed to the point where an older amp can't compete with a newer model.

 

[KEW]

On the one hand more refined knowledge allows a better product at the same or less cost. (you can get a new 100WPC stereo receiver today for $100, that was impossible 15 years ago)
On the other it allows for cost savings by decreasing the extent of over-design. The designers can target a desired life-span much more accurately today, whereas 15 years ago, there predictions had a greater degree of inaccuracy so they added in more over-kill to err on the safe side.

So my opinion is that some of the older electronics can be superior to the extent that they were over-built, but a well built modern amp can certainly match old gear.