SS amp or receiver that sounds like Tube Amp


I picked up an Onkyo TX-2500 MKII that sounded like my tube amp. I was actually stunned. Any other and hopefully newer SS gear sounds like a quality tube amp? Tube amps usually have a natural sound and lots of detail with high clarity.

jimbennet

Showing 1 response by larryi

This is a very complex issue.  All amps sound a bit different so it is hard to say which pair of solid state and tube amp sound alike.  Among very high end amplifiers, I tend to find that solid state amps sound quite similar to each other while tube amps tend to vary much more in sound.  Overall, I like low-powered tube amps the most and have not found any solid state amp that I prefer over a number of such tube amps.  The good low-powered tube amps have a very natural sound -- rich in harmonics, realistic attack and decay of notes, enveloping soundfield, very lively and engaging sound at low volume levels.  Even very good solid state gear tends to be a touch lifeless sounding at lower volume levels.  Solid state does deliver very tight and impactful bass.  I don't like many high-powered tube amps because of a brittle or harsh quality to the sound.  Thus, it is really hard to say what, if any, two amps, one solid state the other tube sound alike.  

At best, I can say that I like some solid state amps regardless of whether they sound like any particular tube amp.  While I haven't heard their newer models, I liked older Ayre solid state electronics.  I also liked a couple of First Watt amps I heard.  I heard a SIT-3 in a friend's system and I had a J-2 First Watt amp in my system for a couple of weeks.  They are both lively sounding amps that don't suffer from being lifeless at lower volume levels.