[Amps] ALS-600 vs ALS-1300

[Vic Rosenthal K2VCO]

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/