Lafayette LA-250 (1959–1960)
Fifty watts of EL86 tube power for $89.50 wired. Lafayette's house-brand answer to the stereo boom, sold out of a catalog and shipped in a crate.
Overview
The number that mattered in 1959 was 89.50. That's what Lafayette charged for the LA-250, a completely wired and tested 50-watt integrated stereo amplifier, when a stereo setup was still a novelty purchase for most households. The same circuit was available as the KT-250 kit for 64.50 - a $25 saving for anyone willing to solder it themselves, which Lafayette promised required "no special skills or tools." The catalog copy billed the LA-250 as "a completely new stereo high fidelity amplifier with a high quality of reproduction, remarkable versatility and new distinctive styling." The pitch leaned hard on the fact that it arrived complete: deluxe cabinet and legs, all parts, tubes, and a detailed instruction manual, shipping weight 26 lbs.
The power rating gets misquoted, so read it carefully. Lafayette rated the LA-250 at 50 watts monaural and 25 watts per channel in stereo. Same output figure, split differently depending on how the amplifier was configured. That's modest by later standards, but in the tube era it was a respectable figure for an integrated amp at this price, and it drove the speakers of the day without complaint. The output tubes were premium EL86s, a pentode that Lafayette leaned on as a selling point in every catalog appearance the amp made.
The frequency response was quoted at 17-21,000 CPS ±1 dB at normal listening level. That "at normal listening level" qualifier is a real limitation, not a footnote. Twenty-one kilohertz is a fine top end for 1959. Seventeen cycles at the bottom is generous on paper, though how much of that survived at higher output levels is anyone's guess. Harmonic distortion was rated under 0.25 percent, IM distortion under 1 percent, and hum and noise 74 dB below full output. Those were solid numbers for the price, and they made Lafayette's catalog amps credible alternatives to the name brands.
The control set is where the LA-250 shows its era. There's a unique "blend" control for continuously variable channel separation, running from full monaural to full stereo. That was useful in the late fifties, when stereo records were new and some listeners wanted to dial back the separation on early or aggressively panned recordings. Around it sit a 4-position selector, mode, loudness, and phasing switches, plus separate bass and treble controls and a clutch-operated volume control. Speaker outputs cover 4, 8, or 16 ohms, which was the standard flexibility of the day. HiFi-Stereo (July 1961, p.38) noted of the closely related LA-250A that its front panel, while lacking some of the control facilities found on more expensive units, had "the virtue of simplicity." That fits the LA-250's more modest layout as well.
Lafayette didn't sell the LA-250 as a bare component alone. The 1960 catalogs built complete systems around it. The HF-681 stereo phono system paired the LA-250 with a Garrard RC 121/II changer, a wood changer base, a choice of stereo cartridge (GE VR-22, Pickering 371-70, Shure M7D, or Electro-Voice 31 MD7, all 0.7 mil diamond), and a pair of Lafayette SK-58 12-inch coaxial speakers with built-in crossover and brilliance level control, for $174.50 against a claimed regular catalog price of $238.95. Step up to the HF-683 with Eliptoflex bookshelf enclosures and the price rose to $229.95. The HF-682 added the LT-50 stereo tuner for $287.50. These were turnkey stereo packages aimed at the family that wanted to hear stereo without becoming an audiophile first, and the LA-250 was the heart of all three.
The amplifier's reputation in the hobby has an unexpected second life. Decades later, a builder writing in Audio-Express (July 2001, p.57) described trying commercial phono stages for five years before encountering the preamp used in the Lafayette KT-250/LA-250 — and being "amazed" at what he found, calling it a preamp that "sounded fantastic." That's a striking endorsement for a budget catalog amp's phono section, and it's the kind of thing that keeps a $89.50 amplifier relevant to DIYers long after its original buyers moved on. The same writer noted the difficulty of tracing RIAA compensation circuits through the selector switches of integrated amps of this vintage, which is a fair warning to anyone servicing one today: the switching is clever but not always obvious.
Collectors should treat the LA-250 as a period piece with real utility rather than a hidden giant. It's a 1959-1960 catalog amplifier, priced and built to a budget, with a control set that reflects the transition from mono to stereo. The EL86 output tubes are the heart of it, and any example worth buying should be checked for tube condition and for the usual capacitor work that any sixty-plus-year-old amplifier needs. The "blend" control and clutch-operated volume are the details that make it interesting to own, and you won't find them on every amp of the era. At 25 watts per channel it has enough for efficient speaker designs.
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