This is difficult because the sound of your system is effected by everything in your system. Now that that is out of the way and given the above, I like the D’Agostino upper end models. I really like the sound of my First Watt SIT-3. So clean and uncolored. |
Best is Essence except on electrostatic or if a speaker needs some coloring to fix a limitation. Unfortunately they are out of business and the amps are super hard to repair. |
I don't think it's that hard compare the sound/influence of differing amps, when they are rotated through the same overall system. The caveat being, that all are fully capable of driving/controlling the speakers....and input impedances match with the front end. |
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I know this is a little obscure but my 30 year old Mirror Image Audio 1.1 SB power amp is the best SS I’ve ever heard. It was very expensive at 5k in the late 80’s, early 90’s. Occasionally you will see one for sale.
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I just recently acquired and have had the pleasure of "listening" to my 47 Laboratory Midnight Blue combo: the 4733 & 4734. This set is special together but I have been recently using just the 4733 (Amp/Pre/headphone amp) with the newly arrived Sparkler Audio S301B diva' and what a spectacular combo. I still cannot believe the quality & quantity of sound reproduced with only 2wpc...I have finally found what I was looking for in a small system. so, my short run of solid state amps, integrated, etc has come to an end (maybe). Thinking about what a Sparkler Audio Ether @ 7wpc would be like...Here we go again...
Cheers |
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amp/speaker synergy makes too much of a difference to pick just one. |
I haven't heard that many and I tend to prefer tubes myself. With that caveat and the obvious fact I heard each of these with a significant amount of time in between and on completely different speakers/setups:
4) Sugden amps sounded really nice
3) Pass Labs XA30.5 (haven't heard the .8)
2) Pass Labs XA25
1) Nagra Classic Series sounded sublime
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Accuphase pre and power driving b&w matrix floorstanders and being fed by Linn lp12 lingo with some 5 tone arm and ortofon hohmann cartridge. All connected with siltech cabling. This was back in the 1980s . |
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To me it’s my Krell FPB 600. Plenty of power when called for , Big deep bass , Excellent detailed. Excellent in all areas for me. Everything I could want in a ss amp.This amp is hard to beat. |
D'Agostino Momentum M300's. I was at Echo Audio in Portland and Kurt had these set up to demo and let me listen for a while. Way out of my price range, but wow.
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Any feedback on heff rowland 1500 wpc integrated ? |
Bakoon Amp 13R. A remarkable amp at 25 watts per side. This is where my amp search ends. |
The FM Acoustics 1811
At Munich High End this year. To me, it is bar none the best transistor amplification on the market. Quite possibly the best amplification period. That room was best at show. After it, everything else was boring. |
After ~ 15 years, I still think fondly of the 47 Lab Gain Card amp wth 2 Humptys
My Audio Alchemy DPA-1 (175 wpc class D) is a total bargain |
I had a Bedini 25/25 about 25 years ago and I agree it was the best. A friend of mine was doing renovations for a lady in Manhattan and she threw it out with her garbage. My friend saw it and asked if she was really throwing it out and asked her if he could have it. He even offered her money for it, but she told him to take it and did not want anything for it. He used it for a short time and then gave it to me for free because he went to a Marantz tube amp. I also went to a tube amp later on but I'll never forget playing the Los Lobos Kiko ( CD ) threw that amp after a half hour of warm up. The sound and soundstage was amazing. The only reason I switched amps was because I couldn't play it loud enough because my speakers needed a little more power. I should have kept it though. I still regret getting rid of it. |
Well the customary method is you disconnect it and swap it out with another amplifier. Just be sure to swap only the amp. You must use the same power cord, and cables, and cones, and even the same fuse if an aftermarket fuse is involved. Otherwise if you change the amp and the power cord, or cables, or anything else, then you will never know for sure how much of what you're hearing is the amp or something else. Changing only the one component allows you to hear differences due to that one component and that one component only.
Well put, @millercarbon. Among the very best Solid State amps I’ve heard is my own MOSFET-based Belles SA-30, the MC² S1400, and the now discontinued Crown Studio Reference II. In the opposite end of the power scale (compared to the latter two amps mentioned above) I have heard very good things about SIT-based amps, and though I’ve yet to listen to any iteration a few people I know well (and who’s ears I trust like my own) hold them in high regard. |
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Burmester 909s or 911s on anything |
I just upgraded from a Musical Fidelity M6 500i amplifier to a Musical Fidelity Nu-Vista 800. While the former sounds amazing and can drive just about any speaker out there, the hybrid design of the Nu-Vista 800 gives you something really special (best of both worlds tube/SS). It mates well with my PS Audio Directream DAC and Magnapan 3.7i speakers (+ two Definitive Technology Supercube I subwoofers). |
Benchmark AHB2, like it enough that I’m looking for a used unit so I can run them mono. |
Burmester 878 --- hands down ! |
The Exposure IV by John Farlowe ticked every box. Rich, fast, beautiful sound. Simple (but not simplistic) circuit with mosfet outputs and two superb, hand-wound transformers. |
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One of the best I have ever used in 13 years of reviewing:
EXOGAL Ion PowerDAC with HyperDrive (must be paired with EXOGAL Comet DAC). EXOGAL has made the PowerDAC a triumph. I think we're looking at the next generation of amplification here. |
1) EKSC Eagle 11 Prime Monoblocks-the best amplifier from Electron Kinetics-John Iverson and later updated by Russell Sherwood. Difficult to come by as their owners never seem to give them up and not expensive.
