why are old school amps worth so much?

[Jonny Hotnuts]

You should post the schematic since ADS no longer exists I am sure folks here would truly appreciate having that scheme available

+1 (I now have 2 of these and I have not even benched them yet....they may not work!)

I don’t know if this has been mentioned but now that I am in my 30's I can afford the amps I only wished to own when I was in HS. Not only are they less expensive then they were back in the day, but I make enough coin to waste on stupid s*#t.


Quality amps will always be quality. McIntosh home amps are a good example.....look at the price of a MC-225 or 245 made in the 60's cost....crazy. The price of the high end old school amps will always reflect the quality. I would not be surprised to see a mint D200 series I end up selling for what it retailed for (or more) in a few years.

[ECM]

The reason I buy Orion is because I couldn't afford it back in the day and they are relatively easy to work on, no SMD. I only buy the old HCCA models.

I have:
1 - 250 HCCA Digital Reference
3 - 225 HCCA Digital Reference
1 - 425 HCCA first generation
1 - 275 SX
2 - 275 XTR pop top

Most of these I bought broken so they were pretty cheap, but on ebay the bigger Orions still go for a couple hundred dollars in working condition. It's a combination of build quality and nostalgia for me.

ppia600, still have the 2252hx for sale? email me: gherrera1 AT netzero DOT com

[Mr. Old School]

I would even go as far to say that the package quality of the old school amps was a higher standard as to the newer and cheap amps.

Love the boxes of the Optidrive amps.

Would you agree?

[tsmith1315]

Mr Old School:

I would even go as far to say that the package quality of the old school amps was a higher standard as to the newer and cheap amps.

Absolutely.

As with many products, the heatsink, case, terminals, connectors, knobs, etc., are actually more expensive than the parts inside.

The way to reduce these costs is to increase purchase quantity, or reduce quality. Or both.

tomtomjr:

or a Zapco 151, ect, ect. come up for sale? ... You just can't order one online. Chances are if you see one, someone else sees it too. Get ready to spend some bucks.

Believe what he say's folks, he's outbid me on old Zapco's more than once!

The 151 is a good example for this thread. They cost what, $700 new in 1986? As a reference, a new Mustang GT was only about $14k loaded.

SEVEN HUNDRED DOLLARS for a 75wx2 amplifier that's not even rated for 2 ohm operation???

This is no high current cheater amp, you get 150 watts, and that's it. What you get is quality, and a product that is good enough to never need another. If I could have one and only one car amp for all eternity, it would be a 151A. Fortunately, I have 3. I'll wager tomtomjr has more!

Tim

[tomtomjr]

My favorite amp also. The 151A. Good choice Tim. You can spend a fortune on collecting these. I like the early Fosgate too. I would rather spend my money on the old stuff like this, rather than on the newer stuff. They just don't make car amps like this anymore. Easy to fix, very collectable, and rare. Plus they sound better than most amps out there.

[jol50]

Lol, in 1990 I almost bought a new Mustang LX 5.0 (GT w/out the spoilers). Sticker was $13K and change.

[tsmith1315]

tomtomjr displayed about 17 old Zapco's...

I think I'm going to cry.

What's the Fosgate to the left of the 650, is that another 650 without the shroud? The only old RF I have left is an AF/2 still in the wrapper.

OK 1moreamp, how about a pic of some of your stash???

jol50:

in 1990 I almost bought a new Mustang LX 5.0 (GT w/out the spoilers). Sticker was $13K and change.

And now a similar car would be what, twice that? Are there any 75Wx2 amps out there now for $1400? The good stuff was EXPENSIVE, and we couldn't afford it as youngsters.

But we're happy to buy it now!

Tim

[jol50]

Originally posted by jol50
Here is a good one: 230222186339 We'll see what 120 watts is worth.

Ha ha, 320 and reserve not met. They must not be as coveted.

I didn't buy the Mustang, unfortunately I bought a grand am with the quad4 thinking it would take less gas. It was close to half of list 1.5 yr old, it listed at 14K. Suspension sucked (mustang was worse though) and quad4 ran great but ate head gaskets and other things regularly (over 2K in warranty before it ran out). Later I got a 5.0 LX and it got 20-24 compared to grand am's 23-25 driving same highway to work/etc...except it would get sideways in 5th gear at 45mph in the rain. Never fixed anything on the Mustang outside of normal wear. GA would get up to 31 all highway though, Stang about 25.

Man amps were expensive back then. Money was worth more, I could buy a beater car for less than a good amp. I had plenty of winter cars that were worth less than what I paid for the USED components (maybe new speakers) of the system I had in them and that was just usually two amps, xover, HU, two 10s, 4 coax highs maybe comps in front.

[dashan]

So, according to this thread, an Alpine 3555 could not be called an old school.

[junglejuice]

I don't see why not as they are around 14yrs old now...

I have 2 Alpine 3554's, an Alpine 3544 and an Alpine 3552.

I also have a Rockford Fosgate Punch 40ix and a Punch 60 ix.

All of which are in perfect working order which is good for around 14 yrs old for the Rockfords and 16 yrs old for the Alpines...


That is why I like the old school amps, plus they are black, amps should be a plain black box imho....