Best Tube Amp under 10K?


Having every audio dealer in town recommend their line as "the best unless you want to spend $25K" and buy a ..." is frustrating. Well, like most of us, I can't spend $25K on amps ... but I am curious to know what others consider their "final" amp upgrade under $10K. My listening tastes are wide ranging but will mostly include SACD jazz and classical. I do not have a turntable ... yet. And I ususally play at low to moderate volumes only (the wife factor)-- speakers are reasonably efficient 91DB KEF Ref 4's that I hope to upgrade.
lornecherry

Showing 1 response by ed_sawyer

I listened to the MC2000, didnt' really care for it all that much. Retail on it is $15k btw, though they have been sold here for $8500 on occasion. A decent enough amp, but not worth 15k. I didnt' care much for the bottom end, it sounded flabby, loose, and overly warm, with little bass or control. this was on Watt/Puppy VI combo.

the Conrad Johnson premier 5 monoblocks (~$3-4k/pair used) I thought were much better than the MC2000, and a whole lot cheaper too.

YMMV,
-Ed