Threshold S-7000e power amps

[rubin]

I'm think'n about getting a pair of these.Anybody heard of them?Threshold has had a good rep, are they still considered a HIGH quality manufacturer?

[heiney9]

Are these from the new Threshold (ie; reissued amps) or are they "originals". Threshold has been building reissue's of their more popular classic amps and they are all Chinese sourced. Not saying that's bad...........just so you're aware.

I've always wanted to try the reissue S/350E. It's been saying "coming soon" for a couple years now.

The originals are very fine amps............the newer stuff I'm not sure of.

There are quite a few reviews (older) on the S-5000e. Seems like they get great reviews. I bet the S-7000e's are just fine. The big question is can you get something better at the same price point?

H9

[heiney9]

Personally for the cost of much of the new Threshold gear; I'd get a Pass Labs amp. Threshold is using all their original designs (Nelson's designs) and Nelson has moved beyond the Stasis and other topologies.

The Pass Labs stuff is simply outstanding and it costs about the same or less.

JMO,

H9

[rubin]

Are these from the new Threshold (ie; reissued amps) or are they "originals". Threshold has been building reissue's of their more popular classic amps and they are all Chinese sourced. Not saying that's bad...........just so you're aware.

I've always wanted to try the reissue S/350E. It's been saying "coming soon" for a couple years now.

The originals are very fine amps............the newer stuff I'm not sure of.

There are quite a few reviews (older) on the S-5000e. Seems like they get great reviews. I bet the S-7000e's are just fine. The big question is can you get something better at the same price point?

H9

I suspect there is Chinese involvement as these are advertised as being "hand assembled" in the USA...PS..I found a used pair for $2,500... seems TOO good .

[heiney9]

I suspect there is Chinese involvement as these are advertised as being "hand assembled" in the USA.

I guess I shouldn't say "all". The only model I've looked into was the S/350e reissue and those are made in China.........I assumed they all were, but perhaps the flagship model's aren't. I dunno.

H9

[heiney9]

PS..I found a used pair for $2,500... seems TOO good .


That's a super price for what you seem to get. Like I said the few reviews of the S-5000e are excellent as well as it winning an award in 2004.

I can't imagine those mono's to be anything but as good as or better than the S-5000e. And about the only thing I see used on Audiogon right now for Pass Labs is the X250, which is a simply stunning amp.

H9

[zingo]

I have a Forte 1A which was Thresholds baby company and also Pass designed. Great amp even for its age and I have no complaints.

[rubin]

I guess I shouldn't say "all". The only model I've looked into was the S/350e reissue and those are made in China.........I assumed they all were, but perhaps the flagship model's aren't. I dunno.

H9

Me neither,but I remember threshold mono's in the 1980's costing $11,000 so it's a bit suspicious how these are much cheaper.

[heiney9]

I have a Forte 1A which was Thresholds baby company and also Pass designed. Great amp even for its age and I have no complaints.

Depends, yes Forte was a more "economical" off shoot of Threshold, but Nelson really only had one or two of the very early amps he was involved with. The model escapes me at the moment.

In fact there were a few designs he was patently against and was very vocal about using IBGT's in an audio amp.

http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?t=53925

The 1A was a NP design.

H9

[heiney9]

If you have $2500 to spend this is a tried and true superb amplifier; ask Ricardo.

http://www.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?ampstran&1263552035&/Pass-X250-Perfect-condition

Hurry........2 others sold at this price within a couple days :)

H9

[GV#27]

I have a Forte 1A which was Thresholds baby company and also Pass designed. Great amp even for its age and I have no complaints.Thats a nice little amp.


Depends, yes Forte was a more "economical" off shoot of Threshold, but Nelson really only had one or two of the very early amps he was involved with. The model escapes me at the moment.

In fact there were a few designs he was patently against and was very vocal about using IBGT's in an audio amp.I believe he did some work on the IBGT units but his hired hand M Bladelius did the majority of the engineering.IIRC correctly Bladelius did or is still working for Classe.

[unc2701]

While back I was looking at getting a Threshold, but I saw a bunch of postings about the old ones being pretty twichy WRT service & repairs. Might want to do some searching on that before you invest.

[GV#27]

While back I was looking at getting a Threshold, but I saw a bunch of postings about the old ones being pretty twichy WRT service & repairs. Might want to do some searching on that before you invest.For which models were you finding the postings regarding possible issues?Certainly the units using IGBT's (T models) might be iffy purchases should any outputs happen to fail as it will be hard if not impossible to source replacements.Thus leaving you with a boat anchor albeit a handsome one.

[heiney9]

^^Have to agree with GV. What models are "twitchy"? Anything 15-25 years old atleast needs a re-cap regardless who made and assembled it.

[unc2701]

My bad, had to jog my memory. I was thinking of a Nak Statis amp, the dealer/ repair tech that was selling it spent a half hour flipping between telling me how awesome it was and what a bitch it was messing with the bias, ripping the pots out, putting in new ones, re-capping, etc. He was also a bit of a stoner, so YMMV, but at the time I followed up with some googling and found other posts that confirmed a lot of what he said. Not sure how applicable this would be for the Threshold stasis amps.

[heiney9]

Yep, 2 things with the Nak Stasis amps 1) is the bias pots they used were cheaper and almost always should be replaced by now 2) the series (I) amps tended to have a very twitchy protection circuit, not because the amp couldn't deliver just that the original protection circuit was a little too sensitive. Many series (I) amps were "updated" if they were ever in for service at an authorized dealer at the time as Nak put out a service bullitin at that time to upgrade for free. The series II amps had the updated protection circuits.

H9

[megasat16]

The only Threshold Monoblocs I wanted are Older Class A with 50 or more parallel output devices.

[GV#27]

The only Threshold Monoblocs I wanted are Older Class A with 50 or more parallel output devices.I wouldn't mind a pair of SA12's.

[zingo]

The 1A was a NP design.

Correct. :D

I'm running mine paired with a Luminous Audio Axiom passive preamp and I love the combo. 50wpc class A sounds great with a passive preamp and it even has enough juice to power 84db sensitive monitors to whatever volume I choose.