I've tried numerous lower priced tube amps such as Golden Tube Audio, Dynaco, Jolida, and Cary Rocket 88. All were pretty good, but each has faults, as can be expected at these price levels. I also have several years listening experience with various Adcom amps, mostly the 555. I think that the overall best bang for the buck comes from McCormack. I owned th DNA .5 Dlx for about a year, and then bought a DNA 1.0 Dlx which I used for about 11 years. Outstanding products IMO. I am currently using a Wyred 4 Sound ST-500, which sounds great, but I've only had it a week so I need more time with it. Happy listening! |
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Anybody listed all the amps to keep for life? |
My Manley Neo-Classic SE/PP 300b amplifiers, they love me back. |
My Coincident Frankensteins II definitely! |
I would rate the Boulder 1060 as one such amp. It has an exceptional circuit design. The 1060 is a true differentially balanced, direct coupled, dual mono, class a/b amplifier operating in push pull. Although class a/b, Boulder have achieved very linear operation. The design and specifications of the 1060 are just astonishing. Virtually every component of the amp is designed and manufactured in-house (Including the cad-designed cnc machined/hand-finished chassis), whilst those that are not are custom-made to BoulderÂ’s specifications. Nothing is off the shelf. The 1060 features twin potted 1.5kva transformers, bridge rectification, 48 filter capacitors (24 per channel), 56 bipolar output devices & BoulderÂ’s proprietary 983 gain stages. Protection circuitry is also reassuringly robust. Boulder guarantee 300 watts continuous power into any load, but the 1060 feels more powerful than that and one suspects that figure is conservative. The sound of the 1060 is very transparent, organic & resolved, with excellent low level detail, drive & authority. Ever driven an AMG Mercedes? I could quite happily live with the Boulder as my "amp for life". |
any amplifier that Built by Nori Komuro |
Well it really matters on what matches your speakers that you keep for life ;) however I do liket he quicksilver v4's I have ahd them forever and trouble free and sound and look great. |
This sounds for all the world like a teaser question to simply allow us to all sound off on our biases and preferences! But of course! Not asking which amp measured the best, but worthy of keeping for life based on audio pleasure, which is completely biased and preference based. Thought that was a given. |
This sounds for all the world like a teaser question to simply allow us to all sound off on our biases and preferences! |
I would probably agree with TVAD but add a VOX AC30 and a Fender Deluxe Reverb. Presently I am using a Bryston 4B SST Squared which I don't see changing anytime too soon. |
A YAMAHA B2 AND B2X AMP. BOTH OF THESE DUAL MONO CLASS A/B AMPS HAVE SERVED ME WELL FOR OVER TWENTY YEARS RUNNING VERY HARD TO DRIVE MAGNEPAN TYMPANI LOUDSPEAKERS. THE B2X IS REALLY CLEAN AND WAS BUILT FOR A VERY BRIEF PERIOD OF TIME DUE THE YEN SPIKE FROM 250 TO 150 TO THE DOLLAR IN 1985. IT RETAILED FOR 1500. THE B 2 IS THE SMALLER V FET AMP AND THE B2X IS CONVENTIONAL DESIGN THOUGH THEY STATE THAT IT TECHNICALLY STAYS IN CLASS A ALL THE TIME...IT DOES GET REALLY...REALLY HOT. |
I will never sell my Krell KSA-250. Love it |
Bob Carver new 180's are keepers. |
i bought a yaqin mc100b amp secondhand off ebay. the chinese tubes needed replacing. they were pretty worn. i`m currently using 2 x grant fidelity matched psvane 12ax7t`s, 2 x brimar 6sn7gty/cv1988`s, 2 x sylvania 6sn7gtb`s and 4 x electro harmonix kt88eh`s.
this is my very 1st tube amp and my last. i love the look of this amp but much more importantly i love the sound. i never knew music could sound this good and the soundstage and imaging are nothing short of mindblowing and it has responded so well to tube rolling! i just love this amp and i`ll never sell it.
