This Van Alstine amp is worth a look, and they offer a 30-day trial period. Best of luck.
https://avahifi.com/products/dva-set-500-stereo-power-amplifier
This Van Alstine amp is worth a look, and they offer a 30-day trial period. Best of luck. https://avahifi.com/products/dva-set-500-stereo-power-amplifier |
Thanks all. A few more things @soix ask about I should have included. For budget I'l like to keep <$5K, $6K would be tops. Main reason for new would be trial audition period. Buying used but new enough not to need parts replacement can save $ but I don't want go through reselling if I'm not satisfied. And my line stage has RCA outputs so prefer not to need adaptors for balanced amp inputs. I'll repeat, I have reasons for a stereo amp so no mono blocs considered. Also I don't expect SS to sound just like tubes, but I'd like a bit of sonic warmth and fullness. I expected some suggestions for Class D but I've never heard one and no local auditions available. So that would definitely need to be new with return option. Janszen recommends the 100-250 power range at 8 ohms. I've found less than that reduces dynamics and aliveness. |
As a semi normal consumer (paranormal?) I can’t carefully listen to boatloads of amps but the two amps I rotate in my gear heap are a 12 or so watt per side Dennis Had tube "SEP," and a Pass XA-25 that actually sound somewhat similar. The Pass amp may not be powerful enough for your tastes but they make plenty of Class A amps that are. Try Uncle Ralph’s (Atmasphere) Class D amps and see if you agree with his utterly unbiased opinion.
|
I've only owned one tube amplifier (PrimaLuna) so my tube amplifier experience is very limited. I have generally settled though on SS amps I thought offered some of the tube like qualities I enjoyed. The amps I've owned that I associate closest to my limited tube listening are: Classe CA300, Modwright KWA 100SE, Pass XA30.8, AtmaSphere Class D Monos, and Coda S5.5. Personally I think the AtmaSphere monos are the closest to the tube sound I remember (not counting the super black background and very tight bass they also provide... :)). |
Forgot to mention PS Audio, as another poster mentioned, their BHK line does a great job of blending tunes into both the BHK Pre Amp and their stereo and mono BHK amps. I have the BHK Pre and their stereo design blends allowing the tube stage to bring a tube flavor but isolating some of the negatives tubes can bring to the table with a hybrid design. Amazing how much fun tube rolling is in the BHK pre, you can hear the differences, influence of the different tubes. Haven’t heard the BHK Amps but if they are built and designed like the Pre, sure they are winners and would have that blend of Tube qualities along with the foundation SS amps provide. Good Luck! |
Pass, Coda, Krell would be the top 3 SS amps I’d look at. Accuphase and Luxman would be in the conversation as well but I think they lean a bit more toward outstanding SS amps with a dash of tube sound, qualities while the other top 3 blend the best of SS with the best of Tubeiness (tube magic). Pass as another poster mentioned designs their amps specifically to behave much like a tube amp, they are the OG of SS amps that bring that tube magic. Coda is way under the radar and was founded by Pass engineers, their Class A amps are a phenomenal choice, their # 16 amp, end game for what I think you are looking for. Krell, their XD line sounds more tube like that any SS amp I’ve heard but still has the grunt to get down low and controls speakers unlike any other Amp I’ve tried. I compared Krell XD amps and they’re integrated to other SS and Tube amps. There was something special to my ears about the Krell XD amps, sweetness to the sound but while maintaining all the positives of SS but without the negatives. I’ve never experienced some of the new class D designs but have read some of those can capture what I think Pass, Coda or Krell do. If you picked Pass, Coda class A amps or Krell XD line of amps, think you’ll be very happy. |
I agree with @atmasphere here. Get a nice pair of class D GANFET monoblocks like from orchard audio with your tube pre. It works great in my personal experience. |
One significant factor of tube amps is a low damping factor which interacts with speakers to change their frequency response(which includes fuller, softer mid bass). Almost all solid state amps have a high damping factor due to usually higher feedback than tube amps which doesn't interact. One solid state company with a great rep is Pass Labs which have a low damping factor like tube amps and will interact with speakers the same way as tube amps. |
I agree with @mulveling that even great SS amps won’t emulate tubes, nor should they. And as he said, when they try to, the result is usually not good. That said, I’m a long time fan of tube amps. But I have found happiness with an SMc modified McCormack DNA 0.5. I would highly recommend looking for a used DNA amp to send to CA for the latest mods they offer. It’s one of the few SS amps I’ve owned that don’t send me running back to tubes. |
It will never sound exactly like tubes. SS can in fact sound sweet, and really really good, but will never be quite as full and warm as good tubes (and EL34 are pretty sweet). And when SS goes TOO warm (maybe in an ill-fated attempt to match tubes) it just goes flat and becomes a mess. |
@pryso There are class D amps now that are smooth and detailed through the mids and highs like an excellent tube amplifier- so much that its hard to go back to tubes. |