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Ayon Triton- Anyone compared to high end seperates

I have been an audiophile for over 35 years having owned Jadis, Audio Research, Audio Note, Goldmund and way to many to name here. I have been on a quest to find nirvana without busting the household budget. I have been contemplating the Ayon Triton integrated amp and was wondering if anyone has had any experience comparing it to separates.

Consumer feedback on the Ayon gear is very encouraging but does not delve into this question.

I was contemplating used ARC VT-100 MkII etc etc.

I am not interested in your alternate choices for integrated gear, nor lectures about why separates should be better. Only real firsthand experience with my question although any from Ayon line compared to others will be great as well.

Thanks in advance
jcaudio

Showing 2 responses by larryi

larryi
4,252 posts
 
I heard the triton in a home setup with speakers I did not know very well (sorry, I can't recall the make). The setup sounded very good. When it comes to tube sound, I generally prefer low-powered triode amplification, particularly single-ended amps (SET), so I was pleasantly surprised at the sound from this integrated amp. It did not deliver the natural sounding initial attack of the note and long decay that is comparable to that from well designed SETs, but it was much closer than most high-powered pentode amps. It was also lively sounding and engaging. For the money, it sounded very good.

I can't really think of any combination of other components that I would recommend over the Triton, assuming that one really needs that kind of power. Perhaps, an inexpensive linestage and an Output Transformerless (OTL)amp would be in the running, but, one that can put out 100 watts would be expensive and would run REALLY hot. I like OTL amps when more power than 20 watts is needed.
larryi
4,252 posts
 
Jcaudio,

I can understand not wanting to be severely limited in choice of speakers. There are very few high efficiency speakers that I really like myself.

However, unless someone has a really big room, plays at really high volume, and/or this bass response/control is the be-all-and-end-all of high quality sound, most speakers really don't need to be fed by 100 watts. If that kind of power is really "needed," within reasonable budget constraints, good solid state might actually be the choice; delivering power is the forte of solid state. A lot of high powered tube amps sound quite brittle and unnatural to me; often far more "solid state" than an equivalently priced solid state alternative.

If something around 50 watts or so would work for you, perhaps you could find a SET amp that uses high-powered triode tubes like the 811 or 845. A friend had a Wyetech amp with 811 tubes that sounded pretty good.

Still, while I have limited experience with the Ayon, it delivered the goods and is probably a good bet.
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