Is there such a thing as tube sound in a ss?


I have Martin Logan Aerius i speakers, Classe Cp35 pre, Classe CA100 amp and Meridian 588 CD. I am auditioning an ARC LS17 and the ARC VS110. I love the deep and tight bass the VS110 gives me but it does not have the clarity i love from the MLs. I hooked up my Classe amp to the LS17 pre and the clarity is there but the bass is loose and undefined. Is there an SS amp that will give me that nice deep tight, defined bass the VS110 gave me but along with the clarity?
alremc

Showing 1 response by t_bone

The Atma-sphere website has some interesting white papers on different amperage paradigms. From everything I have learned from a variety of places and experiences, I would suggest that certain things are easier with tubes than SS and vice versa, depending on what you trying to accomplish.

The best 'solid state' amp I've ever heard with MLs was actually a hybrid/FET-based amp - Counterpoint NPMs. Don't know what it is but FETs do quite well with MLs.