[---MIKE---]

My Apt-1 power amp is now 25 years old and still seems to be performing
properly. When I bought it, it was state of the art. How does it
compare with today's state of the art amplifiers? It is being used to
drive DBX Soundfield Ones (with the bass control at minimum - Sub
woofers take up the slack).

---MIKE---
In the White Mountains of New Hampshire
(44° 15' N - Elevation 1580')

[[email protected]]

---MIKE--- wrote:
My Apt-1 power amp is now 25 years old and still seems to be performing
properly. When I bought it, it was state of the art. How does it
compare with today's state of the art amplifiers? It is being used to
drive DBX Soundfield Ones (with the bass control at minimum - Sub
woofers take up the slack).

---MIKE---
In the White Mountains of New Hampshire
(44° 15' N - Elevation 1580')

Mpfffff..... Well.....

OK, a good amplifier made in 2000, 1990, 1980, 1970, 1960... and so
forth to the dawn of time will be a good amplifier today. What modern
amplifiers do best is get more power more reliably, but not necessarily
better power. So, if it continues to satisfy you and you are happy with
its results, there is no reason whatsoever to consider a change.

However, I detect a certain amount of "longing" in your language for a
change. Very few would use the phrase "seems to be performing properly"
unless that change were very nearly inevitable. Just as people fall
'out of love' with their cars, you have fallen out of love with your
amp.

I would make this suggestion, as I have no clue as to your financial
resources, depth of interest or other colorants to the decision-making
process. But:

FIRST:

Apt amps *sometimes* get a little wonky at the bridge switch on the
back. This may be true of other controls (though few) as well. So,
clean them (with the amp unplugged of course). Clean the jacks and
speaker terminals. Tighten your connections, dust the thing, do some
care and feeding. Extend this to the rest of your equipment as well.
THEN:

1. If you have friends in the hobby, ask them if they would be willing
to swap amps with you for some period of time. Then speakers. Odds are
that unless you switch out very substantially different amplifiers
(such as a low-powered tube amp for a high-powered SS amp), you will
detect few differences if any... UNLESS there is some fault with the
amplifier.

2. What I am getting at is that you will find the speakers to be the
element that makes the most difference. Don't blame the poor innocent
amp for your discontent.

3. All and at the same time, writing as one who has no less than 9 amps
of various natures and descriptions floating about, having few more
around than just the Apt is no biggie.

Peter Wieck
Wyncote, PA

[Vinyl Rules!]

IMHO the Apt was a good design when it was introduced and it is still a
good design, though newer designers have found more innovative (note I
said "innovative," not necessarily better) ways to design power amps,
perhaps the most current example is the use of switching power supplies
by some manufacturers.

If it were my amp, I would send it to a competent technician and have
him check it out thoroughly, particularly the capacitors (some tend to
begin leaking after 25 years) and have him replace normal things that
might need replacing.

On some amps, for example, the gel that is underneath the output
transistors can dry up and become a potential problem and these are
things that only a really good tech can see and fix.

I personally would avoid techs who would try and talk you into spending
large sums of money on "upgrades" like "audiophile" resistors, internal
wiring, etc., but that's just my opinion. YMMV, of course.

If you go to the www.fmtunerinfo.com home page they have published a
list of good tuner techs, most of whom do very good work on pre-amps
and power amps as well. Some of them like to mod while others do not
believe in mods, and this is stated in the short write-ups about them.

I tend to be conservative when it comes to electronics maintenance and
after 25 years of use, I'd recommend having your amp checked out and
gone through so you don't turn it on one day and get a puff of smoke
from both the amp AND your speakers ;-)

As for how it compares to more modern design, I like the advice of a
previous poster: See if you can borrow a newer amp from a friend or
dealer that is rated in the same power range as your Apt and let you
ears decide.

FWIW, newer is not necessarily better: I am a confirmed "tunerholic"
and tuners designed in the 1970' and 1980's FAR surpass the performance
of any of today's newest and most expensive tuners. Even the new $9,000
M/D 109 is not as good in some areas as the McIntosh MR78 that was
introduced in 1972, for example. But if you are lucky enough to find a
used MR78, it needs to be sent to a competent McIntosh tuner technician
to be refurbished and aligned if you are going to hear it at its best.

---MIKE--- wrote:
My Apt-1 power amp is now 25 years old and still seems to be performing
properly. When I bought it, it was state of the art. How does it
compare with today's state of the art amplifiers? It is being used to
drive DBX Soundfield Ones (with the bass control at minimum - Sub
woofers take up the slack).

---MIKE---
In the White Mountains of New Hampshire
(44° 15' N - Elevation 1580')

[---MIKE---]

I am happy with my Apt-1. I was curious because in another thread
comments were made about modern amps being so much better than older
ones. As far as servicing my Apt, I go by the theory "If it ain't
broke, don't fix it". I actually have two of them. The other one
drives sub woofers.

---MIKE---
In the White Mountains of New Hampshire
(44° 15' N - Elevation 1580')