Vintage stuffs vs. Behringer A500

[Raptor550]

I was wondering is some of the people around in the 70's could give me some feedback. Basically its past Hi-Fi vs. modern day Mid-Fi. (midfi in relation to the super expensive gear that is.)

Currently I have a Pioneer SA-7500 40w cont. x4. and a Kenwood KA-7100 60W per Channel x4 with a+b. both for ~$80. Oddly enough the pioneer actually sounds louder but I wonder if ones volume is tapered differently than the other. Both sound good to me, both are around .003% THD, but also I might be selling both, If I do I might be able to afford a behringer a500. (if its a big leap in quality.)

Power ratings and cleanness ratings seem to change between the decades (or company's fudge stuff or use tricky ploys, i don't know). Technology is moving forward, but I have been impressed with older gears sturdiness, and they look nicer to boot. At $140 I can get the a500 in Indianapolis or get a sweet vintage pioneer/sansui/kenwood/yamaha online or through craigslist/ebay. What are your thoughts? Preferences?

Oh yeah: y Gear is a cheap Denon CD player, Natalie Portmans, and a Turtle Beach Soundcard (I think I will need to upgrade that soon).

[kgveteran]

I own two A500's. I use them for my four surround speakers. I'm impressed with the watts/dollar ratio.The sound is full and musical when viewing MusicDVD's .

You can't use the RCA inputs, they hum like crazy.I use a mono 1/4"TRS to RCA (very cheap purchase )

Hope this helps.

KG

[Raptor550]

so you recommend using the balanced inputs huh? The RCA hums more then most other amps?

Is the "500" peak or sustained power?

[WillyD]

so you recommend using the balanced inputs huh? The RCA hums more then most other amps?

Is the "500" peak or sustained power?

Here is a thorough test of the A500.

http://theaudiocritic.com/blog/index.php?op=ViewArticle&articleId=20&blogId=1

even in the best case, and the clipping levels are approximately 120 watts and 180 watts (generously!) at 8Ω and 4Ω.

That is still quite good considering the cost of the amp. I might get one myself one day. 8)

[Raptor550]

The audio critic is what first got me interested in the a500. Mainly I am wondering if I am under powering my speakers or driving my current amps too. If it all SOUNDS the same I don't have any reason to upgrade because I don't care for how the Behringer looks.

How would that fair to say a sansui g9000 or one of the other late 1970's tanks? Dollar for dollar Will I know if I will notice a difference between something new like the Beringer and something older cheaper off cragslist. Anyone here have experience with vintage?

[ThomasW]

Jon's MTM speaker designs benefit from higher power amps that are happy to drive 4 ohm loads.

I was in the retail audio business in the 70's/80's.

With the exception of high-end separates like McIntosh, Mark Levinsion, Luxman, Dynaco, etc, I'm aware of nothing from that era worth owning.

At 20+yrs old the capacitors in most units are pretty much toasted.

[Glen B]

Anyone here have experience with vintage?

I have an SAE-2400 amp manufactured in 1975 that I bought from a collector. I have replaced all of the electrolytic caps as well as all semiconductors on the protection board. I've also upgraded the nickel-plated input and output connectors with gold-plated equivalents. The technology is still current (the amp's designer James Bongiorno is developer of the complementary amplifier output design that is still being used in today's high end amps as well as several other firsts in amplifier technology that are common in modern-day amplifier design).

In addition to the brands mentioned by ThomasW, there are several other brands/models that are highly sought after by collectors of vintage equipment. Those include but are not limited to several SAE models; Phase Linear 400 Series II and D-500/Dual 500; Pioneer model Spec-2 and Spec-4 power amps; Sansui BA-5000, BA-3000 and G-33000; Marantz model 250; various Nikko Alpha power amps.

[whoaru99]

Yes, I have some vintage too. Not quite the assortment that Glen B has, but still plenty of older gear.

I've sorta stopped buying it because lots of the good stuff is not much of a good deal unless you get really lucky, and because of the repair aspect.

Finding someone to competently fix it is getting harder and getting replacement parts for some of the stuff is nearly impossible unless you can convince someone to part with their private stash.

Collecting and restoring vintage gear can be a great hobby, but I'm not so sure it's the best plan to build the future of your system on. Mostly because of the parts, service, and reliability aspect. These vintage pieces are, IMO, living on borrowed time unless they have been completely reconditioned.