Heard any good hybrid amps lately?

The Lamm M1.2 hybrid mono blocks are pricey, but wonderful, especially with the right NOS 6922 varients.

Kurt,

My issue with all the Nordost cables has always been a thin sound and a bit too bright on top -- but I have not heard them with my Lamms and Ayre. I'm running mostly Purist Anniversary PCs and Purist Anniversary and Dominus Ferox on my sources, VD Rev 2.0 between Ayre preamp and Lamms and VD Rev 2.0 speaker cable. I've been wondering if I should try Purist or some other speaker cable. Your thoughts?

Ed

Kurt,

I have not heard Jena Labs cables but have heard good things about them. It sounds like the Valhalla's are the perfect match for your Lamm 2.1s. Finding the right mix is what it's all about, especially with cables, I think. For my system, the Purist Anniversary is just phenomenal. Unfortunately, so is its price. The Proteus Provectus is pretty darn good for much less money.

Yes, I used the phono board in the K-1xe for a year before I bought the IO Sig. There is a huge difference between the two both sonically and price-wise. IO Sig at more than 5x the price of the Ayre phono board plus $3,500+ worth of NOS tubes has a much fuller, richer sound with a deeper and much taller soundstage. Music throught the IO Sig is more emotionally involving. The K-1xe linestage is hard to beat. Hansen had to go to radical lengths with the KXR himself to better the K-1xe, and the KXR is significantly better, but at a steep price.

That said, there is so much competition for the dwindling supply of the best NOS tubes for the IO Sig that their prices have been escalating alarmingly. So much so that I just sold the IO Sig and bought an Allnic H3000. The Allnic will be here early this coming week, so I will post first impressions of it probably next weekend.

Ed