SAE Mark XXX + 220 pre- and power amplifiers in rack mount

You know this story… two guys in California, working at home in the garage, with the ambition to make the best in the world product? But this time it is not the story of Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak building the first Apple computer.

Its about amplification.

Morris Kessler and his friend Ted Winchester started with a simple idea: make the best amplifier in the world. So they bought some gear and and set a target: beat the Marantz Nine.

In 1968, the company was born. They needed a logo, so Winchester took a tape roll and elaborated the geometric SAE logo. The famous Stereophile critic Gordon Holt was curious about the amp. It was solid-state, was still confidential, and in these early years no preamplifier was proposed like did Marantz or McIntosh.

The Mark II amplifier started the fame about SAE. A bit after, the brand was joined by Ed Miller and James Bongiorno. For almost two decades, SAE made some of the best known home audio amplifiers.

In the early Seventies, if one wanted the best in solid-state amplification, SAE came to mind. These amps were so popular, they even took Japan by storm. The most desirable kit was the full rack, adding their graphic equalizer, tuner… a complete rack at that day was asking $6000, which was the price of a… top model Cadillac.

The combo we present here is the SAE Mark XXX + SAE 220, from the 1978-79 range. Both are the "export model", built for Europe and ready for 220/240 volts.

The SAE Mark XXX preamplifier
Adept of a "the cleaner the better" signal path philosophy, this rack-sized embarks the very minimal set of controls for a super clean and high marks sound. Look at the specs, for a seventies product! This is the rack mount version in black, it existed as well in silver and on a smaller cabinet footprint.

The SAE 220 amplifier
This minimalistic but built for great performance amplifier is the brother of the SAE 2200, the exact same amp but more popular because of the led light power vu-meters, making it more "cool" back in the day.

Fortunately, enthusiasts maintain a database of documented parts allowing us to restore and freshen these great amps. Indeed, SAE took the habit of branding its parts, so a Motorola cherry-picked power transistor entering the factory will be renamed as a SAE, and of course, when needed, new original parts under their SAE name are nowhere to find.

The build quality is insane, nothing is thin or plastic-based in these devices. The cooling fins and the chassis also indicate they were build for high loads and powerful drives.