SS for Merlins VSMs?

I presumed your LSA would not be in the equation....

Pubul, I owned the VSMs in the late 90s through 2003. At the time, Bobby was recommending the little Belles 150A. It had a nice sweetness to it, and Bobby actually preferred it to the 350A and other SS offerings at the time. Of course, he always recommended a tubed pre which in my case was the Audible Illusions L1.

I guess it depends on what degree of tube freak you are and whether you have some tone control potential with your pre-amp. Other SS pieces I have owned that fall into the category of "not like tubes, not like SS" are Intuitive Design Coordinate monoblocks and the TRL Samsons. Dale's earlier generation of SS mono amps (Essence) are even more tubey with rich midrange, but they are hard to find (people don't sell them) and are pricey.

Bob and I have been chatting about the Neodio on another thread and it sounds very promising. I would love to hear it as well. Bob now owns Dale's Gamma Summits (great speakers) and they are a fairly difficult speaker (IMO) to match amps with. The Gammas like high current to really open them up, which typically means SS or big push-pull tube amps. Those speakers are mucho revealing so most SS falls short. The fact that the Neodio is able to make them sing is really saying something.

One final thought: the LSA statement tube hybrid. I have heard a lot of good things (I have heard John Tucker's modded Shanling CDP and his Exemplar pre and like the sound; he was involved in their design), and they may work as well. That amp is on my list for a second system....

Question: since Bobby is a Joule man, have you ever tried his monoblocks?

For me, this paradigm would include a tubed pre, but the Neodio is still an intriguing option. A few friends like the Class A approach, including Clayton, Gryphon, etc. From talking with Bob, though, he has had the Gryphon too and still prefers this new creature.