2. amps-preamps
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Sacrilege Going from Tubes back to Solid State

Hello gang,

Well the time may have come. I am getting way over the fuse blowing, bias adjusting and general baybying my Tube Monos are putting me through. I love the sound of my VTL MB 300s that I had VTL upgrade to the new 450 status a few years ago. I love the depth, stage, sweetness and punch they give my Meadowlark Hot Rod Herons. I love the front to rear layering and detail they reveal.
Can anybody recommend a solid state amp or monos that MIGHT give me some of what I love? I am in the $4000.00 range and looking primarily at used product. I use JPS labs Super 2 Speaker and ICs and a modded VTL 2.5 pre with an Ayre CX-7e Digital front end with a Rega P-25 sporting a Dynavector Karat 17 mk II driving a plinius Jarrah Phono stage.
My frustration may be getting the best of me here but I am tired of crossing my fingers when I turn on my stereo!
I have heard good things from Older levinson gear, perhaps newer McIntosh? How about Accuphase? or ARGGGGGGGGGGHH a little help please! Thanks in advance.
128x128meadowman

Showing 3 responses by tbg

tbg
5,263 posts
 
Much to my disbelief I have no tubes in my system. I kind of evolve into this, first with the solid state H-Cat P12 line stage, but then I moved to the Esoteric X-01 Limited sacd player, and finally the LSA/Exemplar Statement amp. This is all providing extraordinarily good sound reproduction, so I would have to say ss has gotten much better. I have never been committed to tubes after returning to them over 30 years ago. I still remember the ARC banner saying, "That for the audiophile the era of tubes has come." Times change once again.
tbg
5,263 posts
 
Tvad, yes the amp is still integrated but it also allows bypassing the line stage. Briefly I used the line stage. While it is okay, it is not state-of-the-art. I must say that I was surprised by this. It may suggest how superior the H-Cat is.

At the RMAF I heard the Statement amp driven by the Exemplar cd player and the Exemplar external power supply linestage. The speakers were the LSA Model 10s. All I can say is wow, but the speakers are beyond my means.
tbg
5,263 posts
 
Certainly the original efforts by John to improve the reference amp were to strengthen the line stage. The Statement, however, is directed toward the amp, which John found well conceived. It would make a good deal of sense to merely do another amp without the line stage, but that would be expensive and some may want to use it as an integrated amp.

The Usher cd player which will apparently not be imported into the US serves as the basis of the LSA unit I heard.

Unfortunately, LSA made a late decision to attend RMAF and thus their electronics were in their room and the exceptional Model 10 speakers were in Lloyd Walker's room, not driven by LSA electronics. I heard a late night demonstration where the LSA equipment was brought in.
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