Amplifiers:A Keeper for Life. Do you know of one ?

Yamaha B-1, the VFET piece de resistance.

My very own 8417 OTL Class A,even a Class A OPT will not come close.

I have heard most of the amplifiers listed here and enjoy the sound of many of them. I have recently had the pleasure of dealing with Tom Tutay. His signature product is the remanufacture of the Altec model 1570 high power 811b tube mono amplifier. I have a pair in my system now and can not imagine putting anything else in my system to replace them. These things are built like tanks and produce a sound in my system that I have long sought. I have owned ARC amplifiers and preamps, orginal Marantz (7c and its companions) Krell and other well known equipment. Just glad I have them.

One's taste may change with life experiences, so there is no one answer for all. However, if you pursue for absolute sonic beauty, you should look into direct heated triode tubes, namely 300B/845/45/2A3 etc.

Those direct heated triode tubes, with exception of 845, are of low power. That require efficient speakers or at least easy to drive speakers.

Most audiophiles do not have horns, it would be worthwhile to look into Sophia Electric's solution for those without efficient speakers:

Sophia Electric 126S tube amplifier with close to 30W x 2 of tube power to drive most speakers above 86dB in the market with magical sound. Earlier, Western Electric had 124 and 142 tube amplifiers for those who can't live with WE 91 amps. Those WE amps are in 35-50K price range, they make Sophia Electric 126S a real bargain.

Those amplifiers available today with great sound, great workmanship and good looks will be tomorrow's collectables. So A keeper for life is a beauty for life, an art for life and a love for life.

Wil

Odyssey Stratos