2 amp candidates

[stan461]

Thanks for helping me with an amp search for the AR3a's. What I have come up with is a PHASE LINEAR 400 ($350) or a HK Citation 12 ($200). Since you guys are the experts and I value your opinion - which of these, if any, would you choose?

Thanks as always for your help.

[administrator]

For the disclaimer here .. I am very, VERY biased towards the mid 70's and 80's HK equipment. I think the price performance ratio is much better than most other manufacturers.

So, with that said .. I think the HK you are looking at is too old. Keeping in mind that I can no longer get a lot of parts for my more recent HK Citation 17s pre-amp, 18 tuner, and 19 amplifier, I would never buy something older like the Citation 12.

I have seen HK Citations on Ebay in the 17/18/19 and 21/22/23 range .. I personally would much rather put together an audio system with those later HK units. (Even the 17/18/19 are from the 70's, so they aren't spring chickens!)

Check out your local classifieds too. Many times you'll find good HK gear much less than it goes for on Ebay.

The other two options are HK integrated amplifiers from the late 70's and 80's, and even the more recent stuff .. any of the high amp, dual transformer HK products will drive AR-3a's nicely.

Mark

[Guest]

The Phase Linear (Fuzz Linear) are the typical Bob Carver high power low cost designs of the era excellent value for money, that is if you buy you amplifiers on a tonnage basis, unfortunately they exhibit the typical hard gritty sound consistent with these units with a very loose power supply (high voltage, low current and small filter capacitors) and plenty of negative feedback.

The other problem is the high orders of cross-over distortion unless you drive these things hard the cross-over distortion is quite audible.

I heard a system years ago using the terrible Phase 4000 pre-amp, a Phase Linear 400 and of all thing a pair of Klipsh horn loudspeakers this where the cross-over distortion dominate the sound.

Many years ago I compared the Phase 400 with a Luxman L309 driving a pair of LST. The Lux lacked the absolute power of the Phase but was significantly better in terms of musicallity and general balance.

On sustained demand these Carver designs cannot convert AC to DC at the same rate the amplifier can consume - severe clipping.

This was based on a test between a Phase Linear 700B (350 WPC) and a SAE 2500 (300WPC), the Phase clipped and the SAE didn't, this is the difference between a power supply up to the task.

Enough of the Phase - the HK amps in the seventies, most of the product was made by OEM manufactures in Japan, Silver made Cassette decks (HK1000) and Rotel built the dual transformer units based on the Rotel 1210, a hard old unit.

Continue looking for the US made Marantz units and the Luxman 50 to 100 watt units.

Until next time....

Barry Hart

[administrator]

For clarification .. The HK Citations (at least until 17/18/19) were built in the US. The 17/18/19 were built in New York as far as I know.

I'm not sure about later models.

Mark

[Guest Nigel]

May I suggest an Adcon 545 or 545 II, 100W per channel, generally thought to sound better than the 555, and available at very reasonable prices. They have more than adequate power supplies, and very good damping factors.

Nigel

[stan461]

Thank you Nigel. This seems like a very good suggestion since they are available. I have seen these around. I'm sure you read the other suggestions. The others may even be better but they are rarer and/or way more bucks. Thanks again.

[stan461]

I bought an ADCOM 545 off Audioreview for $150.00+shipping. The unit is in great shape. The soundstage is very large. The bass is controlled and the detail is excellent. I am very happy with this combo.

I did swap 3 pre-amps into the system.

1) Dynaco PAS-2 - nice soundstage but a harsh sound.

2) Foreplay tube amp (Bottlehead) - nice soundstage but not crystal clear and the bass was a little muddy.

3) NAD 3020 (as a pre-amp) - absolutley beautiful.

This is by no means a scientific evaluation. Its just what happened in my house and on my system.

I have some mods I can do to the Foreplay amp so it may ultimately prove to be the best.

Thanks Nigel. Your suggestion was inexpensive and extremely effective. The ADCOM has given me a taste of what the AR3a's are capable of.

As to the other suggestions, if I see a LUX, Harmon Kardon, Marantz or any of the others at a good price I will surely scoop them up.

So thanks to all. Your inputs are very highly regarded and well appreciated.

[Guest Nigel]

Stan; I very glad that you are pleased with the Adcom.

The classic AR speakers tend to push back at the amplifier, thus to get the best sound with a transistor amp, it is very important to have a high damping factor (one over the output impedance - thus very low output impedance). Adcom is very good in this area, and available at reasonable prices.

There are better amplifiers out there, but they are rarer and/or much more expensive.

Nigel