wow, rough crowd here sometimes.
@OP: Old amps can benefit from some refurb work, and while you want to be choosy about how far you want to go in replacing components, you can get a big lift in sonic quality or operational dependability if you fix up the right stuff. Here is a link that might help you:

9440 literature

I've not used the 9440, but I've read about it on some of the diy amp sites I visit... it is well-respected by many. Just do some searching around and you can find some help from people who have refurb'd these and put them to work in home hi-fi applications. And let us know how it works out for you. I'd like to hear one sometime.