300w tube amp monos - which one?


There are several highly regarded tube amp manufacturers, and pricing is comparable:

Audio research, vac, mcintosh, Conrad Johnson, etc

Basically, each mono uses either 8 kt88, or 4 kt150 tubes.

How does one decide which one to pick? Any recommendations or experience comparing these amps?

 

 

emergingsoul

Showing 1 response by larryi

What are you looking for in an amp?  I have not heard any extremely high powered tube amp that I would want.  If I needed such extreme amounts of power, I would look at solid state.  Most of the high powered tube amps have a "brittle" sound, to me, and are somewhat harsh sounding.  High powered solid state sounds less harsh; the downside being a kind of lifeless and unengaging sound unless the volume is pumped up a bit.

I don't know of many speakers that I like that benefit from this kind of power.  Most of the stuff I like can be reasonably powered with 40 watts or so, and there are 40-100 watt tube amps that sound pretty good.