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Demo'ing Class A amps, Appreciation Suggestions from those who recently been there

I recently sold my Cary S120MKll Amp in 2 days. It was 60wpc triode.
Filling in with Pass Lab, baby DIY Class A Mono blocks. Maxing at 7 wpc.
My speakers are rated 94 Sensitivity older FSMs by Tannoy.

I have sampled so far in order of preference:

-Pass Labs XA25 -Disneyland color the way I like it. $4,900 new
-Leben 300 Int. 12 wpc. EL 84s by Golden Lion-Like an Upscale call girl. Seductive. $4,000 new-Not in the running-

-Lejonklou Boazu Int.-40wpc S.S. Class a/b-Totally Pure. Almost hurts to hear a guitar slide. $4,000 new
-Sugden Masterclass IA 4 Class A to 33wpc. Very smooth but surprisingly not a great match with my Tannoys. $6,000?

What else would you think might be worth a listen?
I want to go Solid State this time. I enjoy the Class A resolution.
Yes the Leben is an outlier someone offered and I said "Sure"! Done with hum otherwise.


I listen from a low of 60 db to high of 75 db.
Room is irregular and medium sized in terms of cubic
feet. Treated as needed.

I want an amp that is satisfying enough to keep for the long run.
Someday I may add the others for a different sound or with less efficient planars, etc.

Price range $5k max.
Used preferred.
Willing to wait.

Brands I am have not heard but read positive comments about:
Ayre, Naim, Linn

Thank you all in advance for your thoughts.
Please do not feel compelled to respond if you
have not been here in the last few years.





chorus

Showing 7 responses by atmasphere

atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
11,615 posts
 
You can PM me or call me, since we are considered 'critical industry' by Minnesota. atma-sphere.com
atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
11,615 posts
 
What about the XA25
I can't tell from stuff online. A call to Pass would sort that out though.
atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
11,615 posts
 
Atmo- I read your comments about a tweeter's Unbearable Harshness of SS and hope you are somehow unaware of a cure. Cables?
@chorus I suspect you have a typo here.

The brightness is caused by distortion and because its in the amp, probably not something you can get rid of with an equalizer. It might be possible to use a ZOBEL network on the speaker itself, targeting the band of brightness, but since its caused by distortion the band is a bit of a moving target depending on the music and how loud its being played.


IMO you're best off going with an amplifier that doesn't exhibit brightness to start with! In the solid state world, that's a really tall order; a really short list. Since your speakers are easy to drive if I had to go with solid state I would be looking at an amplifier that runs no feedback such as Ayre or First Watt. If not available or rejected for some reason, a zero feedback class D amp is worth looking at too.
atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
11,615 posts
 
I like the extra dynamics and bass of the SS Pass but it does burn
a little bit on the top end over time. I adjusted my Tannoy treble settings
downward to help this.
@chorus I missed this earlier; the reason SS is bright is due to distortion. Its not very much, but the ear is keenly sensitive to this type of distortion (higher ordered harmonics) and perceives them as brightness and harshness. For this reason you may find that while you can tone it down a little by simply turning down the tweeter, you can't actually get rid of it entirely since its not due to a frequency response error.



atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
11,615 posts
 
Well, if that the direction you want to go in, SS will be faster and have better dynamics and more control over the music
I'm not ever sure that's the case either. I know of tube amps that are faster than most solid state amps. 'Dynamics' is often a word used to describe distortion, since so often the distortion is most apparent on transients. The ear uses higher ordered harmonics to sense sound pressure, so if that distortion is mostly on the transients (even in small amounts) the reproduction will seem to be more 'dynamic'.

But actual dynamic contrast is a function of the software/media, not the amp!
atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
11,615 posts
 
Well I think you will still have the mini blast furnace affect with the class A XA25.

That's the thing about class A. People have often commented about the heat they think our amps make, but compared to a true class A solid state amp of the same power, the heat is almost identical. The class of operation makes far more difference than whether the amp is tube or solid state!

But, if you want linearity in the output section, class A is the way to go no ifs ands or buts. High end audio is all about getting the recording to play back as if the music is *real*; hence class A amplifiers.
atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
11,615 posts
 
That speaker is very tube friendly. We have a good number of Tannoy customers using our M-60s (60 watts class A) with them.
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