Perreaux amps 1983 - TV interview - New Zealand

[Anthony]

Peter Perreaux (in New Zealand) designed & manufactured a range of higher end Hi-Fi gear (eg. big amps) in the 80's era, and were sold around the world. Perreaux still exists today with a fine range of gear.

There is a classic Ytube clip of this small company extracted from a TV feature from 1983 era. It covers manufacture, background, and a most unique marketing approach to gain attention to their product.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5Xb89BGOl4]Perreaux Audio News Documentary From 1983 - YouTube[/ame]

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I have a webpage that shows some Perreaux products from the 80/90's if interested.

Perreaux_Amps

There is a repair tech of these products in NZ who is very helpful, (Stu) radiomac at fastmail dot fm

Anthony Hyde
Australia

[elbig]

I have a Perreaux 1150. It is built like tank and it served me very well for many many years.

[ghostly]

Hi guys, thought I'd add my 2 cents worth.......


I bought a SM2 & 1150B around 20 years ago sec hand, and used them for around 15 years.
Fantastic sounding combo, they were cheap ($500nz) and lasted very well. I was running them through a pair of Celestion DL10's.

Eventually the opportunity came along to get hold of a 2150B on permanent loan and nearly blew my mind with the difference between the two.
The control the 2150 has still astounds me, and is a truly remarkable amp.

Keeping a keen eye on trademe, 5 years back I came across a 3150 locally. Wasn't cheap, ($1400) for a then 20 year old amp. After discussing it with the wife, she was keen as! The difference between the previous amps had amazed her, and she was as wet with anticipation as I was with the prospect of even better music.
Only catch was the 1150 had to go. I sold it for $500 with another fairly worn sm2 i had acquired. I was genuinely sad when the guy came to pick it up. I gave him my business card incase he ever wanted to sell it in the future (he contacted me 6 months ago, I didn't).

Interesting thing with the 3150, is it has been modified by Bruce Crothers (Mclaren amplifiers) with high quality cabling, high current hard wired mains cord and a few other tid bits. All in all a really gorgeous sounding amplifier.

It soon became apparent that the SM2 wasn't up to it. I bought a SM3 and thought it was the flattest, most lifeless thing I ever heard. I assume to this day that it must have been faulty cause everyone seems to rave about them.... Anyhow, sold it and forgot about it.

I'm now running an old Naim NAC preamp, and base model Naim cd. both of which I fitted with a pair of Super Teddy Reg's.
The 2150 is driving the bass, with the 3150 driving the treble on a pair of RTL tdl4's. Finally for the first time I'm enjoying thrilling listening.
I love the Naim presentation of music, the sheer power, attack and control of the Perreaux's along with the phenomenal bass of the TDL's. All of this in a lounge measuring about 5x5 metres! The power amps are fed by a dedicated 30A mains - no light dimming problem anymore

I'd love to sample a 5150 in the future just for comparison sake. Other options from here that I ponder are a pair of 350P's with a SM6, or just going for a SM6 and keeping the current power amps. After bi-amping with 2 powerful amps, I wouldn't dream of going for lesser. The difference truly is night & day.

Another testament to Perreaux is they have always been really helpful, especially with regards to providing advice on the SM2 when it faulted. Standard retort these days is "buy a new one".

Blair
New Zealand

[chessman]

ghostly (Blair), welcome aboard!

[jwhite613]

Blair/ghostly... Welcome To AA!!!

[NeilNZ]

I think most NZ audio people have had a Perreaux at some stage. We have a good number of audio manufacturers down here including: Dynavector, Analogue Instruments, Plinius, Perreaux, Pure Audio, Image Loudspeakers, Theophany, Sachem, Ecofan, Slinkylinks, Antipodes Audio etc etc
All do a good job!
Kevin Milne looks young in that clip!

[Gonzo]

Hi, new to this site, and glad to see a thread on perreaux. I have a 1150, SA3 preamp, and a tone control unit, the TC3, the latter unused to this point. Both the preamp and tone control units have burned out bulbs. Finding out information about vintage perreaux units is difficult. When I contacted perreaux, they said that alot of their vintage material had been "walked off" by someone, prior to being digitized. Any idea how the SA 3 compares with the SM3 pre amp? Thanks Norm

[chessman]

Gonzo (Norm), welcome aboard!

[Jerome W]

Very interesting video. Thanks for sharing !

Sent from my iPad using A.Aficionado

[Gonzo]

Thank you Chessman, I look forward to learning more about this stuff. I bought my first turntable in 1964, a dual 1019 ( still have it) but I am always trying to learn more. Loving hi fi gear and listening to records is an incurable disorder. Great site. Norm