"Warm Sounding" Solid State Amplifiers


As a Canadian I am naturally a huge fan of Bryston products but not long ago I switched things up for a NAD C355BEE integrated amp and instantly realized what I had been missing in terms of warmth, sweetness and overall pleasant sound.

I'm interested in moving up from there into some Class A or A/B amps but I don't know of any other warm sounding Solid State amps other than Pass Labs which are out of my price range at the moment.

Tubes are obviously "where it's at" as they would say but the maintenance factor is somewhat of a deterrent for me. Should I just go for an M series NAD amp or is there another intermediate product between that and Pass Labs??
pontifex

Showing 1 response by blakcloud

I currently own the NAD M2 and as much as I really like it, I would never consider it warm, technical would be a better way of describing it. My front end is digital so it meets my needs just fine. If I was using a TT, this is an amp I wouldn't buy.

Many years ago I owned a Bedini 25/25 and that is an amp I regret selling. It was what I considered warm in sound but hot to touch. Class A power meant a lot of heat!

When I was thinking of selling my M2, my thought was to go towards NAIM for that warm sound. In the end I thought there was nothing really wrong with the M2 and it sounds great with my Harbeth 30.1.

My favorite thing about the amp is I don't need a separate DAC. My system looks nice and clean, very minimalist.

Good luck with your search.