I know you said you want solid state, but given the sound qualities you’re looking for I immediately thought of a hybrid integrated amp and specifically the Unison Unico Due. It’s only got a couple small tubes in the preamp section and is very low maintenance, and the amp section is high biased to provide some Class A-like sound qualities that I thought you’d also like as the Pass amp seemed to really appeal to you. And obviously you have the opportunity to swap tubes to dial in the sound best to your liking. It’s got plenty of power (100+100W RMS into 8 Ohms, 180+180W RMS into 4 Ohms, 290W+290W RMS into 2 Ohms) and at about 35 lbs. it comes in under your weight requirement. It’s available from places like Sound Approach and The Music Room who offer a return policy if it doesn’t work out for some reason, which is nice and while not free is certainly a nice option to have. Just another option to ponder FWIW, and best of luck in your search.
https://soundapproach.com/unison-research-unico-due-class-a-dynamic-integrated-amplifier.html
Electronics for Harbeths -- $5-10K
I've been looking for an amp/preamp or integrated to pair with my mid-sized Harbeth speakers (86dB sensitivity, minimum 6ohm impedance, ~50Hz crossover to a powered sub).
I've dug deep into Pass Labs, ARC, Levinson, HiFi Rose, PrimaLuna, Ayre, MF's Nu-Vista line, Hegel, etc. -- the usual suspects. But I haven't found a perfect fit, b/c I have a few constraining requirements:
- weight not much over 40 pounds
- an HT Bypass input and at least 2 line-level outputs (for powered sub & headphone amp); no digital inputs required
- I love well-designed tube gear, but in this case, I'm restricted to SS
In terms of sound -- the most important factor, of course -- I rarely't exceed moderate listening levels in a smallish room (10 ft to seating position). I do, however, enjoy a large, three-dimensional presentation & uncompressed dynamics, and sonics more like the sweet, tubelike house sound of ARC & Pass than the "analytic" superdetailed sound of Luxman or Levinson (both outstanding companies, but just not the right fit in this case). One motivator is that after recently switching to more revealing Analysis Plus Silver Apex cables, I find I can no longer stand the sound of my last-gen Class D amps.
A Pass Labs XA25 amp + SP-12 pre combo comes pretty close, but doesn't have quite enough power. MF's new NuVista 800.2 would be perfect if it didn't weigh nearly 90 pounds.
Then there's Ayre's new VX-8 amp, or EX-8 integrated, sound great on paper, but which I know almost nothing about, aside from specs & a Stereophile review. Anybody own one of these?
I have no opportunity to demo any of this gear live -- disabled & don't get out much -- but if anybody would like to recount their first-hand experience finding a soulmate for Harbeth speakers, I'll be listening.