Your First Amplifier

[Techno Commander]

Regression time.:)

You probably progressed through your teenage years with a ghetto blaster and some kind of mini system or music centre. You start your first job and decide to blow a heap of your hard earned wages on something decent.

What did you get?

Me?

I availed myself of the "easy credit" that was available in the day and purchased a stonkingly big Technics SU-V9. Just the thing for playing heavy metal at the "correct" volume level.
http://rockradioni.co.uk/images/smiley/headbang.gif

http://www.audiocostruzioni.com/r_s/ampli/amplificatori/technics-suv9/su%20v9%20technics.jpg

As a long term investment, it was a definite good buy. It provided faithfull service for almost 10 years before being sold off and still returning a reasonable price.

[Rare Bird]

A&R Cambridge 'A60', later bought the 'T21' when i could afford it..

[Effem]

My first amp was a Rotel RA310 and it was brand spanking new from Lasky's. I see them from time to time on ebay and often been tempted to get one for nostalgic reasons. Probably a good idea not to, as I don't have speaker cables thin enough to go round those tiny little screw connectors

[HighFidelityGuy]

Mine was a Cambridge Audio A500 bought from Richer Sounds In Sheffield. It cost me £200 and I bought it along with a pair of Eltax LR6.5 floor stand speakers. I still have both but I don't use the amp anymore. The speakers are used as rears in my 5.1 system. The amp still works but I no longer have a use for it. I tried selling it but got no interest, so I'll probably use it in a second system when I get a bigger house.

[Techno Commander]

Probably a good idea not to, as I don't have speaker cables thin enough to go round those tiny little screw connectors

:lolsign:

[Beobloke]

Eagle International TSA151 amplifier (and AA-8 tuner and AA-20 loudspeakers) inherited from my dad when he upgraded - I was about 14, the speakers were big and all my mates were jealous.

It actually sounded very nice, too, which was a bonus.....

[quadsugdenman]

It was a Rotel RX 402 tuner/amp. It had all of 25 watts which just about drove the Tangent TM1's which needed more ooomppphhh than the Rotel could provide so it had to go. Along came my very first 33/303/FM3 from Eastern Audio in Kings Lynn and that was that!!!! :):):)

[Labarum]

A two valve wonder - and one of them was a thermionic diode for the power supply.

It was a basic chassis made as a stereo converter for a mono record player.

It had a volume controls and a tone control (presumably treble cut)

I would take input from a piezoelectric crystal cartridge.

I bought a very cheap deck and put it in a case of my own making.

Then I had no money for records!

Long time ago.

[The Vinyl Adventure]

Nad c320.... its still going strong too from what i hear

[hifi_dave]

Oh you young lads....:lol:

Mine was a Mullard 510. Just the one because stereo wasn't readily available back then. The amp was bought as a kit and I spent a few happy evenings soldering it together and 'bingo' it worked first time.

It played through a Wharfedale 10'' RSDD driver in a wardrobe sized enclosure. First upgrade was to add 3'' Wharfedale, cloth surround tweeter.

Happy days...:cool:

[Haselsh1]

For me it was a 40 Watt Trio from Currys along with a Garrard GT35 and a pair of Goodmans RB35's. The cartridge was an Ortofon FF15E.

I learnt very quickly, my next amp was a Naim 42/110 with a SNAPS. I still had the other components though.

[Spectral Morn]

Rotel RA820, rapidly followed by an Audio Innovations Series 300, after I became a Saturday boy in a specialist HiFi shop and heard all the magic that was available.

Regards D S D L

[Rare Bird]

Who's gonna start your first Turntable, first CD player & first speakers thread?..Gooooooooooooo on TC

[Dave Hewitt]

Hi
My first amp was a metrosound st 20 plus matching stereo tuner also bsr mp60 record player.Bought this lot from first Comet store in Blackburn I think.They were selling off Leak st 20 at the time but who wanted a valve amp when the metrosound contained new fangled transistors,still I still have fond memories of the sound of this combo through some EMI 13x8 full range speakers.
Dave.

[Labarum]

Oh you young lads....:lol:

Mine was a Mullard 510.

