There are SS amps that come very, very close to tube sweetness (I'm not talking about the SS amps that are made intentionally "warm and mellow" and try to mimic tube sound.)
I'm talking about SS amps that aren't hard, harsh, grainey, etc. And as someone pointed out the other day, the problem here is that it takes a lot of money before SS amps catch up in quality to the best tube amps. In other words, they're saying that the moderate priced SS amps don't match the performance of moderate priced tube amps.
With that in mind, there are a few great SS amps available used (i.e. within your budget) that will give you 90% of what you love about your VTLs, yet with maintenance-free ownership.
My favorite (in your price range) is a Levinson 23.5 (200W/8ohms) or 27.5 (100W/8ohms), about $2500 and $1900 used. (Stay away from the 23 and 27, they're OK but not sublime.) Levinson 20.5 or 20.6 100W pure class A monoblocks are even a bit better, but will set you back more than $4000. Older Rowlands, Accuphase, Cellos, Spectrals, and Goldmunds are also good bets, but somewhat harder to find, and may be a little more than you were planning to pay -- especially the very desireable Goldmund and Cello, although I have seen Cello Encores and older Goldmund Mimises go for $4k+.
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I'm talking about SS amps that aren't hard, harsh, grainey, etc. And as someone pointed out the other day, the problem here is that it takes a lot of money before SS amps catch up in quality to the best tube amps. In other words, they're saying that the moderate priced SS amps don't match the performance of moderate priced tube amps.
With that in mind, there are a few great SS amps available used (i.e. within your budget) that will give you 90% of what you love about your VTLs, yet with maintenance-free ownership.
My favorite (in your price range) is a Levinson 23.5 (200W/8ohms) or 27.5 (100W/8ohms), about $2500 and $1900 used. (Stay away from the 23 and 27, they're OK but not sublime.) Levinson 20.5 or 20.6 100W pure class A monoblocks are even a bit better, but will set you back more than $4000. Older Rowlands, Accuphase, Cellos, Spectrals, and Goldmunds are also good bets, but somewhat harder to find, and may be a little more than you were planning to pay -- especially the very desireable Goldmund and Cello, although I have seen Cello Encores and older Goldmund Mimises go for $4k+.
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