Oldest non-serviced amplifier that you still use daily
Clipdat
Posts: 12,934
in Electronics
What's your oldest un-serviced power amplifier that you still use daily/weekly?
Mine is my 21 year old Klipsch Promedia v.2-400 system that I'm still using to drive a pair of Polk Audio Blackstone TL3 speakers daily.
It stays on 24/7 since it doesn't even have a power switch and it's still working as flawlessly as the day I first plugged it in 21 years ago. I keep expecting it to die and it just won't!
Mine is my 21 year old Klipsch Promedia v.2-400 system that I'm still using to drive a pair of Polk Audio Blackstone TL3 speakers daily.
It stays on 24/7 since it doesn't even have a power switch and it's still working as flawlessly as the day I first plugged it in 21 years ago. I keep expecting it to die and it just won't!
Comments
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Isn't the ProMedia a computer speaker setup?
I don't know when it was released but I use and also keep on 24/7 my B&K Reference 4420
I used to use my very old all original Yamaha CA-1010 but it did finally have a channel go out, I just have yet to pay someone to look at it.
Does the original head unit in my 1995 Honda count? 😉. I use that more than anything really.afterburnt wrote: »They didn't speak a word of English, they were from South Carolina.
Village Idiot of Club Polk -
Yep, it's a computer speaker setup.
Also I should mention that I did have to replace the preamp control pod a few years ago. But I'm mainly thinking about the power amp section inside the subwoofer.
And yeah the Honda HU counts! -
I remember when the ProMedias first came out, I was very big into PC gaming and they were THE PC speakers to own.afterburnt wrote: »They didn't speak a word of English, they were from South Carolina.
Village Idiot of Club Polk -
Oh yeah, absolutely. The later generations had some cost-cutting measures, but I think this original v.2-400 model with the dual sub drivers were the best.
I used it primarily with the Klipsch satellites, but let me tell you the TL3s sound a hell of a lot better! -
An Emo 3 channel it ain't too old but it's the oldest amp that I still use.
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Aragon 8008bb
Tax time and I'm getting this one completely gone through and recapped. Still works fine but it's long in the tooth. -
Nice, Ivan.
I was wondering if mine is starting to drift out of spec as well. I'm so accustomed to its amplification quality that it's hard to determine if upgrading would improve things.
I suppose its possible that its starting to have issues but I haven't heard anything audible. -
Well IME you will never know the gradual decline unless a pre-driver, transistor or cap goes bad. The usual suspects is a buzz, static or low output on one side.
I plan on this being with me for a decade or longer so I'll spend the cash. -
I really like the "notch" in the Aragon amps. Different!!"Sometimes you have to look to the past to understand where you are going in the future"Anger is just anger. It isn’t good. It isn’t bad. It just is. What you do with it is what matters.
You can use it to build or to destroy. You just have to make the choice. Jim Butcher
Harry / Marietta GA -
I have a Classe Model Twenty Five I picked up from TroyD years ago. Not sure exactly when it was produced and I can't bother to look because I know generally what the production years were, but I suspect it is around Twenty Five years old.
It took a Parasound JC5 to displace it in my main rack. Still works great though. -
My musical fidelity a308 that has made the rounds here on club Polk was manufactured around 2001. Its normally in 24/7 though I do shut it off overnight when I think about it. I know @Ricardo kept it on 24/7. It is by far the best sounding integrated I’ve ever owned. It supplanted the Cambridge 851a which I really liked...I don’t see it going anywhere any time soon, so I hope the caps hold up cause I’m in a small market and have no soldering skills lol...Living Room 2.2: Usher BE-718 "tiny dancers"; Dual DIY Dayton audio RSS210HF-4 Subs with Dayton SPA-250 amps; Arcam SA30; Musical Fidelity A308; Sony UBP-x1000es
Game Room 5.1.4: Denon AVR-X4200w; Sony UBP-x700; Definitive Technology Power Monitor 900 mains, CLR-3000 center, StudioMonitor 350 surrounds, ProMonitor 800 atmos x4; Sub - Monoprice Monolith 15in THX Ultra
Bedroom 2.1 Harmon Kardon HK3490; Bluesounds Node N130; Polk RT25i; ACI Titan Subwoofer -
My musical fidelity a308 that has made the rounds here on club Polk was manufactured around 2001. Its normally in 24/7 though I do shut it off overnight when I think about it. I know @Ricardo kept it on 24/7. It is by far the best sounding integrated I’ve ever owned. It supplanted the Cambridge 851a which I really liked...I don’t see it going anywhere any time soon, so I hope the caps hold up cause I’m in a small market and have no soldering skills lol...
