I have owned a few Counterpoint products over the years and none were unreliable at all. Originally, I used them to feed Apogee speakers with Theta source material. I actually still have a couple stored (an SA100 and an SA220). Compared to SS of the time, I found them quite musical and reasonably priced. With good synergy, you could get pretty enjoyable sound.
I recently hooked each of my remaining two Counterpoint amps (in succession) up to a pair of Avalon Opus Speakers and a pair of Kharma Ceramique 2 speakers with Levinson digital source and was disappointed with the performance. Both were still musical, but compared to a number of amps I either own or have recently auditioned, there were a number of problems. My complaints were with what I must guess is an excessive "mosfet mist" - worse in the 220 than in the 100. The soundstage was wide and deep, but definition of individual instruments was not as precise as in many current amps, and air around voices and instruments was lacking.
The hybrid approach can be found in a number of current production amps - some wonderful (Lamm), some disappointing IMHO (AR), and others I have heard great things about but haven't auditioned (Llano).
If you have tough to drive speakers but love tubes, a hybrid may be a good choice - or a tube pre with a ss amp. I am considering the latter now or a really big tube amp.
Hope that helps...
Jacob
I recently hooked each of my remaining two Counterpoint amps (in succession) up to a pair of Avalon Opus Speakers and a pair of Kharma Ceramique 2 speakers with Levinson digital source and was disappointed with the performance. Both were still musical, but compared to a number of amps I either own or have recently auditioned, there were a number of problems. My complaints were with what I must guess is an excessive "mosfet mist" - worse in the 220 than in the 100. The soundstage was wide and deep, but definition of individual instruments was not as precise as in many current amps, and air around voices and instruments was lacking.
The hybrid approach can be found in a number of current production amps - some wonderful (Lamm), some disappointing IMHO (AR), and others I have heard great things about but haven't auditioned (Llano).
If you have tough to drive speakers but love tubes, a hybrid may be a good choice - or a tube pre with a ss amp. I am considering the latter now or a really big tube amp.
Hope that helps...
Jacob