"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 2 responses by theduke

Bedini BA-801 is the most tube-like solid state amplifier that I have ever heard.
I changed my mind. Earlier I posted that the Bedini BA-801 is the most tube-like amplifier I've ever heard.
Nope, not anymore. My recently acquired Audio Research 100.2 takes the prize. Not even close, the 100.2 exudes warm bass, vivid vocals, and sweet highs. Nothing soggy, bloated or ill-defined, it just has a lot of that tube magic. I'm keeping the Bedini because it's good, real good. But the ARC 100.2 surpasses it in every way. No wonder they're in such demand!