2) A Pair of BEL (Brown Electronic Labs) 1001 Mk. V's in mono mode. As a stereo amplifier it is very good but as monoblocks they are sensational. My brother has a pair. Richard Brown departed way to soon.
3) Bedini 25/25
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Someone mentioned a Flack Jacket ? What was the retail price of one ?
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Memory Lane Once Again
1967, my new Fisher 200T Transistor Receiver, It was "Transistors to the Rescue" then. I was 18 and in college.
I went from a suitcase portable: flip down turntable with detaching speakers I took from my brother to my first decent system with wedding present money.
Point is, I could NEVER experience such a leap up in sound quality as that so it is the transistor amp I remember most.
I just sold my transistor McIntosh MC2250, and ordered a Cayin A88T tube integrated, it is on the way. Sold my transistor C28 Preamp, zeroing in on a tube preamp now.
IF you can find efficient speakers you love, it opens up the world of lower power amps, transistor or tubes. |
Spread Spectrum Technologies Son of Ampzilla 2000 and PassLabs XA60.5.
I own both! |
I believe the speakers have influenced my opinion but the best I’ve heard (so far) are
1. Burmester. Precision & detail
2. Soulution. Musical with detail.
3. T + A. Musical with depth and precision. Prob my favorite of the 3.
I guess momma really doesn't need a new car. Haha |
Don’t be cruel but I’m an Integrated Mcintosh fan. Built like tanks, my last
unit was 36 years old and brought good
money when I did the upgrade.
Just love that warm un-fatiguing sound.
I think with amps at a certain price point you’re really splitting hairs.
Now speakers are another story.
It truly is one of the most enjoyable hobbies out there. 😎
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D'Agostino Relentless monoblock amps.
Naim Statement NAP S1 monoblock amps driven by Naim Statement NAC S1 linestage preamp.
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Bryston 4B cubed. (Driven by a BP 17 cubed preamp)
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I’ve had Krell KMA-160’s and Pass 250’s (I think those were the ones) and now have Krell EV 600’s. The 160’s was my first experience with pure class A bias amps. I .loved them, but just didn’t have enough power. I was pushing Martin Logan Monoliths and wanted to get a beefy tube amp for the screens, but ended up selling the speakers here on Agon. I bought a couple of demo Max II’s and used the Pass Labs for them, but ran into the same problem. Thought about going to tubes, but learned they would be too much $$, for the power I wanted. With the EV-600’s, I can find no fault. I’ve never seen a review of them here and bought them used from a fellow Agoner and love them. To me, there’s nothing like a class A amp. |
Levinson 23.5I use the amp to power Tympani 1-D's.Previously, I listened to a JBL Hartsfield / Marantz 8b combo daily for years. When I purchased the 23.5, I swapped it for the 8b and was shocked to hear that it was just as warm and musical, but had even more bass control. I've owned the 23.5 twice now... I lust for 20.6's! |
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If if you can find a threshold S/500 is a great option even when is from the 80’s it is a great sounding amp.
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Hard to believe there's no mention of the ASR Emitter II Exclusive. It runs on a battery, fed by two power supplies. It's been a venerated amp since the 1980's. |
Interesting question in that I have not yet zeroed in on the amp that makes me want to stop looking. I have owned all of the amps below so I had a long time to evaluate each.
The top 5 in no particular order would be;
Clayton M300 Class A monos
Lamm M1.2 Hybrid Class A monos
Cary CAD 500MB monos
McCormack DNA-500
McCormack SMc Audio DNA-2 LAE
Others that were ok to pretty good include;
Cary CAD 500.1 monos
Clayton M200 Class A
Acoustic Imagery Atsah NC1200 monos |
MBL. Sweet and tubey.
Too be, or... |
Funny you should ask-
I’m right in the middle of a classic solid state cult amp shootout. I am comparing a Bedini 100/100, Bedini 25/25, Bel 1001, Sunfire 300 and a Forte Model 4a with Soderberg mods including blackgate caps. I usually run Coincident mkii dragons or a coincident SET, but these solid state amps are incredibly musical and I think I would be happy with almost all of these (the Sunfire being the exception) on a long-term basis. |
From my experience, though based on difference systems:
Bryston 4B3 and 28B3 monoblocks
D’Agostino Momentum Stereo amp
First Watt SIT-3
Classé Delta monoblocks I heard at Axpona
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I’m Surprised that no one mentioned Jeff Rowland especially the Model 12’s which was a major breakthrough 20+ years ago. It changed the game.
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Hi Guys
Pass Aleph 0’s
Jeff Rowland Model 2 |
My current power amps are the best I have ever heard by far. T+A M40 HV's which are monobloc's with each having dual High Voltage (hence the designation HV) solid state output sections. It is configurable in "High Current" mode as class A only (about 60 WPC), or in it's "High Power" mode as class A/AB (1000+WPC). So power is adequate for anything, but it is the sound it produces that wins you over in spades!
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No mention of Parasound in this thread surprises me. I run an HCA855 using only two of the channels and it is pretty spectacular. I know Parasound isn’t high up on the food chain but they make some very nice sounding amplifiers. |
