anyone heard the new thor tpa 150 monos?

I heard them at a dealer that had them in on a brief trial basis. They may have not been broken in and the set-up certainly wasn't optimized for the amp. The preamps used were either the Thor or an Audio Note M-8. Source was an Audio Note transport and a DAC-4.

I did not like the sound at all. It had a thin, bleached sound, brittle textures, and a flat soundstage, i.e., the kind of sound I associate with some bad pentode amps. I believe it had EL 34s in it, but it sounded more like a 6550 amp. Think Audio Research kind of sound.

I have no interest in "bashing" Thor products. The original poster asked if anyone head the Thor amps and I responded. The model I heard was a + $20k monoblock that I assumed was the 150. I have no doubt that the amp could sound good in certain systems, it's just surprising to me that it did not work with such warm and forgiving speakers as the Audio Notes.

I should have further qualified my opinion by saying that I am mostly familiar with the sound of very low-powered tube amplifiers. I am generally not a fan of most higher-powered tube amps. That said, I suppose that if someone needs more power, their choice is limited to high power tube amps or solid state.

I currently own two tube amplifiers -- a push pull amp using 45 triodes and an Audio Note Kageki. The Kageki is, in my opinion, one of the best amp for low powered operation. Another favorite amp that I have listened to extensively and really liked is a custom built OTL that is truly frightening (does not even have a coupling cap, and priced way out there).