What is the best solid state amplifier you have ever heard?


What is the best solid state amplifier you have ever heard?
jozurr
The one I own, YBA 3 DT with Vandersteen 2 ce. Of course there's better but when you can stop looking that becomes the best for you.
I found Accuphase P4500 for my setup as the best amp in many ways! If you can tolerate >200W class-A constant heat, then try Accuphase A48.
D'Agostino, Ayre and Luxman.

The Luxman and D'Agostino were very close.

Ayre is a different animal altogether, and, oddly, sounds a lot like Arcam.
IME, synergy is the single most important element in piecing together a system. And amps are no different, especially when it comes to pairing them with your speakers. What sounds best in one system may sound like crap in another system. 

After trying few SS amps, i have heard nothing as magical and transparent as Accuphase E-650. It was simply a match made in heaven for my Tannoy Canterbury’s. 
My top integrateds which I shortlisted and auditioned: In order:
Luxman 590axii 
Luxman 509x.
Esoteric F-05
Pass Int-250
Gryphon Diablo 300.
Pass Xa.8 (w Wilson Sabrina)
Fistwatt J2

I have also a Nagra 300i (300b tubes). i300 is sounds similar to the two Pass Amps, but Xa.8 is materially stronger

Other strong contenders

- Accuphase a46 (et al)
- Bryston (too cold sounding)
- Firstwatt F5 turbo very cool




CH-Precision M1,1 stereo amplifier, which was driving Rockport Avior speakers.
Komi64

How are the Pass and J2 different and similar in sound? I have a j2 and love it. I may upgrade to Pass 60 watt monos
Suprised not more mention of jeff rowland his integrated is around38k...not one mention of solution ?? Mispelled
I agree with roberjerman, Bedini 25/25. I had one and traded it. I should have held on to it, but I switched to a tube amp that is also excellent.
SS Amp, credo "Do No Harm"

For me, the only justification for SS is the need for power, invisible/inaudible power. To drive inefficient speakers you simply love to volume levels you must occasionally have.

Best SS I have Owned, in my system for years, was McIntosh MC2250. Driving JSE Infinite Slope Model 2’s. Mine tested accurate to 305 wpc at lab day at Harvey’s the day I picked it up. A dead quiet beast, absolutely no idea it was on.

Went back to my super efficient horn speakers, No distracting meters, on low shelf, adjacent to alternate 30/35wpc tube mono-blocks. Everybody chose tubes over SS when I swapped back and forth.
McIntosh 600w/c vintage late 80's. Bought it secondhand but returned it due to hum. Replaced with Krell 250wpc not nearly as fine driving the B&W 803s3
My own modded Mac 2105 and an Audio Research 100.2. That is a really nice amp.
My Sansui AU 7700 recap is so great that i bought another Sansui supposed to be better in the alpha series.... theorically better in refinement and it was.... But i go on mainly with my so sweet, ,more colored, and "less refined" Au7700.... The 2 Sansui are marvels...The Au is not less refine in fact it was only in a different color scale....It make all music natural.....


Not sure if this is " best ", but Edge ( now Maker Audio ) NL Reference mono blocks, through a pair of MBLs. It was so beautiful listening to Santana’s Europa, I cried.
@roxy54

Audio Research 100.2. That is a really nice amp.


i agree 100% .... 100.2 by arc one of the nicest ss amps ever - voiced warm yet transparent and w/ iron grip when needed - voiced to sound right by the definitive tube amp maker

i have had mine since new, others come and go... this one stays...
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The new Krell K300i Class A Integrated is gobsmackingly great!  Hard to make a case for better Sonics at any price...different maybe, but not better.
jjss49,
The AR 100.2 is special. It has more real color and texture (not colored) than most ampps, especially solid state ones. Definitely better than my Mac in some ways, and quick too. I still want one!
Well, so far, in my system.. The PASS XA25 sounds like a SET amp with balls. I was all tubes before, several Class D amps, etc...
This XA25 amp sounds as good as anything I’ve heard before, without being too big or powerful..  but requires proper matching of speakers, etc to get the most from it..  
If you have efficient speakers which are between 8 to 4 ohms. The FW SIT-3 is a top contender.
I believe the OP's question was, what is the best solid state amp YOU have heard?  not what is the best solid state amp out there.

