none at the prices I see on Ebay A tip for those who do have these, get a good tech to add some filter caps to the op amp inputs, makes a very worthy improvement

I need to toss a wrench into these reviews. I know there is a bit of a following on these amps, and the series 2 versions do have really groovy LED power meters. But, these amps, IMO are not the bargin everyone seems to think of them, at least in my experience. As stated elsewhere they use a very primitive op amp input stage, and the power supply to the op amps isn''t even filtered... large amounts of neg feedback. ran hot, yadda yadda. On the plus side, they do look good, the x-formers were OK, a good chassis for a home brew if you can find a dead one that doesn''t look like it was used as a boat anchor. Honestly, for the $$ these are going for, you can do much better with newer products, Carvers TFM series was pretty good, Adcom, Hafler, etc. are better

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Carver, GAS, Sumo, Counterpoint, home brew stuff.

great value,amp of its time

outdated

phase linear led the way back in the 70s and early 80s as being mamoth amps with large power reserves.these amps are a bargain if you can find them at a good price

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phaselinear dual 500

Killer power when modified with new output transistors, great sound, used heavily since 1974 and still cooking. A real workhorse.

Power meters on front look nice but don't last long. More of a selling attraction, rather useless by todays standards.

For a 26 year old amp I have certainly gottem my moneys' worth out of this great amp. Brand new the Phase Linear 400 was a very clean, Transparent, smooth sounding amp. The protection circuitry worked extremely well, as this amp smoked many a pair of speakers with no damage to the amp. I once lived in an area where the power was really bad with voltage spikes and fluctuations, and this was the only place where I ever had trouble with this amp. When I replaced the Output transistors, I discovered that Phase Linear had removed the original manufacturers part number and stamped their own number on the part. I finally contacted someone who had substitute part numbers for these parts, and then went one better through my own research and bought the biggest and best parts for the output end. This amplifier really turns on now and puts out the power. I am going to install the capacitor mod, the other dude talked about and this amp will be top shelf. I use the Phase Linear 400 to drive my Bose 901 speakers on the rear channels of my surround sound system. On the front channels I use the Adcom 300 watt mono blocks to drive my Dhalquist DQ 12's, which are mated with a Velodyne ULD-12 Sub-woofer to unload some of the bass off of the Dhalquist. It took me some time to get the Yamaha Surround sound Processor set up just right, I believe it's a DSP-1, It was their top of the line 7 channel processor in the mid 80's. I must say the whole system sounds top shelf. The Phase linear 400 with the Bose 901's in the rear channels really adds a full spatial effect that is just awesome. I can play music CD's or Movies and everything sounds so real and true to life. Voices, especially womens' are realistic, airy, and full sounding. I can run this system for hours and never become fatiqued. The best part of the whole system is that you cannot even tell where the speakers are. The Phase linear 400 is a great buy for someone with Electronic experience, who is willing to make the needed mods to make this amp better than anything currently available, especially at the price you can find them at.

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Adcom 300 Watt Mono Blocks

Powerful, clean sound.

Rack mount only. Unresponsive and dark VU meters.

I bought this amp in a combination deal with his brother pre-amp, 2000. I wanted to give my 1300dc a rest, and move up in the audiophile world. What a good move.
Don't get me wrong, the marantz is a fantastic integrated amp. I have learned that it is worth more than $3500.00 and is quite rare. I bought it through the ship's store while I was stationed in Yokosuka, Japan in 1978. I guess if anyone else has one, they bought theirs under similar circumstanses. Thats why they are rare.
Now that I have the 2000/400 set-up, I could not be happier. The system sounds great, using a CD player and coming out through KLHs. I will expect it to sound even better when I finish the obscure Cerwin (pre Cerwin-Vega) three way speakers I am rebuilding. 15 inch aiming down, mid and tweeters in the front, and tweetwer in the back.
The P.L. 400 has way more than enough power than I need, with a great vintage sound. I run E.L.P., Leo Kottke, Roxy Music, Stones, Tull, Zappa, and just about any other 'dinasaur rock' you can think of through it, and I am completely satisified.
If you have the opportunity to get one of these amps, I sugggest you jump on it. Don't pay more than $300.00 because they sell for around that much on E-bay.
Don't worry about the responsiveness of the meters. Who uses them anyways? The lights on the meters are not bright enough to see them anyways, and they barely work. But who cares? I suppose one could replace them with L.E.D.s, but what would be the point! I like the vintage look.
I made a 'rack' mount from some rail stuff I got from Home Depo. The amp supports the pre-amp (which is REALLY light).

Now, I have the 'KILLER STEREO' I have wanted for years. The best system of anyone I know. It will only get better, when I finish my speakers. I leave it on all the time, to save wear and tear on the electronics.

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Marantz 1300dc

Great bang for your buck! These amps are available at reasonable prices right now and are still great performers

The VU meters look nice but not very useful. Front panel holes not spaced for standard rack mounting.

