MOTIF MS-100 by Conrad Johnson - High End Solid STATE 100 Watt Amplifier RARE

The MS-100 is a 100W stereo amplifier and the best solid-state amp we have owned and/or heard. Cosmetically: Good

Sound quality wise this is a 10.

Motif is the result of over a decade of research by Conrad Johnson design into the application of solid-state devices to the reproduction of recorded music. Both design and materials have been carefully selected to yield years of unvarying excellence. Each unit has been painstakingly hand-assembled and exhaustively tested. Manual Available:

Some info from another Motif owner:

The Motif line was produced from 1985 through 1991. This was Conrad Johnsons attempt to enter the market place of Threshold, Krell, Jeff Rowland and Mark Levinson. 
The Motif MS-100 amplifier features MOSFET Input and Output stages. 
The face plate is quarter inch thick and is rack mountable. The case itself is high quality brushed aluminum. On the back are very high quality Teflon insulated RCA inputs and 5 way binding posts. 
This amplifier retailed for over $4000 back in 1987. 

Motif amps are something of a collector’s item these days. Although it was part of the Conrad Johnson family, Motif took a different direction by focusing on solid state technology instead. The MS-100 was a big block power amplifier with 100W per channel in 8 ohms and 200W per channel in 4 ohms. By big block, we meant the chunky rack handles, 1/4″ thick faceplate, a large transformer housed in an equally large housing and big heat sinks on the rear. The design is so yesteryear when every other power amp would look like this but in the face of the current crop of power amps, the MS-100 actually look refreshing.

Plugging this amp into our system, we like how it maintains its authority over the music. Bass was well controlled and tight with a nice warm mid-range (although not as liquid smooth as a CJ amp) and nice extended highs. It works well with either solid state or tube preamps and this amp will easily drive any speaker. Built quality is first class.