I wouldn't necessarily attribute the Anthem's lack of the slam factor to it's being a tube design. Actually, the tubes are only used for the input section. The rest of the amp is a ss as it gets. I would say that it is more likely that you are hearing the particular voicing characteristics that were designed into the amp. There are quite a number of tube amps with very strong slam factors... the Wolcotts, Sonic Frontiers Power 3's and even the Mesa Baron. There are lots of good sounding ss amps that have less than center-of-the-earth bass... the McCormack DNA1 comes to mind. For me, the sound of tube amps that I've liked is so much more... well, like real music. I also get a much stronger sense of "hearing the room" than I get with comparable ss equipment. Maintanance and "tweeking" isn't as big a deal as I initially thought it would be either.
Help learn diff.between SS and Tube
I am auditioning an Anthem Amp 2 (a Hybrid amp) and it will be a change from my SS Marantz MA 500s in a bi-amp config. I have not had the Anthem more than a few hours (the amp is broke in) and I think right off the bat the Anthem seems to have less bass than my SS. The bass seems to be there, my room shakes, but its not as something, I can't put my finger on it, less "punchy?" Can someone pleez tell me the differences typical of tube and ss amps. Thanks. m-