i know it`s a pretty cheap amp and i know there are many much much more expensive amps and it does make me wonder how much i`d have to lay out to better the sound. but this is more than good enough for me! |
Pass Aleph 3. It's something everyone must be compared to |
Anthem Statement P2 and P5 - stable driving the hardest loads. 500 WPC into 4ohms driving my Revel Salons. Transparent, neutral and never run out of power. Keeps an iron grip on a 7 driver - 480 lb beast of a speaker pair. I used them to run my dedicated HT as well as my 2 CH rig. Anthem is often underrated vs. flashier names, but its engineering capability is world class. |
with reasonably efficient speakers (90+), I say pretty much any Shindo Labs amp. |
For hi-efficiency speakers (over 94 DB) and after listening to 45 amps. I would like to highly recommend the Border Patrol S10EXD 300B amp. with Gary Dews as the guru behind this awesome amplifier. |
Atma-Sphere MA-2. Ralph Karsten is an outstanding, designer, manufacturer and human being. His amplifier and preamplifier designs are superb, and he's constantly finding new ways to improve the results he gets. Every improvement he creates can be implemented as an upgrade to any prior model, and with an upgrade to current factory spec comes a full new warranty. There are not many manufacturers out there taking care of their owners as are Ralph and Atma-Sphere.
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In retrospect, I wish I had kept the (4) Onkyo M-508 amps i began my home theater with. I've had several since, none compete for me. Price tag is definitely a concern, where can a reasonable line be drawnI |
Esoteric A100. Sounds wonderful. I have been using the A100 to drive from a digital source (SS Mini --> Weiss DAC 202 --> Esoteric A100 ---> Wilson Watt/pups). It is very musical. It has met and exceeded my expectation. For now, I am not looking to change. |
Good for you Johnnyb53, newer and more expensive isn't necessarily better..:). It's all individual. Heathkit, Dynaco and Hafler all need a comeback. |
Earthquake Cinenova Grande. It's a sleeper. I've had many amps driving my VMPS RM 40's and the Cinenova wins. |
Musical Design's t 100 Hybrid Elite amp by John Hillig. I was turned on to JH designs by a dealer on Audiogon from the midwest. I have tried them against some regulars on the forum. I find them to be very satisfying. His components are simply 'real sounding' and Ultimately satisfying. I am of course looking for 'a touch more satisfaction more'. Please understand, I am 53, and I want the possible best from the practical before I am have to stop spending. Thanks. |
They are HPD 15s, deigned in SS age for 60 watt ss amps, believe it or not they sound great with a TACT 2150.
The leben is driving the big coincident tyechnology (?total victory?) |
Fstein, are you using the Leben with your Tannoys? Nice match if so? |
My Leben CS 300 EL 84 tube integratedamp. Started out with EL 84 amp in 1963, if I had stayed pat I would have saved myself a lot of time and money. |
I bought a Hafler 9180 new in 1995. 105W @ 8 ohms and 150W @ 4. I drive Thiel CS 2's. The Hafler IS musical thoughout the range from bass to hi's. Never had one problem with the unit. Sad that Hafler's are no longer made. Rockford Corp., the owner of Hafler has no intention of re-starting the line. I asked. Really too bad. There are many power amps under mega buck prices which are keepers. |
Berning EA-230 has been a keeper for my Quad esl 57's. I plan to have Quads Unlimited refresh the 57's next year so I plan to keep the system as is for a long time. The ZH-230 may be better but not for the asking price. |
You'll think I'm crazy but for me it's a 1981 Heathkit AA-1600. It's an A/B, rated at 120 wpc but probably 180 (it weighs over 40 lbs) and it's simply unbelievable. I picked this thing up in the used section of a local audio store. It's 30 years old and its performance reminds me (strongly) of the Jeff Rowland Design Group amps of the early '90s.
It's dead quiet, dead neutral, and reasonably fast (linear out to at least 150KHz). So far it has never betrayed me for resolution, inner detail, tonal balance, musicality, pace, noiselessness, reliability, or you name it. I know Heath has a great reputation and history, but I have no idea why a 1981 power amp would be so *right*. |
Shake777...........................
