Threshold T series after years with Krell, Levinson, PS Audio. However, must have great tube preamp on any ss amp to bring out the best. |
Hold it! I was berrated for stating the obvious on another thread concerning this kind of discourse? Leave carl alone. The man obvisouly wants(needs) attention in anyway that he can get it. Positive or negative. Treat him like the annoying child that is whining, don't respond, soon he will go away. |
MY T100 HAS BEEN A GREAT PERFORMER UNTIL SUNDAY. RUNNING MY B&W 802 MATRIX SPEAKERS, MY T100 DECIDED TO SHORT OUT AND MELT THE KEVLAR WOOFER CONES OF MY BELOVED 802'S. ANYONE ELSE HAVE THIS PROBLEM? |
|
Lamm 2.1, Mccormack DNA2 LAE, Levinson 333.5, 336. I heard the Carver Lightstar 2.0 that listed for 2700 last week. Thats a nice sounding amp. It sounded very smooth with a nice mid. |
Boulder 1060 amp. Its 300 watts and weighs 189 pounds. Here's a pic of it. Check how deep it is. http://www.audioreview.com/GALPhoto_59413crx.aspx |
i agree, it's the wrong kind of question (though still a good one).
everyone's taste in their equipment is very personal, and not one amp or speaker is better than another based on what you prefer to listen to and how you listen to music.
your other components and room environment will play a huge role in how you enjoy the music.
all the amps mentioned are among the better performers, but how can one really say one is better than the other? in certain categories perhaps, but not across the board. |
one look inside a Rowland will tell you its the best built amplifier available. |
B&K Modified is the best I have heard for the $$,but saying there is no real best because what might work great in one system sucks in another.
There are so many great amps that oicking one would be close to impossible.Here is a list in the order of cost that I would consider,but some are not made in the USA and worst I have not heard all of them.
B&K ST-202 original version mocified
CODA-used
Monarchy SM-100 Deluxe used
McCormicks
Odessey Monblocks
Llano Pheonix
Gamut
Ayre
Plinius
Threshold
Parasounds JC-1
Aragon Palladiums
Mark Levs
Jeff Rowlands
Pass Labs X-350
Goldmunds
Electrocompaniet
Krell
Plinus
Jadis
Lamm
If you got this far down the list and your amp manf. not on it I feel sorry for you unless I forgot it.L |
From the ballot, I vote: Pass. |
My vote goes to Spectral. |
Spectral. Look inside a Spectral see the quality. Listen,
and hear that quality. |
Jeff Rowland spares no expense and compromises nothing. There are no reviews. There is no advertising budget. His philosophy is that his products are appropriate for those, and those only, who can appreciate them. If you think there is another company on earth that delivers more for your amplifier dollar, you are kidding yourself.
Carl Eber, if you are still at large, should realize that you are very much like a Krell amplifier. Cold, steely, strident, obtrusive, pretentious and in need of mods right out of the box. |
|
Jeff Rowland i have 8T love it great sound wonderful service the BEST!! |
I've never heard a Levinson, Krell, or Rowland that sounds even half as good as the McCormack DNA-500 |
I have hardly heard all the contenders, and no solid state amp in my own system for quite a while, but, I've heard a few in friends' system and at shows, etc. I generally find Ayre electronics to be consistently nice sounding in a wide range of systems, so I would give them a nod. I've heard BEL amps sound good in a couple of systems too.
A friend has a First Watt amp (Nelson Pass design) in a high efficiency system that sounds very good in that system. I believe the model he has is an F2 amp. It is, however, an amp that is not as universally usable as other solid state amps -- it is somewhat low in power and is better suited to speakers which have a high impedance.
The better solid state amps that I've heard at shows are not American in origin. In particular, I thought that the Swiss Soulution amps sound good, as well as another Swiss amp, the Dartzeel amp. It is unfortunate that both are quite expensive. The German Burmester gear also sounds pretty good to me. |
I love tube amps, especially SET's, but I also have 2 of Nelson Pass's XA.5 SS amps and I like what they bring to the table. I enjoy them everytime I rotate them in. I also have an early Bedini 45/45 SS amp that has an ease to it. They would get my vote(s). |
|
|
Mark Levinson ML-2
This is the archetype of all US made highend amps.
Had them recently in my setup with Acoustats 2 + 2 and they were still sounding wonderful to me.
Credits to John Curl & the late Thomas Colangelo |
Pass First Watt. Amazing tube like solid state. |
Krell FPB 300cx. 9 years young and going strong, sounds superb, never a hiccup, probably will outlast me. What more could one want? Worth every penny.
Neal |
What ever happened to that Carl_eber fellow? (see earlier posts) Seems a little on edge.... |
|
"What ever happened to that Carl_eber fellow? (see earlier posts) Seems a little on edge"
Funny looking back 11 years, it seems like yesterday, colorful times back then and of course less censorship. I think Carl was banished, but through it all I really loved the guy's passion, he was a "one and only" to be sure. |
|
I have a krell ksa 80 that after a long warm up of say 4 hours turns into a time and space travel portal machine. |
|
and yet another vote here for Spectral. Now will someone please sell me a damn pair of DMA 360 series 2!!!!!! |
The new amp by Mr. D'Agostino (formerly the founder and chief designer for Krell) might be a contender. I've only heard it at a show (powering Wilson Sasha speakers), but, I was impressed with the fact that it did not have the kind of brittle, edgy, sound I associate with much high powered solid state amps.
That it is compact, reasonably decent looking, doesn't cook a room, are pluses too. |
Dynaco 400 Mono blocks with a C-100 Cap Bank on top of each amplifier. That's pushing up to 600 watts per channel into a difficult load. Tons of headroom does not even begin to describe it. Sweet. |
Acoustat TNT 200, once it gets back from Roy Esposito. Who's Carl Eber? I'm sure I miss him too. |
|
I love the Bel Canto line. This was originally a tube based manufacturer and their solid state amps sound stellar! |
For me personally, Jeff Rowland.
I used to own a pair of his Solid State amps before I went to tubes. |
It's the one I own: Krell 400cx. This amp has worked flawlessly for ten plus years. |
PSE Studio IV...for the money, cant be beat |