I had the book! 3-3 Single ended, 5-10 and 5-20 push pull.

If I remember the designs specified Belling Lee Coax plugs and socket (TV coax). Much better than Phono, because the "live" does not connect before the earth.

How ever did we get stuck on RCA phono?

[DSJR]

http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q8/DSJR_photos/Armstrong621.jpg

Bloody thing was unstable from new. Went back to Armstrong and after two weeks I lost patience and got a refund. By this time I was working and took advantage of the staff rates for one of these -

http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q8/DSJR_photos/Lustraphone1-1.jpg

A Lustraphone LP100. Loved it, but it was a touch before its time and the output transistors would pop on power surges. The company spend loads of money and hours on a complex protection circuit which altered the sound slightly (and took them under) and mine was treated badly by me, causing a major blow-up with took loads to fix. Thing is, later transistors would have cured the original problem. I'd love another if the price was right..

[Alex_UK]

First one I actually bought new was a fairly boring Kenwood KA-550D, would have been about 20 years ago I guess (a Sharp midi system before that :eek:) Still have it, and it still works fine apart from a crackle on the volume, only went into the loft earlier this year following consolidation of 2nd & 3rd system into one. Unremarkable sound, though.

http://www.avx.hu/forum/uploads/post-32-1233860546.jpg

Replaced it with an Audiolab 8000S in 1997 which too is going strong, as long as you only want CD Tuner or Aux inputs...

[Jonboy]

I had a Trio shorlty followed by a Rotel reciever and matching Rotel speakers that i inhereted of my brother, can't remember the model numbers but it was in the early 80's, all ended up in a skip:doh:

[Butuz]

The first amplifier I actually spunked my own teenage readies on was the trusty Marantz PM4000 which was the What Hifi 5 star choice of the time. Partnered it with a CD5000 and some B&W DM601's and the obligatory QED Silver Anniversary Biwire :D

http://www.superfi.co.uk/images/pm4000meduse.jpg

Muhahaa it did the job tho for the next 8 years!!!!

Butuz

[Rare Bird]

Dave (DSJR). I've had a lot of Armstrongs..My fav is the old 400 series Amps, Tuners & Recievers Those Purple/Silver anodised asthetics are awesome..I didnt like the 600 series & never got chance with 700 series as there wernt hardly any made.

[Ali Tait]

Quite surprised no-one has yet had my first amp-the NAD 3020,bought from Holburn Hi-Fi in Aberdeen.A great amp and still in use.

[Barry]

2 x Mullard 5-10, fed by a Sugden C51 preamp. Had to build a separate power supply for the Sugden.

The Mullards were later replaced by a home built Sugden A51.

[kininigin]

my first amp i had passed on to me was a marantz cannot remember the model but it had spring clip terminals big source selection buttons and im sure it had a graphic eq built in as well.

The first amp i bought was a nad 302 which i had fond memories of not very powerfull but was better than the marantz which was shit.

[The Grand Wazoo]

Here's mine - I've still got it - a Sony TA-343.

http://img718.imageshack.us/img718/2104/dscf1257i.jpg (http://img718.imageshack.us/i/dscf1257i.jpg/)

It was the first amp I bought for myself, but I had the use of others before. It gets wheeled out every now & then, usually only to help out someone in a fix. I got it 2nd hand from a mate for £40 - he bought a NAD 3020. Funnily enough, Dave at Green Home Electronics has got one on his site now for £39.99. So mine has only depreciated a penny since about 1981 - not such a bad investment then! When I replaced it after a very long time, it was with a Cyrus 2 in the old style casing, which I also still have. The Sony went on long tem loan to another mate. Then came the Radford, which I still have.......there's a pattern emerging here, isn't there?

[Joe]

Either a Rank amp (re-badged Rotel, no idea what model number) or a Goodmans Module 90 tuner/amp. The latter lasted about ten years longer than the former.

[Techno Commander]

Who's gonna start your first Turntable, first CD player & first speakers thread?

I wonder??:):)

[anthonyTD]

marantz PM230...
a...

[John]

Myryad T40

[Jonboy]

Quite surprised no-one has yet had my first amp-the NAD 3020,bought from Holburn Hi-Fi in Aberdeen.A great amp and still in use.

