Speaker interactions aside, what solid state amp brands/designers tend to have a fuller sound these days? Not necessarily warm or tubey per se, but fleshed out in the upper bass and harmonically complete in the midrange, as opposed to lean. E.g. an Australian ME Sound amp I have from a while back has this quality, without sounding overtly warm.
Obvious candidates: Pass, Luxman. What else?
Cost no object, feel free to throw out one-liners. Think of it as a poll. (Please don't answer tubes though, thanks. :D )
I prefer the sound of MOSFET output stages - to my ears Bipolar always produce a "lisp" "s" kind of sound.
I know both design and parts selection are important and I have heard the "lisp" type sound with a couple of amps, including Cary's newer 500.1 SS amps (that I simply couldn't live with) but I never had that problem with their older 500MB SS amps that I found to be quite musical and liked much better. The older 500MBs used
Sanken 50 ampere, high current, wide bandwidth bipolar output devices. My Class A Claytons, which use Motorola bipolar transistors do not have any signs of "lisp" or haze or any other artifact but I am sure the Class A operation bias and large power supply contribute to the sound.
I prefer the conveniences of having monoblocks and I am curious about your choice of really large stereo amplifiers vs. dedicated monoblocks, and whether the sound is affected (or not) by bridging a pair of your stereo amps (such as the mini-Olympia) as a monoblock implementation. Do the amps provide fundamentally the same sound quality whether they are operated as a single stereo amp or a bridged mono pair? Are there differences in addition to power output, such as input or output impedance, frequency or distortion characteristics, or other differences between the amps run in stereo or mono?
The new Cary SA-200.2 solid state amp has been good for me so far. However, I’m cheating a little by using a Cary SLP-98 tube preamp in front of it. :) Full, huge, sound. The detail/softness can be tuned with interconnects too. Cary Audio and another AudioGon’er recommend this hybrid pre/amp combo. Really glad I tried it.
I often compare the SA-200.2 to a Cary V12R EL34 tube amp in Triode/Ultralinear modes. While the tube is nice and lush, sometimes the smooth and deliberate dynamics of the SA-200.2 solid state amp is fun too.
The amplifiers are designed to be dedicated mono blocks and most use them as such, there is just the convenience that you can run one as a stereo amplifier. The idea was way back when we started making Amplifiers (1998) that the customer could start with one amp then later get a second one. The offerings back then were the Whitney, Denali and Everest with the Companion K2 preamplifier. These could be driven in "bridged" mode as you call it - where the inverting amplifier (with positive input grounded) is driven by the negative side of the non inverting amplifier. However sound quality improved when driven balanced with a fully balanced preamplifier like the K2.
The newer series of amplifiers, (which started with the Mini Olympia, ca 2004) is based upon our ALL-FET circuit which needs both nodes driven when using as a mono block - i.e the inverting amplifiers positive input needs signal. So a balanced input signal is required. We only make fully balanced preamplifiers, even in the Liberty Lineup.
The power output quadruple when using them as mono blocks, obviously the output impedance will be twice that of a single channel but since we don't use any source resistors because of tightly matched output devices, the output impedance is vanishingly low.
Most all our customers use our amplifiers a dedicated mono blocks, everything improves, coherence, speed, dynamics both micro and macro.
I know this is for Solid state amps, but the new Carver Tube amps do quite well at displaying the characteristics the OP is looking for without sounding “tubey”. I run a pair of them with a Pass Labs X1 to great effect and have no desire to change them any time soon.
I prefer Class A amps - own Belles and Classe that operate in true Class A and sound excellent. Also use a Jeff Rowland that has a heavy duty power supply and sounds very nice.
goodness i am surprised that no one has yet listed one of the greatest SS amps on the market, and it is a real bang for the buck. that amp is the PS Audio BHK amp. i have owned many amps over the years and this is the best ever. Plus they build and service in Boulder.
The budget for amp should be mentioned. The Late great design work of Jim Borgiano are these 2 amps. The mono block Ampzilla, and Son Of Ampzilla stereo amplifier. Having a Huge 2,000va transformer in each chassis is class leading And fully regulated ,and Bipolar output stages. Quietly these have Excellent reviews, and are highly engaging. I am using the Pure Audio Project Loudspeakers with Voxativ full range drivers .normally I would use a Vacuum tube amp with these. But being so detailed and resolved with my Custom Radu Tarts DHT single ended Vacuum tube preamp A highly musical combination. In best of TAS 2017 awards And many other accolades in other reviews.
