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Threshold 400a class a amplifiers

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WATCH RELATED VIDEO: Threshold T 200

Conrad Johnson CAV-45 OUTSTANDING CONTROL AMP


Volumes upon volumes of reviews, and lavish praise have been heaped upon this classic Threshold A amp,delivering watts rms per side in Class A output. This is the amp that forever established not only Threshold but Nelson Pass as well, as one of the most gifted of audio designers. A true visionary product from the mind of Nelson Pass.

To say that the A caught the audio world by complete surprise is a major league understatement. Solid state prior to this time was not held in to high regard, except the power amps from CM Labs. But here for once was a major technical break through in solid state running in Class A and at that time an unheard of Watts RMS per side.

The sonics were to die for and the control and musicality this amp put on speakers were nothing less than a tour de force, that one does not often experience in life in any medium. I remember sitting for hours in a dealers show room listening to the A and playing damn near every musical genre I could find, jazz,classical,rock and just sat mesmerized by what I was hearing.

Just one jaw dropping experience after another! I was already 20 years into this hobby when the A came out and was becoming rather jaded at the time and about to abandon the hobby when the A made its debut. Without question for me this is the product that totally renewed my interest in hi-fi.

Plus this amp has opened more eyes and ears to the possibilty of high end like no other before it and to this day remains one of the most sought after amps in the secondary market place, a true timeless classic. Since then have had many power amps in and out of various systems over the years, most of them Threshold or Forte power amps with some others as well.

But for me, have for the most part remained firmly entrenched in the Nelson Pass camp. I just like the way his products perform and the sonics, plus the build quality is way above repproach and set a standard the industry had not seen before and continues to this day with his Pass Labs gear.

Recenly had the opportunity to acquire a very pristine example of a A complete with box,owners manual and the supporting documentation. This had apparently been put away for sometime as it does not look used at all, in fact it looks like new out of the box. Just splendid condition as is rarely seen today. Once home installed into my system and powered the A and let it have about 90 minutes of warm up time before auditioning the A. A good surge protector or power conditioner is strongly recommended for any Class A amp.

Would it have the same magic for me as it did in? For me as soon as I dropped the tone arm on the LP, it still retained that same magic I had experienced so long ago, at once I was transported back to a time when the music really mattered and I could not wait to get home to indulge my senses in a pure musical experience each day. A time when I enjoyed visiting the record store and finding gems of music to be played by the A. This was like lost innocence revisited and a time when above all the music mattered the most, as it should.

After all this endeavour is about the music and the reproduction thereof. The A retains its ability to handle speakers with aplomb and reproduce music with a solid verve, not often found today at any price, a musical amplifier that totally involves one with the music, that one can easily get lost in and forget about equipment.

It is very easy to get lost in the sonics of the A. So as far as I am concerned here is a classic Nelson Pass product that has truly withstood the test of time and continues to deliver the promise and has done so since its inception. Very few products can lay claim some 27 years down the road. While in some aspects perhaps time and technology may have surpassed the venerable A, but for me and most likely for a vast majority of us the A will remain a benchmark that others will be judged against.

And with updates available from Jon Soderberg at Vintage Amp,I can clearly see the A delivering the promise well into the 21st century.

In my opinion this offering from the then fledgling Threshold Corp has in years since become somewhat of an icon in power amps. Each year the prices continue to rise on the A as more audiophiles aquaint themselves with this legend. Lastly the A is not everybodys cup of tea, although in your search for a power amp, one can do seriously worse than the A and few if any will every have the outright longevity of this timeless classic.

Considering the Threshold A Tags: a m amplifier class a threshold threshold a. I've encountered a Threshold A, a class A amplifier that I am considering, simply because people seem to rave about it. Somehow, this feels like a big leap to consider. Bigger factor to consider besides appearance, which the M wins hands-down, IMOis the fact that the Threshold is a 'class A'. Is this a bigger responsibility?

I know they run hotter and consume more power. This sounds totally unrealistic to me, in real-life terms, I won't leave it running all the time. I have little kids, electricity bills to pay How much does this matter? I am not at all familiar with this. Also seeking any experiences with either or both of these amps, especially sonically, in comparison to each other or with the Tannoy 12" Golds.

Thanks in advance. Messages: 1, Location: Dallas. The a should sound a bit better than the M I have both. Its biased pretty heavily into Class A for maybe an amps worth depending on how it was biased. The rest is the sliding bias circuit. These will sound better the longer you leave them on. That would be the only reason I'd think you'd want to leave it on, other than it can do light duty as a space heater in the colder months.

Of note, these are of the age where they will need some work at some point if they haven't already had it. With the exception of replacing outputs transistors, these are about as easy to work on as the M. FootFungusDec 12,Post a Comment. Saturday, September 2, Help. He said something about my Krell FPB being complicated, and therefore not as musically pure as the Threshold. Given the many things I've said to other people over the years, I suppose I deserve this. It starts long ago and far away Things have really turned around from the days, way back inwhen I was working at an internationally famous and perhaps not all for the best reasons audio dealer and tube equipment modification factory called Audio Dimensions me and several other rogue technicians from diverse elite backgrounds, led by the Tu-Be or not Tu-Be wizard himself, for a few years anyway, "Ike".

Threshold was one of the key brands we carried. Ike was a serious tube freak who had been experimenting radically on tube gear since the 's, and he might have preferred to carry Audio Research, but there was already one Audio Research dealer in San Diego, and since we made what you might loosely consider competing products, often liberally borrowing ideas and circuits and especially parts values from Audio Research gear, this wasn't going to happen.

We actually carried mostly solid state amplifiers, except for in-house, and the direct tube driven Acoustats. Anyway, Threshold had almost zero respect among the tube freak technical staff at the store, and although Ike and sales staff would be very careful what they said around many customers, the mask would come off when the front door closed. A but fuzzy on the grip. Mucking with the bias was not the sort of thing real linear designers do.

I arrived too late to see a modelexcept at a customers home one very memorable day he had several, and drove 24" woofers along with Bozaks having 6x 12" woofers.

The seemed to get a bit more reverence, for some reason. It certainly looked cooler. Whatever merit our collective opinions had, I've come to see them much more dimly through the lens of time, for various reasons. We had a number of well known brands like GAS, and a few lesser knowns such as Mike Moffat's first company, and lots of good speakers like Acoustat and Beveridge, but what for a significant part of my short tenure was the favorite amp among the staff, and sometimes the owner too, was the rather new Nikko Alpha III, a MOSFET amp, one of the very first.

I think the owner was thrilled by the prospect of solid state devices operating like and allegedly sounding like tubes. I always grew tired of listening to it for some reason, I think it had high IM from inadequate driver circuitry, however no measurements I performed in the early 's confirmed this I didn't have decent test equipment until aroundso I don't really know, perhaps there was some other problem in my system, I went through fixing many many problems, often years after they had started, finally I decided that no matter what I did the amplifier sounded bad.

But anyways, after quitting my job there, I didn't much follow the history of Threshold products, since they had never interested me in the first place. One guy who became one of my best friends a couple years later got suckered into buying the Threshold A that was at the bottom of the store rack for many years.

Not much later the buyer found it necessary to volume control autoformers for each one, that's where somehow I met him through his installer who started asking me questions about Threshold amps, since I had once worked at the store, then introduced me to the guy with the A, who became one of my best friends for several years, and I miss him now. When I heard about his deal with Ike, I had the greatest sense of loss. He had traded in three of the most rare, most well respected and legendary products for a pile of trash just for convenience.

My opinion then and still is that every room needs a high end system. The Model 9, when it crossed the bench at the back of ADI, had produced the nicest looking square waves of any tube amp that had ever crossed the bench.

I don't recall hearing it though. I'd wished I had. Considering the Threshold A. As my thread title suggests, I am considering acquiring a Threshold A.

I've read nothing but sparkling reviews. I am currently running a Kenwood M into Tannoy 12" Golds. Preamp is an Accuphase C My concern is, whether I should cross the threshold sorry, pun intended into 'Class A' territory.

I suspect that it would be great in terms of sonics, but what else do I need to consider? I've read that it's advantageous to leave Class A amps powered up all the time. I won't do that. I have little kids, I have electricity bills to pay, I just can't imagine leaving it on all the time.

Is it really hard on the amp to treat it like a normal component that you are turning on and off daily? Also, recapping- how challenging is this on the A for someone with average abilities? Apologies for the newbie questions and thanks in advance for any help or advice. Commentary on the sonics of the not-recapped A vs. Found a deal for one, but worried about condition of it's guts.

Nelson Pass is a member here or used to be so you could try sending him a private message. BB code is On. Smilies are On. Forum Rules. All times are GMT.


Category: Threshold 400a amplifier review

LOG IN. Category: Amplifiers This is the amp that started high end as we now know it. Volumes upon volumes of reviews, and lavish praise have been heaped upon this classic Threshold A amp,delivering watts rms per side in Class A output. This is the amp that forever established not only Threshold but Nelson Pass as well, as one of the most gifted of audio designers. A true visionary product from the mind of Nelson Pass.

Threshold A Class A Power Amplifier. Used – Very Good. $1, Free Shipping THRESHOLD A CLASS A POWER AMPLIFIER. Categories. Amplifiers.

Threshold 400 A Class A Power Amplifier


Hi-Fi Amplifier from Threshold Audio. We have no technical specifications for this product but your help will be much welcomed. Fill in the product description. Cancel Save. Yes, Audiofanzine is using cookies. Since the last thing that we want is disturbing your diet with too much fat or too much sugar, you'll be glad to learn that we made them ourselves with fresh, organic and fair ingredients, and with a perfect nutritional balance. What this means is that the data we store in them is used to enhance your use of our website as well as improve your user experience on our pages learn more. To configure your cookie preferences, click here. We did not wait for a law to make us respect our members and visitors' privacy.

Affordable Class A transistor amps.

threshold 400a class a amplifiers

Threshold Audio, Inc. It carries forward the longstanding Threshold tradition of building high quality audiophile products with the latest innovations in technology. Threshold products redefine the state-of-the-art in design, performance and construction. They are elegant, reliable and musically beyond compare.

Known for his work on brands including Adcom, Threshold, Pass Labs and his side project — First Watt, Pass has a perspective on the specialty audio business that few others possess. NP: Being able to create what you want as a designer and having happy customers.

The Audio Board


As a result the CAS 1 achieves its superior performance through realizing those benefits that accrue from cascode operation not only at the "front end" gain stages, but within the power output stages as well, where the audible advantages of cascoding are especially significant. The basis for this unique capability of the CAS 1 is the Threshold cascode circuit patent pending that enables cascode operation throughout the amplifier's entire signal path. To understand the advantages to cascode operation, it is first necessary to note that all distortion to which a transistor is subject during operation is due to only two varieties of gain nonlinearities: those related to current fluctuations through the transistor and those related to voltage fluctuations across the transistor. As the transistor wanders through these regions in reproducing the audio signal its gain characteristics alter, causing both harmonic and intermodulation distortion effects. The Threshold cascode circuit actively clamps the voltage across the signal carrying transistors to a constant value, thereby suppressing voltage fluctuations to near zero levels. In this way the source of one entire class of nonlinearities to which transistors are subject during operation is essentially eliminated.

Nelson Pass Interview

David, aka Grumpy, needs our help. Great news. David is home! It was quite the ordeal to get him home and into the house, but it is done. Thank you to everyone for their support. Now a long road ahead to get him back on his feet and functioning normally. I have started a GoFundMe to help with the medical bills.

Description. The Threshold model A embodies Threshold's direct solutions for those basic anomalies to which the human ear is most sensitive.

Threshold Stasis 3 Manual

Post a Comment. Saturday, September 2, Help. He said something about my Krell FPB being complicated, and therefore not as musically pure as the Threshold. Given the many things I've said to other people over the years, I suppose I deserve this.

Threshold Audio 400A


These blemishes are not readily visible and do not detract from the overall wonderful appearance. Functional Notes: Operational condition of this item is excellent, fully tested and no issues found. Other Notes: "A seminal design that nudged high-end forward and almost perfectly highlighted the virtues of Class A operation. Product Specifications.

Threshold Audio is a high-end audio equipment manufacturer originally established in California in by audio engineer Nelson Pass and graphic designer Rene Besne. The company, today based in Houston Texas, manufactures mono-block and stereo power amplifiers, multi-channel power amplifiers and stereo control amplifiers.

Threshold Audio

So here is my question, did Threshold offer factory upgrades to original a and what upgrades were available and what were the benefits of the upgrades. What did the stasis upgrade add to the a specs and qualities and future restoration. I suppose there must have a an upgrade path for all threshold Amps. Maybe Mr. Pass can chime in on this? Hi Mr.

Trouble deciding: Threshold vs McCormack vs Conrad Johnson

Discussion in ' audio ' started by mandryka , Jan 27, Log in or Sign up. Advertisement pink fish media. I get them, not the intended recipient.




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