Considering A SS amplifier

@fastfreightI am on board with you regarding the pre and the DAC. The DAC did not work well for me at all, and I preferred my trusty old Audio Magic DAC to it with redbook by a country mile. Funny thing is I have yet to find a meaningful replacement for it, as it sounds mighty good with redbook. I would like to explore other formats, however, it has to sound good with plain old CDs because many of the artists I like are independents who release their own music and they are only going to be on plain old cd's. 

Now the pre-amp could have drove me to drink, and it sure did cost me a lot of money in trying to find a tube that would allow me to like it. This is what I hate about tube audio, finding what really works well in a component, and knowing what the sound is really supposed to be like. Heck I was a tube guy from when I got my first Dynaco ST 70 at age 19,, to when I got these JBL and found out they are not SET amplification compatible. Even though they spec like they should be. 

The amplifier seems to be the best choice out of the product line. With a set of Siemens 6922 gold pin in it I get nice sound. The questions is can it be better? To be honest the most engaging, not necessarily the most refined, sound I have gotten from it was with a Musical Fidelity Nuvista M3 integrated amp. I should have kept that one. But I sold it to a good friend, and I got it at a steal of a price, and he has financial constraints so I was able to set him up with good sound. I found a killer killer deal for him on a Musical Fidelity Tri-Vista DAC also. Then we lucked into a score of a lifetime on a pair of Vandersteen 3A and upgraded over his 2CE. 

OK back on track. I did have a H2O Audio 250 Signature here, and its a nice Class D amp, but the BHK is more natural sounding. If I tried Class D again I hear good things being said about the JRDG ones. To be honest I have an initial acceptance for the sale of a pair of AVM Essential mono-block amps from a guy on an audio group I know. But shipping is from the other side of the country, he had a deal go bad on a previous sale, so he is somewhat reluctant to do this again. He says give him a couple of weeks to get up the ambition to pack them. So I am waiting. Not much info out there on AVM amps, especially these, but I find that the presentation of much of the German gear I hear seems to align with what these JBL would work with. Its a calculated risk. But under $2K for a $10K pair of amps that are about 10 years old and in excellent shape seems like a good gamble. 

Audio is an adventure! Its interesting to see where the trails lead. 

@Ace17

Sure I will give it a shot. I will send a PM. 

Actually I have a First Watt F7 that I am not sure if I tried it with the Halcro. I think I will put that together this afternoon to see what it does. 

So far I have used it with the matching BHK Signature pre amp, along with one from Edge, and a passive from Placette Audio. So far I prefer tbe Halcro. Also ran a dozen tube chouces through it and the Telwfunken work best. Cables from Wireworld, Tara Labs, VH Audio, and  Analysis Plus Silver Apex work the best. Power cords from PI Audio Group, Wireworld, Analysis Plus. PS Audio, and ZU Audio. 

The amp sounds good, but just too soft around the edges foe me. 

@millercarbon

I have owned plenty of tube amps and pre amps over my 30÷ years in this hobby. Spent a decade enjoying SET based systems. I find tubes no longer speak ro me in terms of how I enjoy music. My preference. Of course speakers define what amplification is going to be the best choice. Currently use a pair of JBL 4365.

@decooney 

The only other consideration I got is speaker wire. Use Wireworld Eclipse Series 8. But need an 8 meter run so thats not a cheap test as I cannot find a run of that length on the used market
 

OK equipment rack is on the long wall, its a Salamander Geneva credenza, weighs about 130 pounds itself, and is needed to hold three turntables on top. Speakers are on the short wall, and they are JBL 4375, weigh about 190 pounds each. There is a fireplace between them, they are pulled out about 6 feet from the front wall. 

With the fireplace there its not possible to fit the amp between the speakers as its a stereo amp. Then that means a long run of interconnects, and even though I can do balanced it, I seem to recall that long speaker wire is more preferable than long interconnect runs. Now the AVM Essential are mono bock amps, so they could be located near speakers, but then you are talking an 8 meter run of interconnects. 

There is no way to move the component rack between speakers to shorten speaker wire runs. 

At one time I did use a Musical Fidelity NuVista M3 with these speakers, and they were quite lively on the top end. I was aiming for more refinement, but this is just too laid back. That was with the same cabling and speaker wire in place. MMM perhaps I did have the VH Audio interconnects in there, I might try blending some of those in on source components. 

I have experimented with the outdoor wire a long time back, I found it to be nasty sounding stuff. You would have to drag me back there to have to listen to it again. 

Oh and yes, the Eclipse 8 is a bi-wire arrangement. 

I am going to have to do some more listening with mixing in some VH Audio cabling. This would be a big move, and shouldn't be done as a knee jerk reaction. 

So I have the F7 hooked up for about 3 hours now. Its starting to warm up and settle in. The top end is where the majority of the difference is, just more nuanced and delicate. The edges of notes arent rounded off, has a more honest feel to the music. With the JBL this is a better sound. I got some Maggie 1.6QR with Skiing Ninja xovers which are better suited for the BHK. Horses for courses thing it seems.

Cabling is the bane of my existence! Last night I took the time to reinstall the VH Audio Spectrum CU interconnects within the system, and results were positive. This morning I reinstalled the Siemens 6922 pre driver tubes, as the Spectrum are a more forward and vibrant interconnect, and from what I hear the Telefunken can be a bit lean. 

So I spent a bit of time listening this morning, and this is a better balance. I have a love/hate relationship with wiring in that I hear what it does and it makes contributions at the finest level can separate the sound from being merely good to excellent. Yet I have a hard time coming to grips with the prices of this stuff, and its not like I got cheap audio gear. Couple that with the reaction any specific wire has within a system is difficult to predict, so it always feels like you are walking blind. There are times these Spectrum cables are so forward that I can't use them in a system, and I have an on and off relationship with them. I have been trying to move past them for what maybe 10 years now? Yet they stay relevant, seem a bit modestly priced, but somehow I always build systems where they work in. Go figure, audio is weird. 

I think I am going to start a conversation with the fellow with the AVM amps as they intrigue me. But right now I can enjoy this amp, it works in this system it seems. Its a crazy hobby isn't it.