I second your nomination of PS Audio BHK amp, I owned the BHK 250 stereo version until August 27th when Hurricane Harvey flooded my house with 3.5 feet of salt water. Other victims of the flood were my PS Audio P10 Power regenerator, PS Audio Directstream DAC, and PS Audio BHK preamp, along with Wilson Audio Sophia 2 loudspeakers. I will definitely be replacing the PS Audio equipment as soon as the house restoration is complete.
As most people know, the BHK stands for Bascom H. King, whose previous designs were for Infinity, Marantz, Conrad Johnson, Counterpoint, Constellation Audio and Audeze. Bascom King got the full support of Paul McGowen in designing the amp with only one strict requirement: "It must be among the five best amps in the world"! So, no pressure.
We should mention that BHK cheated on the design however, if this thread is to nominate the best pure SS amp ever. He overcame Paul’s prejudice against vacuum tubes and designed a tube-based front end. In Bascom’s opinion (along with that of his friend Arnie Nudell, founder of Infinity and Genesis) a tube-based input stage is absolutely necessary for the best sound in an SS amp.
greetings and let me say how sorry i am about the events you had to deal with. I think losing my audio system would be the worst thing second only to losing my dogs. How did your physical music collection fair though all this? Replacing one's cd or record collection would be even worse as there is so much work to acquiring it again. Glad you will be able to replace the gear. good luck to you
Most of my CD's are ripped in flac files on my hard drive (which I took with me prior to the flood). Almost all the rest were on shelves above the water level and survived OK.
I did lose about half of my LP record collection, but to tell you the truth, I have mostly gone over to digital anyway, and replaced my favorites with CDs. The Directstream DAC made this a no-brainer!
Thanks for the sympathy. I can hardly wait to get my music room back, listening to everything on my computer with headphones just doesn't quite cut it.
A pair of SM70 Pro NFB Class A's bridged using XLR inputs. Unlike many, they are truly balanced in the bridged mode using both L+R circuits. One can leave them powered up 24x7.
It is the NFB that gives them the fullness of sound by not sucking the life out of the music. NFB has the greatest impact on the sound of all amps.
They punch way above their weight. Very impressive for sand (SS) amps.
glad to hear it. i too think it a no-brainer with the DSD DAC. however because of the playback quality of cds through the DMP, i have yet to go to ripping. maybe some day. I still have about 600 albums and a very old and lovely Oracle Delphi, but never use it or play them. need to sell them to someone who appreciate the analog stuff.
anyway good luck with everything. do you ever post on the ps forum as i think i may have seen your name there.
Consider a Bedini. Not made anymore as both John and Gary have passed on, but if you put out some feelers you might snag one. They were all Class A. John was a genius when it came to audio. They run remarkably cool for Class A. If you see a 200/200, snag it. You won't be sorry.
Jeff Rowland Model 2, 6, or 5. And just to break the rules...Pass 30.5 I own both the model 2 and 30.5, and these amps are exactly as you describe. The Pass is a little fuller than the Model 2. Both got me off the amp merry-go-round.
Lots of great suggestions here, though I'm surprised no one mentioned any products from Naim Audio, especially the mighty NAP 500 with its separate power supply.
Ayre and ARC are my favorites and I've been told Aesthetix is also good (something about the letter A?). I recently upgraded to an Ayre AX-5 Twenty. There are only a couple of separates I have heard that I thought were better.
I am so happy with Krell that I recently upgraded my 250s to their mono 575. Over 20 years ownership the 250 was matched with ss and tube preamps, and cone and electrostat speakers.
You can get Steve McCormack DNA ModSquad to fully rebuild any of the DNA products. Sometimes they have stock on hand and can completely remake an amplifier from a trade in. So while they are not currently in production, if you can get your hands on an old chassis in good shape, they can upgrade it to essentially new status (actually better than new).
Mitch, I’d be shocked if the lispy sound is from the amp format. It may be on account of a polarity change or the power supply is not clean enough for that particular amp. It would be interesting to hear your results if you investigate. Manufacturer aren’t inclined to build new amps that sound worse than old unless the aim is at a lower price range.
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