You should not be embarassed having Emotiva products. They offer a lot of bang for the buck and a nice system can easily be built with their electronics. I myself own an Emotiva XDA-1 D/A converter which I use in conjunction with a Musical Fidelity usb/spdif converter. The Emotiva is highly revealing and musical. One of the best buys in all of high end audio. |
My five Emotiva XPA-1 which give a potential headroom of five kilowatts. I know it's a bit of slight of hand, but with the eleven band graphic equalizers in the UMC-1 and my poormans budget it pushes my Palladium, 27, 37, and 38 beautifully. The range of sonic adjustment is extraordinary and the amps can push it almost anywhere you want to go. I know many of you will think the X has no place in this discussion. I can't say it's a giant killer. I say its in the ballpark. Nic |
CAT JL-2 signature. I admit I've thought of selling it - heavy, hot, fussy about tubes and uses lots of them, but. . . I bought it used (an earlier JL-2), had no problems for over 3 years, then a bad tube sent it back to factory for repair. I took a deep breath and had it upgraded to MK2 signature. While it was gone I had several loaner SS amps (Krell, Odyssey, Classe) and eventually bought a used one Classe CA2200. It is a very nice amp and I thought I might even be happy with it and sell the tubes until the CAT came back and I listened to it for about 10 minutes. It's not even close. I don't doubt an OTL would be wonderful, but am running modified Apogee Diva's. Never is a long time and finances may at some point dictate a sale, but I'm hoping that day doesn't come.
mbhintz |
I have to agree with all pf the OTL recommendations (Atma-sphere, Joule Electric, etc.)
I have a Graaf GM200 that I intend to take with me to my grave and have two replacement sets of the PL504 output tubes (64 in total) stored that I will need to get me there... A truly special amp! |
Earthquake Cinénova Grande 7 |
Yes, the last one that I said I would never sell. Maybe my current amp! |
Yamaha MX-2000, sounding piece. |
I can't afford the many tube amps, preamps and including solid state or FET amps the fortunate members here have and I ENVY all of you for having awesome amps and preamps. I'm happy to have my CARVER/SUNFIRE AMPS since I am a carver fan. My future plan is to get more tube amps that I would hang on for life. I am currently happy with my paxthon integrated tube amp which matches well with my ess heil 1d loudspeaker and grant fidelity cd 427 tube player. I agree with the tube people. I didn't know how clean tubes are till I bought me one. |
Rogue Audio Cronus Magnum with NOS signal tubes. It leaves nothing to be desired in my den. |
Conrad Johnson Premier 350. AMAZING amplifier. Detail/soundstage is incredible, tones are natural/lifelike, and power on tap is very impressive. I never imagined that such detail and soundstage was present in my music. Sound is not too warm, not too cold and sterile. I struggle for any other adjectives than it sounds lifelike. Whatever information is on the recording will be extracted in lifelike/natural tone, detail, and soundstage. It will drive any speaker you can throw at it. Every time I press play, I marvel at how transformative this amp has been to my system.
After a 10-year journey, I'm done (as far as amplifiers go). I love this amp. |
Have to agree...the Sanders Magtech is hard to beat. Great value on the dollar. You will have to spend many times more to better the Magtech. Roger Sanders stands behind his products 100 percent. He offers the best customer service in the industry. He offers a free 30 day home trial period and pays for shipping back and forth. I tried it and it was a keeper for sure. |
Definitely the Parasound JC1 monoblocks. I'll buy them all over again if I have to. |
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Hi,
My Accuphase C-280V from 1990.Very musical refined sound.
Enormus flexibility as controlecenter in my high end rigg.
Labo |
Yes; Cary 500 MB. These babies do 500 watts into 8 ohms and double-down to 1000 watts into a 4 ohm load (such as my Magnepan 3.6's) with plenty of current, they can drive any speaker. Softer and more refined than the Pass A/B designs (a lot less expensive too), they are the closet thing to really good tube amps that I have found in a solid state design. Very highly recommended! I won't be selling mine anytime soon...probably never... |
Joule Electra Grand Marquis 160s. |
My Quicksilver V4's in my present system. They may not be perfect for everyone but for me they are |
I absolutely love my Pass Labs XA-160 mono blocks. They have mated well with all speakers I have used them with, including some of my own design while the speakers still were "works in progress." |
Can't forget the Fisher Price MB592069452 Mk. IX Version 68206835069ABCD with the watergates. |
