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Choosing a Solid State Class A/B integrated amp

I have been committed to Integrated amps for over 10 years and have had a few, mainly Class a tube amps. I love what tubes, SET amps in particular, have to offer. The speed , mid range clarity and neutrality, can be pretty addictive. I have 2 integrated amps I use at the moment,both excellent, an Ayon Spark 20 watt SET and 50 watt hybrid Class A Pathos Inpol2.

The rest of the system is:
Mac Mini into an Ayre QB9 DAC for digital
TW Accustic Raven one/Ortofon 309D arm/Benz Micro LP cartridge
Daedalus DA-RMA speakers

Music choice is pretty eclectic, classical,Jazz,blues, singer Songwriter, not much rock, as such.

The system is great, but I know Lou at Daedalus likes higher ouput amps, particularly Modwright, despite his speakers being high sensitivity, so I would like to swap one of my amps for a higher output SS, or tube unit. .

My only exposure to a Class A/B SS integrated, was not a success. I tried the Karan K180 integrated and found it dull, slow and lifeless in my system, despite it's good reputation. Likewise, I have'nt often enjoyed the higher output push/pull tube units I have heard.

Any suggestions then for an integrated amp under $10000 new, though I would probably buy it cheaper, second hand. My ideal would be a Dartzeel H8550, which I have loved, every time I have heard it, but it's too expensive for me, even second hand. The new Modwright K200, is an obvious candidate. The reviews say is it is on the warm side of neutral, which I would like, but I have'nt heard it.

Give me some suggestions guys, thanks
david12

Showing 6 responses by charles1dad

charles1dad's avatar
charles1dad
10,250 posts
 
David 12,
The Pass 150 falls into your range.Those qualities of your current amplifierS are rare in other amplifier types.Lou`s taste may not be the same as yours by the way.You could likely have the best combo now and it might be very difficult to improve(trade off considerations) what you have. You can get different sound yes,better? time will tell.I heard the Modwright K 200 with the Daedalus at RMAF last year. The sound was just ok but I thought these speaker`s sound was much better when I heard them with good tube amps(Doshi) at the same show.There`s no harm in trying SS amps, obviously your opinion could differ from mine.
Regards,
charles1dad's avatar
charles1dad
10,250 posts
 
Csontos,
David12 is right,SET and other tube amps can be quite fast with excellent pace,timing and transients.Good design,power supplies and parts will enable those qualities. There are veiled,fuzzy,slow and muddy tubes amps of lesser quality also. The same spectrum exists for solid state, some are much better than others.

My SET is as david12 describes,fast,open,very transparent and clear.The better built ones will deliver that with no problems(with the proper speaker)yet remain very organic and realistic.David12 just has a well designed and built SET amplifier.
Regards,
charles1dad's avatar
charles1dad
10,250 posts
 
Agree with Unsound, the Pass 30 watt(class A) amplifier has more juice and drive ability than some people recognize. It has considerable reserve.
Regards,
charles1dad's avatar
charles1dad
10,250 posts
 
David12 wrote "with impedance dropping to 2 or 3 ohms"
It seems this particular speaker was designed and meant to be driven by solid state amplifiers.It would`nt surprise me if the phase angles are a bit high(not ideal for tube amps either).
Regards,
charles1dad's avatar
charles1dad
10,250 posts
 
Frogman,
Well said.
I primarily listen to jazz, both large and smaller scale.
Most of those CDs will have volume swings(spl meter)of 25 to 30 db, there`s much ebb and flow.

It`s rare to find pop and rock recordings anywhere close to this sort of range of swinging db levels. By the way my SET amplifier frequently provides 'startle momments' a sign of dynamic agility, speed and transients.

Jdoris, for the 88db 2-3 ohm speaker(stand mount) David12 mentioned,the 200 watt BMC would likely be the better amp. The Daedalus( floorstander higher sensitivity model) however sounded better with tubes than the Modwright when I heard them last year IMO.
Regards,
charles1dad's avatar
charles1dad
10,250 posts
 
Metralla,,
Yes, there are some exceptions for sure but not near the number compared to classical and jazz genres. That`s why I wrote rare as opposed to never.
Regards,
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