Glad you're enjoying the A308. Soldering is not difficult really. I'm sure you can do it with a little practice
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2008 & 2010 Football Pool WINNER
SOPAThank God for different opinions. Imagine the world if we all wanted the same woman -
Soldering is the easy part, re-biasing and other stuff is where knowledge and scopes come into play...
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1971? Crown D150
Sounds great however it has recently developed an intermittent issue in the left channel where it becomes very low level slightly distorted sound. It's unmistakable when it happens. The simple cure is to pull the Right channel input and then disconnect and reconnect the Left. That always cures it instantly. Interestingly, unplugging the Left and re-plugging does not cure it unless the Right is first unplugged. Seems like a transistor issue but I really have no clue why it behaves this way. George / NJ
Polk 7B main speakers, std. mods+ (1979, orig owner)
Martin Logan Dynamo sub w/6ft 14awg Power Cord
Onkyo A-8017 integrated
Logitech Squeezebox Touch Streamer w/EDO applet
iFi nano iDSD DAC
iPurifier3
iDefender w/ iPower PS
Custom Steve Wilson 1m UPOCC Interconnect
iFi Mercury 0.5m OFHC continuous cast copper USB cable
Custom Ribbon Speaker Cables, 5ft long, 4N Copper, 14awg, ultra low inductance
Custom Vibration Isolation Speaker Stands and Sub Platform -
Soldering is the easy part, re-biasing and other stuff is where knowledge and scopes come into play...
I thought you could just put your hand on the heat sinks for 10 seconds, then your amp was biased correctly. Old nelson pass trick. -
Old B&k 4420........not sure the year but guessing close to 20 years old.HT SYSTEM-
Sony 850c 4k
Pioneer elite vhx 21
Sony 4k BRP
SVS SB-2000
Polk Sig. 20's
Polk FX500 surrounds
Cables-
Acoustic zen Satori speaker cables
Acoustic zen Matrix 2 IC's
Wireworld eclipse 7 ic's
Audio metallurgy ga-o digital cable
Kitchen
Sonos zp90
Grant Fidelity tube dac
B&k 1420
lsi 9's -
I have an Adcom GFA-555 in the bedroom rig. I'm not the original owner, but I'm pretty sure it hasn't been serviced. I pull it every once and awhile to check the DC offset. Still within acceptable limits.
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I'll take Nelson's word if that is how he does it! That guy passes more knowledge in gas than I'll ever have upstairs! -
My dad has a Denon POA-2200, also a Denon pre and integrated from the same era, that is still going strong. I am not sure of the exact age but it dates back to the early to mid 80's.2 Channel Rosso Fiorentino Volterra II, 2 REL Carbon Limited, Norma Revo IPA-140B, Lumin U2 Mini, VPI Prime w/SoundSmith Zephyr MIMC, Modwright PH 150, Denon DP-59l w/Denon DL-301MKII, WAY Silver 3 Ana+ Speaker Cables, WAY Silver 4+ Interconnect Cables, AudioQuest Niagara 7000 w/Dragon and Hurricane Power Cables
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Yamaha RX-A2070, Musical Fidelity M6si integrated amp, Benchmark Dac1, Bluesound NODE 2i, Audiolab 6000CDT CD Transport, Parasound Zphono USB Phono Preamp, Fluance RT85, Ortofon 2M Bronze, Polk L600's, L400, L900's, RC80i's, SVS 3000 Micro, Audioquest Interconnects and Digital Cables, Nordost Silver Shadow Digital Cable, Cullen Gold and Crossover Series Power Cables, Douglas Connection Alpha 12AWG OCC Speaker Cables, Douglas Connection Alpha Analog Interconnect Cables, Douglas Connection Alpha 11 OCC Custom Power Cable, Signal Power Cable, Furman PL-8C 15 Power Conditioner, Sony 65" 900F, Sony UBP-X700, Fios, Apple TV 4K, Audioquest Chocolate HDMI Cables.
