take a slight step up from mid fi to high value tube amps, e.g. the rogue audio cronus magnum integrated or atlas magnum and stereo 100 power amplifiers. these robust powerful tube amps have transparency, dynamics and refinement that cannot be topped by solid state amplifiers unless one spends thousands more and picks the right one. roll in some nos small signal tubes and you up the ante along with a sound stage that few solid state amps can match unless fronted by a very good tube preamplifier. my experiences.
Mid-fi tube vs high-end SS
Hello everyone. I am new here but not new to audio. I’ve been meaning to buy a high-end permanent SS amp for 2 years now. But not sure how much improvement I can get.
A little about what I have. I use a high-quality tube amp I bought for around $1,500. 55 watts per channel Class A. With upgraded tubes it’s a little over $2,000. The amp I have is the Musical Paradise mp-501 I’ll link below. Using upgraded Kt-170 tubes along with some nos 5693 red tubes and 717-a tubes.
My audio knowledge and listen ability has improved substantially these past few years thanks partly to this tube amp. Sorry for the long-winded intro. My actual question is, how much improvement should I expect going from this tube amp to something high-end SS like the Gato 150 and the incredible DVA M225? Very little reviews on the Gatos, I’m hoping I could get some help here, even anything about the Gato 150 from users would be helpful. Ty
https://www.musicalparadise.ca/store/index.php?route=product/product&path=59&product_id=55