My Brother Bought one thats why i ended up with his Rotel and he has still go it in use as well

[REM]

Trio 20 watter, bought from Laskeys in Liverpool in about '74ish, had it for a couple of years, lent it to a 'mate', never saw it again:(.

[Mothman]

Technics SU-V2 circa 1980

http://www.vintagetechnics.info/integrated/suv2.htm

Still have it in the roof somewhere

[Mike]

Pfffft.... no idea, various Japanese integrated amps in the 70's/80's. Probably a Technics something or other first.

First 'proper' amp was Exposure Dual VII pre with two VI PSU's and a VIII power.

[Tripmaster]

The Inca Tech Claymore Sabre was my first amp and I still use it in the study. I bought it when I was 15, and can remember having many a happy memory listening to music in my bedroom whilst living with my parents...ahhh

http://i374.photobucket.com/albums/oo189/Tripmaster_photo/GEDC5149.jpg

[Beechwoods]

Mine was a homemade 100W solid state thing. My brother still has it. It sounded quite good!

[Batty]

My first amp was actually a receiver, 2.5W/ch we built these as part of our apprenticeship when I joined the army way back in '74. We built the lot from chassis to speaker cabs.

[Rare Bird]

The Inca Tech Claymore Sabre was my first amp and I still use it in the study. I bought it when I was 15, and can remember having many a happy memory listening to music in my bedroom whilst living with my parents...ahhh

http://i374.photobucket.com/albums/oo189/Tripmaster_photo/GEDC5149.jpg

Aye. I bought one of the posh Inca's back then the Inca Design 'ID25' with matching Pre-Amp.. i loved it, there was an 'ID50' & 'ID75' aswell..I can't find anything on them but i recon the two Daves remember em :)

[Alex_UK]

My first amp was actually a receiver, 2.5W/ch we built these as part of our apprenticeship when I joined the army way back in '74. We built the lot from chassis to speaker cabs.

They hoped all your soldering skills would be so bad you'd be making IEDs? ;)

[The Grand Wazoo]

I remember them Andre.
And I wonder what became of the 'Touch of Class A' amps that Colin Wonfor did in later years? There was a big splash at a show where an amp literally as tall as a person was exhibited, there was a favourable Colloms review of a 20 watter with granite fascia & that was it.

[Batty]

IEDs ?

[Alex_UK]

Sorry, we're so used to hearing about them on the news from Afghanistan... Improvised Explosive Devices - I was trying (badly) to be funny... :doh:!

[Batty]

I see.
The whole thing took over 2 years, we even did the pcbs and the tuning indicator

[chris@panteg]

NAD 3020 for me ' bought from Audio T in Headington

[shane]

First amp I actually paid money for was one of these: (description here http://www.david.w.harris.freeuk.com/emi_555.htm )

http://www.david.w.harris.freeuk.com/emi_555.jpg

It came in as a part/ex in the shop where I was working and comprehensively blew away the Sugden P51/C51 which was the current fave of the time. For some reason I no longer understand I sold it on and bought an A&R A60, which I still have 28 years later. A60s now go for £35 on Ebay, these things fetch around £500. C'est la vie...


.

[spendorman]

Regression time.:)

You probably progressed through your teenage years with a ghetto blaster and some kind of mini system or music centre. You start your first job and decide to blow a heap of your hard earned wages on something decent.

What did you get?

Me?

I availed myself of the "easy credit" that was available in the day and purchased a stonkingly big Technics SU-V9. Just the thing for playing heavy metal at the "correct" volume level.
http://rockradioni.co.uk/images/smiley/headbang.gif

http://www.audiocostruzioni.com/r_s/ampli/amplificatori/technics-suv9/su%20v9%20technics.jpg

As a long term investment, it was a definite good buy. It provided faithfull service for almost 10 years before being sold off and still returning a reasonable price.

I still have a Technics SU-V303, has a similarity in looks. A very good amp.

[spendorman]

I home built a 1 watt mono transistor amp. 2x AC 128 germanium transistors at output with an output transformer. This fed two Paraline speakers (Hi Fi News design) which were very efficient and sounded good. 1 Watt into these speakers was enough to make my Father complain about the sound level!