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A mid-1980s Superphon DM-220 is still going strong. However, it was recapped because it seemed like a good idea 5 or 6 years ago.
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All my old speakers have been given away. Since I am now retired, the odds are my current stereo and HT speakers will be old in 20 years.
Lumin X1 file player, Westminster Labs interconnect cable
Sony XA-5400ES SACD; Pass XP-22 pre; X600.5 amps
Magico S5 MKII Mcast Rose speakers; SPOD spikes
Shunyata Triton v3/Typhon QR on source, Denali 2000 (2) on amps
Shunyata Sigma XLR analog ICs, Sigma speaker cables
Shunyata Sigma HC (2), Sigma Analog, Sigma Digital, Z Anaconda (3) power cables
Mapleshade Samson V.3 four shelf solid maple rack, Micropoint brass footers
Three 20 amp circuits. -
Adcom GFA 535 since 1988, has never missed a beat.If you can't hear a difference, don't waste your money.
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All my old speakers have been given away. Since I am now retired, the odds are my current stereo and HT speakers will be old in 20 years.
Oops. This also applies to the amps. Sorry.
Lumin X1 file player, Westminster Labs interconnect cable
Sony XA-5400ES SACD; Pass XP-22 pre; X600.5 amps
Magico S5 MKII Mcast Rose speakers; SPOD spikes
Shunyata Triton v3/Typhon QR on source, Denali 2000 (2) on amps
Shunyata Sigma XLR analog ICs, Sigma speaker cables
Shunyata Sigma HC (2), Sigma Analog, Sigma Digital, Z Anaconda (3) power cables
Mapleshade Samson V.3 four shelf solid maple rack, Micropoint brass footers
Three 20 amp circuits. -
The old ones here have all been serviced - even if only cleaning pots and switches, or changing tubes and/or electrolytic capacitors, setting bias points, etc.
Now, those old ones are, in some cases, older than I (maybe even older than @F1nut! ), but they have been maintained.
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I'll take Nelson's word if that is how he does it! That guy passes more knowledge in gas than I'll ever have upstairs!
This is at least somewhat true...when I was re-biasing my X250 and looking for advice, Mr Pass actually chimed in and was definitely more worried about heat sink temp than actual voltage measurements across resistors...and yea he recommended the 10 second hand rule which was supposed to be about 50 degrees C if I remember correctly.
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And that Pass X250 is one amp I wish I would have kept, but curiosity got the best of me and I let it go
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I have a B&K EX-442 I bought new 1989 or so , with the toshiba outputs , 75 amps current vs 50 for the hitachi outputs ( Sonata version - before they called it a Sonata).
Untouched other than a few new power switches over the years ( bought a bunch of spares ) and had the offset and bias adjusted a couple years ago ....
Still running like a champ !
Does that count ?
BkPS Audio S300 , WiiM Ultra , Yamaha wxc-50 , Salk SuperCharged Songtowers , Kimber Kable 4TC, Sony 42” - BEDROOM
B&K EX-442 ( it will go in my casket when I die ... ) , PS Audio 4.6 preamp ( old school , but it still jams on ... ) , Eversolo DMP-A6 , Boston Acoustic voyager 7’s - POOL
Parasound A21, Eversolo DMP-A8 , Kimber Kable 4vs , Ascend Acoustics ELX Ribbon Towers , Sony XBR-A8F 65” OLED - DEN , MAIN system
Onkyo TX-nr609 , Polk atrium 7 , Boston acoustic sound ware (4) , Boston acoustic sub , B&W center , Sharp 65” TV - PATIO -
had the offset and bias adjusted a couple years ago ....
Does that count ?
Nope. But thanks for playing!
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I have a Classe Model Twenty Five I picked up from TroyD years ago. Not sure exactly when it was produced and I can't bother to look because I know generally what the production years were, but I suspect it is around Twenty Five years old.
It took a Parasound JC5 to displace it in my main rack. Still works great though.
Holy crap. That was a minute ago!
( if you ever want to sell it back....that was a great amp!)
I plan for the future. - F1Nut
