Hafler?

[captain_tinker]

Folks,
Hey, I have a co-worker who is always talking about his Hafler amps that he buys broken and re-stores. He tried to get me to take one of them a while back, but it had no top on it, and showed all the caps inside etc. I shied away from it without a top, in case my kids decided to get curious on me and try and grab it... Anyway, I don't know much about Hafler, but I can see from searching that a few of you have them. I also see that some of you have tended to sell or trade in the Hafler after a while and go with something else, often a Rotel, which I saw a few times in the search.

Are they worth going with? The Hafler DH-500 looked huge in the pictures I've seen. The one my co-worker had I guess was a 200 or a 250 watt. Let's say I decided to go with either the Mosaic, Clarity, or Aerius i, would the Hafler have enough guts to run them and still have some overhead? Just wondering... I'm still trying to learn about amps in general right now. I have very little experience with this stuff still.

-capT

 

[aliveatfive]

I think we discussed this in an earlier post, but I shall repeat myself. Hafler was a high fi company started by the man who also started Dynaco - David Hafler. His early Hafler products were marketed as kits or ready-made. They were very inexpensive, and for the money, not bad. Many aftermarket companies offered modifications for them. Hafler's first amp, the DH200, provided 100 watts per channel. A later offering, the DH 500, came in at 250 watts per side. The only company that I know that still does Hafler mods is called Audio by Van Alstine. The gut the amp and keep only the power xformer and ps caps. I'd guess that Logans would probably expose the early solid-state faults in the original, unmodified amps. The VA mod, I'd guess, would sound much better.

 

[jmschnur]

The Halfer amps will have problems in the high frequency end with ML electrostatics. It does not handle 1 ohm impedence very well. It is a wonderful amp and several of the companies that redo them do a very good job. I have two that are still working that I built in 1980.

Joel

 

[captain_tinker]

The Halfer amps will have problems in the high frequency end with ML electrostatics. It does not handle 1 ohm impedence very well. It is a wonderful amp and several of the companies that redo them do a very good job. I have two that are still working that I built in 1980.

Joel

Folks,
Hey, thanks for the information. I was just curious.

-capT

 

[SteveInNC]

I have a DH500 also. I'll add that that 250 watts per channel is into 8 ohms. That goes up with lower impedance. The amps are also bridgeable. They are very popular in clubs as sound reinforcement because they are built like tanks and have a high damping factor.

Hafler stuff was highly rated in its time by Absolute Sound. The kits weren't kits like a Heathkit with a pile of components - all of the boards were preassembled, you were simply wiring subsystems together. Keep in mind that most of this stuff is about 20+ years old, and technology has improved. I still run my DH500 driving Ascent Is, but have been looking around for better stuff.

 

[roberto]

Long time ago, I had the Hafler 220 driving a pair of Aerius with great sound. Hafler had on this amp a new (at that time) transistor called Vertical FET. This amp could could handle a short circuit at their speakers binding post and will not fail, only thermal runawany and its protection will start to work with no problem. In other words, it is a very high current power amp. Its specs are shorter than what it gives in reallity. I love the sound and it was a very pleasant sound to my ears. Mr. Van Allstine has a mod. for it. Happy listening,
Roberto.:musicnote:

 

[aliveatfive]

Long time ago, I had the Hafler 220 driving a pair of Aerius with great sound. Hafler had on this amp a new (at that time) transistor called Vertical FET. This amp could could handle a short circuit at their speakers binding post and will not fail, only thermal runawany and its protection will start to work with no problem. In other words, it is a very high current power amp. Its specs are shorter than what it gives in reallity. I love the sound and it was a very pleasant sound to my ears. Mr. Van Allstine has a mod. for it. Happy listening,
Roberto.:musicnote:

Roberto -

FYI - the Van Alstine mod removes the old circuit cards and replaces them. The new circuitry is not similar to what was in the amp before. I believe these are FET outputs with little or no negative feedback. They are not rated to drive less than 4 ohm loads.

 

[roberto]

Roberto -

FYI - the Van Alstine mod removes the old circuit cards and replaces them. The new circuitry is not similar to what was in the amp before. I believe these are FET outputs with little or no negative feedback. They are not rated to drive less than 4 ohm loads.

Yes, I know...thanks for the info...happy listening,
Roberto.

 

[Retro]

Has anyone experience of using/testing the Hafler XL-600 (alt. Hafler XL-280) or other amplifiers using 3 pairs or more of Hitachi MOS-FET devices in the final stage with a pair ML CLS ?

I am currently seeking either of the mentioned Haflers to run my CLS speakers

 

[Retro]

No one in the forum got expirences with MOS-FET power-amps

Today i will go to have look at and listen to a Musical Fidelity P270 set for sale in my area ..., i know this amp very well from my past, owner states its in a good condition, never had any parts changed since it left the factory

I am currently also trying to locate the Acoustat Trans-Nova 200 ...mayby you think its rather outdated, but since i have firsthand knowledge that this specific amp deliever its best with electrostatic speakers.., it is on my list of potential amp for me to buy

 

[Joey_V]

No one in the forum got expirences with MOS-FET power-amps

Today i will go to have look at and listen to a Musical Fidelity P270 set for sale in my area ..., i know this amp very well from my past, owner states its in a good condition, never had any parts changed since it left the factory

I am currently also trying to locate the Acoustat Trans-Nova 200 ...mayby you think its rather outdated, but since i have firsthand knowledge that this specific amp deliever its best with electrostatic speakers.., it is on my list of potential amp for me to buy

I could be wrong, but I think the Plinius use Fet devices in the output stage.

 

[roberto]

I could be wrong, but I think the Plinius use Fet devices in the output stage.

Hola...also all Conrad Johnson SS power amps use vertical FETs. The key is odd harmonics where Vertical Fets are more like tubes...Happy listening,
Roberto.:musicnote: