About audio amplifiers

Invented in the early 1900's the triode vacuum tube (valve) made possible the development of the audio amplifier. These, like all amplifiers essentially boost a low power electrical signal to one capable of driving headphones with a few wattsor speakers requiring hundreds, or even thousands of watts. However, because excessive increase in volume (gain) usually creates distortion, design modifications are made to reduce the gain, along with the amount of distortion

Many valve amplifiers achieve extremely high quality results and there remains a solid core of advocates for the "valve sound." However, their place has largely been overtaken by solid state designs that are lighter, less prone to failure and cheaper to manufacture. Early solid state amps tended to produce very "flat" sound and were vulnerable to slew rate distortion. Many cheap modern amplifiers still suffer from this effect, though in better quality units, this was overcome as early as the 1970's.

Most amplifiers now have integrated preamps due to most input devices having "flat" signals. The true audiophile, especially when playing vinyl recordings may prefer to have greater control of the input source through the use of a preamp.

A number of innovative amplifier designs over the years have achieved legendary status due to their excellent sound handling capabilites, robustness and build quality. Modern amplifiers like the ME products produced in Australia are every bit as good as many of the classic makes.

RAGE AUDIO will gladly offer advice on the type of equipment best suited to your individual requirements. Every item of equipment we sell is thoroughly checked and if necessary, repaired to return it as close as possible to original specifications. We can generally offer a range of new and refurbished items, as well as serviceyour existing equipment

Please CONTACT US to discuss your specific needs if what you want is not currently listed on this website.