2. amps-preamps
  3. 1353682627

Affordable SS amp that has tube characteristics

I have been listening to tubes for a few years now but I do run 2 systems and I want one to be a higher powered SS system. I have a bad habit of turning the stereo on and leaveing it on all day and sometimes leaveing the house and not commeing home for hours and leaving the system on.
I listen to a wide array of music from soft female vocals to hard chargeing Rock and Roll. I do more of the mellow stuff though maybe 80% of the time.
My room is not that big,17X19 and my speakers are a little large for the room,Aerial 10T's. They are not going anywhere I love the way they sound and they are one of the few speakers that I have heard that sound just as good at very low volume as they do at higher volumes.
My current set up is an ARC VT 100 MKIII,ARC LS15 ARC CD3 and I use a Sonos for computer audio and PS Audio DLIII.
I also Have an ARC LS25MKII but I think the LS15 sounds better in this set up.
I have been wanting to use a SS amp here just because the time this system is on and in the summer the heat build up is so bad.
I hear class A mosfets is the way to go to get the tube sound but trying to find something affordable that is large enough to drive the Aerials is where the challenge lies. Yes I would love to have a large Pass Labs amp but they are not in the budget and neither is a Krell amp. I have been thinkng about a Belles amp but most are class AB and then I have to wonder if the Belles Ref 150 would be big enough to drive the Aerials or if I would need sometrhing like the ref 350.
Any have any suggestions on an amp that might fit the bill.
coman61

Showing 2 responses by rbrowne

rbrowne
175 posts
 
Nonoise, I coincidentally came across the Clone Audio 25i recently myself. It appears to be a very good value if it sounds like the Gaincard which it is designed to emulate.

I'd love to hear one as I've been using a Gaincard with my Tonian Labs TL-D1's for the past year and like the results. I especially like the fact that the 25i has three inputs and conventional binding posts, lacking in the Gaincard. It looks to be an amp worth trying for the price.
rbrowne
175 posts
 
Nonoise,

I find the Gaincard to be relatively neutral in sonic character and very revealing of differences in recordings, upstream gear and wire with the TL-D1's. It all depends on what you feed it. With my Audio Note AN-Vx silver interconnects from my DAC it tends to be more analytical, but with simple DIY copper interconnects it is bolder and more robust sounding. Coherence, rhythmic flow and dynamics are very good.

After using an Audio Note tube amp for 16 years I'd say the Gaincard falls just a bit short in the areas of dimensionality and that inner glow that tubes do so well.

There have been many gainclone designs, mostly DIY, but I have yet to hear of one sounding the same as the original Gaincard, which was the goal of the 25i designer. If the Clones Audio 25i can emulate the character and the positive qualities of the Gaincard it would be a true bargain. I'd love to try one out.
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