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"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 9 responses by zd542

zd542
5,339 posts
 
"04-19-15: Brauser
Jeff Rowland products have the attributes of tubes without the liabilities. Rowland components are also manufactured from bar stock aluminum and use very high grade internal circuitry. I know of no other high end company that produces products that are truly 'set it and forget it' for decades of hassle free SOTA performance."

Have you ever heard any of their products? The imaging on my Rowland amp falls way short of what's currently available. Also, the build quality is good, but not the best. My Ayre amps are definitely better made. I'm not sure what you mean by set and forget, either. Its a power amp. You plug it in and turn it on.
zd542
5,339 posts
 
Did you list your system? I didn't see in any of your posts?
zd542
5,339 posts
 
Right now in my main system I have a Wadia 861SE going directly to 2 Ayre V-5's vertically bi-amped driving a pair of Vandersteen Model 2's. AQ IC's and Speaker cables. ESP Essence power cords. And a Furutech e-TP 80. I have other components I sometimes put in the system, but what I just listed is what I use most of the time.
zd542
5,339 posts
 
"04-21-15: Csontos
With all due respect Ralph, I am not aware of a 'warmth associated with real music(and tubes)' consensus. My take on it is simply a subjective preference over accuracy."

I don't see how you can say one component is more accurate than another. How do you know the "warm" amp isn't more accurate? There's no reason why it can't be.
zd542
5,339 posts
 
Csontos,

"Fact is their is consensus that tubes are distortion for the most part."

Is this a secret consensus? Where can I look something like that up for myself?
zd542
5,339 posts
 
"The more the information, the more objective the assessment."

Why? Information isn't generic. There's a difference between more info and the right info.

"The key is to research sufficiently long enough/thoroughly to get a take on all aspects/perspectives you relate to."

Unless the research includes listening, its not worth all that much.
zd542
5,339 posts
 
A good strategy to deal with distortion is to match your speakers to your amp, room and volume preference. If you get that right, distortion shouldn't be an issue, tube or SS.
zd542
5,339 posts
 
"Enter the subjective nature of our hobby. I always knew diminishing thd with decreasing power was the way to go. That's what makes sense. It's a shooting gallery out there right now and the prey is ripe for the picking. However I think I have a handle on what the rules are."

After reading some of your posts, I can't help but think that you're focusing way to much on the rules of audio, and not enough on the music. If you continue going in this direction, you'll just get more and more frustrated. You're never going to have all of your questions answered, so you might as well make the best of it and not worry about a number on a piece of paper.
zd542
5,339 posts
 
"05-03-15: Pontifex
It will still be yet another week or so but I'm very excited to finally introduce myself to the Musical Fidelity brand. If I enjoy their sound signature I could see myself moving up to the M6 series. I want to simplify my rig a bit more and get a CD player with a good DAC rather than use a separate one. So the M6 CD player is also on my radar."

You need to be careful. The piece you bought was from when MF made they're stuff in the UK. The M6 is some of the newer gear made in Taiwan. It doesn't sound anything like what you just bought. Completely different.
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