Been through a lot of SS amps and I keep coming back to those that are biased deep into class A. I've heard some very good low bias class A/B amps of recent vintage, some of which are excellent deals (like the Citation 7.1), but the class A amps all seem to share certain fundamental traits that involve me much more readily in the music(...other than acting as space heaters, which, in my basement listening room, they are quite good at):
1. A certain ease of presentation.
2. A coherent quality
3. Tactile midrange, especially with female vocals.
4. Truth of timbre
5. Dynamic agility, sneaky fast. They just seem more real with all the small dynamic, ebb and flow stuff you hear in live music. To me, this is their most arresting quality, which they retain even at low listening levels.
Amps which do it for me :
Forte 1a & 4a
Monarchy SE-100 & SM-70
Most Llano amps
Reference Line Silver Signature (my all time favorite SS amp, has all the qualities above in spades. Makes most other amps, tubes included, sound a bit mechanical).
Just my experience.
1. A certain ease of presentation.
2. A coherent quality
3. Tactile midrange, especially with female vocals.
4. Truth of timbre
5. Dynamic agility, sneaky fast. They just seem more real with all the small dynamic, ebb and flow stuff you hear in live music. To me, this is their most arresting quality, which they retain even at low listening levels.
Amps which do it for me :
Forte 1a & 4a
Monarchy SE-100 & SM-70
Most Llano amps
Reference Line Silver Signature (my all time favorite SS amp, has all the qualities above in spades. Makes most other amps, tubes included, sound a bit mechanical).
Just my experience.