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Top Ten Tube Amps of All Time?

Okay,Okay,heres a thread for you tube guys.Gotta remember Iam an old geezer 57 now. Been in this hobby since 1957. So when I started all there was,was tube and it was mono to boot. My early tube gear was Bogen then Fisher,the McIntosh. Not crazy about any of them. Do not have first hand knowledge of the newer gear,so I will get educated in this thread. I cast a vote for the McIntosh 240 amp. So all yo dyed in the wool tube guys heres your chance to vote for your all time best.
ferrari

Showing 2 responses by tubegroover

tubegroover
2,320 posts
 
Yeah Joe I am STILL using the D115 Mk2. I love those D series ARC amps; maybe no better push pull amp except possibly the ARC D-79 (a midrange to die for) and the M-100's. The VAC's mentioned above are also superb.
tubegroover
2,320 posts
 
Lamapp You have a fine piece in the McIntosh 240 and I'm sure with the upgrades it does hold its own with many. I have a pair of MC-60s which I have owned for 10 years. They have been extensively modified and I'll still take them (got rid of a Threshold in favor of them) over ANY solid state amp I have heard to date. There is something in the midrange that is so compelling with tube amps, that presence that I never hear with solid statem, even a classic design like yours. My ARC amp certainly has better highs, better defined bass and a more dimensional soundstage than the MC-60s but I doubt if it has a better midrange. And of course there is the art in those power transformers from MAC. They don't make them like that anymore.
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