As some have mentioned previously, it is definitely system dependent.  However, if you listen to a particular system and simply swap out the amp with another one, not changing any other component, match levels and listen, then, you definitely are listening to particular amps.  There is a poster here on Audiogon that was initially demo'ing amps.  I believe he has well over 13,000 posts here now.  However, the problem with that is that no way did he listen to the amps in exactly the same system.  He changed out many other things along the way.  So, no way can you tell me that a person can offer 100% solid opinions on a particular piece when the system you heard other amps in was different.

other than that, I like his forum.  

I have demo'd many amps in stereo stores.  Stereo Design in San Diego (owner now retired), liked me over the years such that If I wanted them to swap out amps/preamps, etc. to A/B them, they did it.  They knew that if I really liked something, I probably (eventually) would buy. 

Top of the line Stupidly expensive Boulder amp vs Audio Research REF 250 or REF 750.  Believe it or not, the Audio Research amps beat out the Boulder.  

Mark Levinson 23.5 to me is still one of the best amps I've heard A/B'd with other amps in the same system. Remember, you must match levels and then listen. 

Mark Levinson ML-2, Bedini 25/25, Nelson Pass 25W amp.  with efficient speakers, wow!!!!!

And yes, I have heard them in the same system, comparing them to other amps only.
This is just a few, there several out there.  the problem is People are trying to remember what something sounded like in their or another system and then later on changed out the component (or many others) often without direct comparisons and matching levels and going by memory.

Many of the amps mentioned are actually pretty darn good.

I know this is a system and not just an amp, but the only system that I've heard that actually disappeared was at Optimal Enchantment in Santa Monica, CA.  Stupidly expensive Basis (top of the line) turn table, Audio Research REF10 phono stage, Audio Research REF10 pre-amp, Vandersteen 7A speakers and yes, Audio Research REF 250SE amps.  Cables were top of the line (thick as a snake) Audioquest cables.  never heard a better system or one that disappeared like that one.  Wow!

enjoy


Luxman m900u (in an all Luxman system) and Benchmark AHB2 (in an all Benchmark system). Two different sounding amps. I loved both.

I bought a second AHB2 yesterday to run in mono. I was in fact deciding between the CODA #8 mentioned above and 2 AHB2’s.
I believe the OP’s question was, what is the best solid state amp YOU have heard? not what is the best solid state amp out there.

lol -- this makes replies even more meaningless as many, if not most posters have little history here, and do not qualify their comments and choices with disclosures of their systems, nor their experience (much less a listing of other amps they have had)

a nad amp would be the best sounding amp i’ve ever heard if i got into the hobby last year and had just a sonos amp prior, driving my dad's 30 year old advents ... 🤔

Plinius sa100 Mark 1. Put this amp on Class A Its sounds like tube amp, very very musical. It dissects music the way it’s suppose to be.This is the only solid state Amp that can make my Andra sing.
Best amp i've heard to date is the Gryphon Mephisto and best integrated is the Audionet Humboldt.
My McIntosh MC452, because it pairs so well with my Focal Sopra No2 speakers, which can sound "thin" and have too much treble, if driven by an amp that does not have a "relaxed" sound quality.

The best integrated amps that I have heard in my system are:

Luxman L-509u

Luxman L-595A

Accuphase E-380

I had a Bedini 25/25 years ago. A great sounding amp with a great soundstage. I eventually traded it, but the guy I traded it to sold it to someone else and that person said it was the best amplifier he had ever owned and that he would never get rid of it. I have had great amplifiers since then so that's the way it is in this hobby.

"Berning TF-10 preamp, Berning EA230 amp."

Both of which are vacuum tube based, not solid state.