At the price most of these are currently selling for this is a very respectable amplifier. 200 watts/channel @ 8 Ohms for $200-300. I bought mine to power a pair of Dahlquist DQ-10's and it does so very nicely. My particular 400 has had the output transistors replaced but no other mods. I paid a bit over $300 and it is in near mint condition. While it may not be up to the current state of the art in amplifiers it holds it's own very well for an almost 30 year old solid state design. When I bought the DQ-10's I had to shop around for more power I looked into several different used amp options and the 400 came out on top for my needs and budget. Besides, what would be better suited to power a set of classic 70's speakers than a classic 70's amp? When I first started buying hi-fi equipment as a senior in high school back in 1979 this would have been my dream system and I'm pretty sure my ears haven't gotten any better in the ensuing years.
The amp is very well constructed, attractive- with the big analog meters (more on the meters in a moment),and very dependable. I'm extremely happy with the sound.
One thing to be aware of... If you wish to rack mount a 400 you have to make some modifications. The face plate of the amp is 19x7 so it is a standard 4 units high but the holes that hold the face plate to the chassis are not spaced correctly for standard rack rails. The holes aren't off by much and I was able to simply file the holes out enough to make it work. I used larger than normal washers to hide the elongated holes when I bolted it into my rack and if I ever take it back out the original bolts are large enough to hide the larger holes so it not's too big a deal but just don't plan on mounting one of these into a rack without a bit of work.
The big VU meters look very cool but are not particularly useful. They are somewhat sluggish in their action (I suppose they were considered just fine back when this amp was introduced, being in the days before L.E.D. and L.C.D. metering). Also they won't even move at low volume settings because the amp is barely working. I have been told that these were set up so 0 VU = 50 watts so even when the amp is cranked they don't really tell you too much.
Neither of these little quibbles has any effect whatsoever on the sound of the amp though.
To summarize...If you need power and you have audiophile tastes (but don't have the budget to match) then be sure to consider picking up one of these classics while they are still available at bargain prices.

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Crown DC-300A

Total workhorse of an amplifier. With the right pre-amp and speakers, the listener can achieve total aural extasy.

Speaker terminals and pre-amp connection can be a pain if the amp is mounted in a rack with solid sides.

I bought my 400 Series Two in 1984 and have never had the least bit of trouble with it. I swap-out all the fuses once a year just for the hell of it. I have played all kinds of music through it, and it has never failed to be anything but totally pleasing to the ear, even at very high volume. I use it with a Carver CT-27v Preamplifier/Tuner, and a set of American Acoustic 8550's as the front speakers. The 8550's have a 15" bottom-end, so I don't really need a sub-woofer, but I added a Cambridge Soundworks PS Powered Sub-woofer to catch the low end on Dolby Pro-Logic and Dolby Digital playback. For those of you that own a PL 400, pick up Donald Fagen's "The Nightfly" on CD, crank up the volume and enjoy how well this amp really performs when playing back superbly produced music.

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Nothing else I've used has compared to it in quality!

A very highly respectable amp in its day - nothing touched it in the solid state world.

Wasn't the greatest in the bass department or especially clear in the mid-range.

This amp was very good in its day; however a modded amp was wayyyy better.

The power supply had the smallest caps in the world -- putting in bigger ones (2 outboarded 25,000uf) changed the sound DRAMATICALLY with much better bass and a superbly balanced very natural midrange. Even better, disabling the protection circuit - WOW very 3-D afterwards.!!!!!

Still a good value at today's used prices. Unmodded, *** stars, modded ****+ and very competitive with sound today.

Barry

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Phase 700 (not a favorite), Crown D- 150, Modified Hafler DH200, Counterpoint SA-20, Alta Vista NP-220(SA-20 upgrade), Pass Lab 2s

I like the 2 big VU meters and the sounds coming out from this Classic amplifier when listening to jazz, classic and even pop or rock.

none so far.

I kept this unit for nearly 5 months in my storage cabinet as I can't use it without transformer(step-down from 220v to 110v) to power-up the unit. I got this amp from another trader(really good deal) and no idea what it look like and sound like. I nearly sell this amp then suddenly I decided to buy the transformer last week, then, OH! Boy! I didn't expect that this Classic 70's amplifier still performed well(should I say better). Try this amplifier, you and your speaker will like it. I use Phase Linear4000pre-amp(got it from the same trader), Phase Linear400amp and Paradigm Monitor9(for Main) for audio and separate units for my HT using the same main speaker plus Energy eXL series.

regards,

jj

Able to carry heavy loads, such stacked (4) A.R. LST's for sustained periods.

None that I've incountered.

Has been running for me since 1975,with only 2 repairs for burnt power transistors.Last repaired by Bob Carver official repair people in 1992.

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Phase Linear 4000 pre-amp

Powerful

Lights and meters always quit working.

I was working at a clothing retailer when I saw this amp in the maintenance guys shop. I ask if it worked and he said no, so I asked if I could have it and he said ok. So basically I got it for free. I took it to the repair shop and $165.00 later put it out it in my system to power my front channels. I asked a friend of mine who's "in the business" and he said they were good amps made by Bob Carver before he founded "Carver electrnoics". They were based (I think) in Washington state. He also warned me though, that they were reputed to fry speakers from jolts of current that came from it. I have yet to discover this fortunatley. It has served my system well, not letting me down at all. I am, however, getting sick of taking it in to have the lamps and now a meter fixed. The repair shop said that it is ok to leave the amp on always, but I turn it off to save the aforementioned parts.
It was pretty much free so I can't complian but I think I will try to sell it in the near future and maybe get a Rotel or something. I've never really compared it to anything so maybe thats a mistake, but oh well.

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The model year field is wrong, but had to put something.