Tim,
I have had the S-30 for a year now. Initially I used it with Meadowlark Shearwater HR's with great success. I moved up to Coincident Victories which are an easy load with tubes.
With sensitive speakers, the S-30 has to be the greatest bargain in this hobby. Excellent bass, amazing transparency and runs much cooler than the other Atma-Sphere amps(fewer tubes).
With NOS tubes (6 good 6SN7's) which are abundant out there, the amp moves to a whole new level. The Chinese tubes are pretty good but a few hundred bucks invested in NOS is very worthwhile.
I haven't heard an amp, tube or solid state under 6 grand (except for the M-60's) that pleases me the way the S-30 does. Definitely worth a try.
Cheers,
Chris
I have had the S-30 for a year now. Initially I used it with Meadowlark Shearwater HR's with great success. I moved up to Coincident Victories which are an easy load with tubes.
With sensitive speakers, the S-30 has to be the greatest bargain in this hobby. Excellent bass, amazing transparency and runs much cooler than the other Atma-Sphere amps(fewer tubes).
With NOS tubes (6 good 6SN7's) which are abundant out there, the amp moves to a whole new level. The Chinese tubes are pretty good but a few hundred bucks invested in NOS is very worthwhile.
I haven't heard an amp, tube or solid state under 6 grand (except for the M-60's) that pleases me the way the S-30 does. Definitely worth a try.
Cheers,
Chris