Eico Hf-81 Vintage Tube Integrated Amplifier Restored 1950′s Magic
Sunday, August 11th, 2024This amp has been gone through, and all issues (and known issues) addressed. Internal capacitors have all been replaced, pots cleaned, and brought back to factory specs. Please refer to pictures for the condition. It is not perfect, but a very nice clean unit. The flash in a couple of pictures made the face look different. This is diode rectified now, so there is no need for the ez81 tubes anymore. You can put some in, but they will just glow. The sound is simply incredible. When you first turn it on, it sounds like a very good tube amp. Something my old audio research D125 could never do. After this amp warms up for about 15 minutes, it really opens up. I put about 8 hrs on it yesterday. I was so enthralled by the sound that I kept throwing cd after cd at it. I was halfway through Nora Jones at 2am. When the wife came downstairs and said, TURN IT OFF. She really knows how to knock me off my cloud. I know this is not a brute on power, but I ran it to my polk RTA-12B speakers. These are power-hungry speakers, and the eico brought them to the edge of my spl max. This is well over my wifes level, but I did wake her up. With the volume at max, there is no hiss or hum or any distortion while playing. The sound this set amp delivers is amazing. The soundstage is wide with a depth that you want from a good tube amp. HF is absolutely crystal clear with lush mids. The bass is extremely impressive for the wpc. This amp provided a nice punch with a powerful low end from the polks. Vocals, brass, guitar, and piano are all there. It sounds like you are in the recording studio. Miles Davis, Coltrane, B. This is a very special amplifier, not nearly the power of my Mac 275, but it does so many things right. Some amps you turn on to listen while you work or get stuff done. This one makes you stop dead in your tracks, sit down, and close your eyes. I wish I still had my old klipsch chorus ii speakers. I rolled some different tubes in this amp, so some pictured are different now. This will be packed very well and insured, so it will arrive safe.