This would have been around 1967.

Soon after I got a Rogers Cadet II, probably still regarded today as a good amplifier.

[Steve Toy]

Marantz PM57, 1998, purchased from Currys for £200.

[Barry]

First amp I actually paid money for was one of these: (description here http://www.david.w.harris.freeuk.com/emi_555.htm )

http://www.david.w.harris.freeuk.com/emi_555.jpg

It came in as a part/ex in the shop where I was working and comprehensively blew away the Sugden P51/C51 which was the current fave of the time. For some reason I no longer understand I sold it on and bought an A&R A60, which I still have 28 years later. A60s now go for £35 on Ebay, these things fetch around £500. C'est la vie...


.

:wah::wah::wah:

[Marco]

Marantz PM57, 1998, purchased from Currys for £200.

So you're a virtual newbie on the 'hi-end' scene then, shweety? ;)

My first 'proper' hi-fi amp was a Sondex S230, bought brand new in 1982 from The Music Room in St Vincent Street Glasgow:


http://img195.imageshack.us/img195/6650/sondex2.jpg (http://img195.imageshack.us/i/sondex2.jpg/)


http://img820.imageshack.us/img820/8411/sondex3.jpg (http://img820.imageshack.us/i/sondex3.jpg/)



Shane, that EMI is beautiful - a real corker of a vintage amp!! :eek:

Marco.

[Labarum]

My first serous amp was a Sugden A48 bought in 1978 just after I joined the Army. I only sold it on a couple of years ago and only then to someone that was prepared to give it more tender loving care than I could. I gave him the matching tuner too.

http://lh3.ggpht.com/_N90ZvwSpWa8/TDNAYZw6MqI/AAAAAAAAAx0/E4uNiv0Byvo/s640/IMG_0838.JPG

[Rare Bird]

First amp I actually paid money for was one of these: (description here http://www.david.w.harris.freeuk.com/emi_555.htm )

http://www.david.w.harris.freeuk.com/emi_555.jpg



Aye they are great but very hard finding one in mega condition, they need some serious servicing aswell.Nice one Shane.

[Techno Commander]

First amp I actually paid money for was one of these: (description here http://www.david.w.harris.freeuk.com/emi_555.htm )

http://www.david.w.harris.freeuk.com/emi_555.jpg

It came in as a part/ex in the shop where I was working and comprehensively blew away the Sugden P51/C51 which was the current fave of the time. For some reason I no longer understand I sold it on and bought an A&R A60, which I still have 28 years later. A60s now go for £35 on Ebay, these things fetch around £500. C'est la vie...


.

Theres one on these on the bay.

clicky (http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/valve-pre-amp-/170509410201?cmd=ViewItem&pt=UK_Consumer_VintageAudio_RL&hash=item27b3271f99)

[Alex_UK]

Theres one on these on the bay.

clicky (http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/valve-pre-amp-/170509410201?cmd=ViewItem&pt=UK_Consumer_VintageAudio_RL&hash=item27b3271f99)

What a rat's nest! Good spot Andy. I think it is an optimistic starting price, though.

[Marco]

The inside of that would drive Andre nuts!!

Marco.

[quadsugdenman]

My first serous amp was a Sugden A48 bought in 1978 just after I joined the Army. I only sold it on a couple of years ago and only then to someone that was prepared to give it more tender loving care than I could. I gave him the matching tuner too.

http://lh3.ggpht.com/_N90ZvwSpWa8/TDNAYZw6MqI/AAAAAAAAAx0/E4uNiv0Byvo/s640/IMG_0838.JPG

The amplifier and matching T-48 tuner were excellent. :) The tuner although not as well constructed or easy to use as the FM3 sounded much better imho.

[Rare Bird]

The inside of that would drive Andre nuts!!

Marco.

:lolsign:

[REM]

What a rat's nest! Good spot Andy. I think it is an optimistic starting price, though.

Blimey, looks like a fire waiting to happen:eek:

[shane]

And that one's only a pre-amp. Mine had an EL84 PP power amp built into the same cab!