First, I agree with W6WRT. For DXing, especially on 80/160m, you should
have a legal limit amplifier. If you want to operate RTTY or AM, you
also want one that can do it for a long period of time without burning up.
Having said that, what about quality and reliability? One place to look
is at the reviews posted by users at eham.net. Don't laugh -- I know
that many of the reviewers are less than competent. But when there are
/enough/ reviews, you can get a picture of the overall degree of
satisfaction with a product. So here are some of the average ratings for
in-production amplifiers with a reasonable number of reviews, both solid
state (the first 7) and vacuum tube:
Amplifier Reviews Average rating
ALS-600 146 4.2
ALS-1300 55 3.8
Elecraft KPA500 65 4.9
SGC SG-500 36 4.3
SPE 1K-FA 77 4.9
SPE 2K-FA 24 4.8
Yaesu VL-1000 70 4.3
Alpha 9500 108 4.9
Acom 1000 147 4.9
Acom 1010 46 4.9
Amer. AL1500 67 4.8
Amer. AL80B 119 4.6
Amer AL811H 159 4.5
I think it is significant the NO other amplifier with more than a few
reviews has an average as low as 3.8 (the Dentron 160-10 has 16 reviews
and a rating of 3.6). I would think twice about buying an ALS-1300!
If I wanted a lower-powered amplifier I would look at the Elecraft or
SPE-1KFA. The SPE-2KFA is an excellent choice for a higher power
amplifier, although it is more than twice the price of the ALS-1300!
If the guy needs high power but is constrained by available funds, then
maybe he should look at a tube amplifier like the AL-1500, which is a
few bucks cheaper than the ALS-1300.
On 4/10/2014 6:57 AM, John K0CQW wrote:
Looking for info on these SS amps. ALS-600 vs ALS-1300. A ham ask me what
one to buy ? I have no experience on SS amps.
I did tell him not much difference in S units between the 600 vs 1200 w .
Any thoughts ?
Thanks de John KØCQW
--
73,
Vic, K2VCO
Fresno CA
http://www.qsl.net/k2vco/
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