AB International Amplifiers

[John W]

I picked up some JBL drivers from a large theater here in Seattle that is updating their sound system.
The sound guy there is also going to offer for sale a bunch of (16) used amplifiers from AB International, and offered to give me first crack at them. They appeared to be in good exterior shape. Some of these are 2 channel 500 watts, others are two and three channel high wattage with built in crossovers for biamp and triamp from one box.
Do any of the professional sound guys know if these are quality amps worth purchasing.
Is anyone in the market for such an amp. I could get a good price and pass the savings on to you.

[pelly3s]

AB makes some great amps. I perfer the sound of them over most other pro amps like crown and QSC but they are not always the most reliable amps. I have seen a lot of them come through the shop for repair.

[Mr. Widget]

Hey John,

You might send Ken Pachkowsky a PM... he has several of these amps and is pretty familiar with them and the company. I know he likes his Boulder amps more, but I think he liked the ABs as well.

I have an older AB amp and it is a bit flaky.


Widget

[John W]

Thanks for the info on these.
They would be a little hard to check out before buying and considering I don't have a pressing need at the moment, I think I may let this one pass by.

[Ken Pachkowsky]

Just thought I would offer an opinion.

Some AB models are better than others. What are the model numbers and prices? Date codes on the exterior heat sink by the input conectors would be a big help.

US manufactured AB's are superior to the offshore models. They subcontracted offshore for a few years on some models.

If they are all 500 plus watts a side at 8 ohms they are US made. Only the small bread and butter amps were made in Taiwan.

The 92 series are sought after and fetch 800 to 1200 each and rarely make it to Ebay etc.

Tim France has recently left the company and thats unfortunate. He designed the whole 92 series. He was responsible for ending the offshore builds and designed the replacements for the 400, 600 and 1100 series of amps. The new US manufactured amps were the 680A, 980A and 1180A etc.

This series are very well made. You won't see them on Ebay either.

Ken

[MikeM]

Just thought I would offer an opinion.

Some AB models are better than others. What are the model numbers and prices? Date codes on the exterior heat sink by the input conectors would be a big help.

US manufactured AB's are superior to the offshore models. They subcontracted offshore for a few years on some models.

If they are all 500 plus watts a side at 8 ohms they are US made. Only the small bread and butter amps were made in Taiwan.

The 92 series are sought after and fetch 800 to 1200 each and rarely make it to Ebay etc.

Tim France has recently left the company and thats unfortunate. He designed the whole 92 series. He was responsible for ending the offshore builds and designed the replacements for the 400, 600 and 1100 series of amps. The new US manufactured amps were the 680A, 980A and 1180A etc.
This series are very well made. You won't see them on Ebay either.

Ken

Do you have anu information on the 6220 6/84

[MikeM]

Do you have anu information on the 6220 6/84

I see ken passed on. so Sorry