Which Solid State Amplifier is Making you Happy?

Vince, I am trying. . . closest I've been able to arrange is to be in Fresno on Sept 6th and 7th. . . but I haven't lost all hope yet! Guido

The last three SS amps I have used were all nice. The big Krells are the best of the three with my Thiels.
Krell FPB 650M, Ayre K-1xe, Parasound JC-1s.

I've had a Coda amp for some time now and have found it
able to keep up with any upstream changes showing a
difference in the pieces and able to put the peddle to the
metal for power. In any case I feel a high current amp seems to work best overall.

There are so many amps being named, I wonder if there are any bad sounding SS amps (hyperbole). It does seem that SS has come a long way.

Jeff Rowland model 8T most musical satisfying amp I ever had. Second in my system with Acoustats the Levinson ML-2's. They do posses such a transparency and pinpoint placement of instruments but they could not properly drive my inefficient speakers. Eighteen Volts was max, but they can deliver lots of current and even drive a Apogee Scintilla 1 Ohm version.
Do not know how well the 8T performs in the lower impedence ranges (I mean 2 Ohm and below). It's specification says only 250 Watts @ 8 Ohm and 400 Watts at 4 Ohm. A perfect Voltage source should deliver 500 Watts at that rating of course. Maybe someone does on this forum?

Brian, specs for the JRDG 8T at:
http://jeffrowland.com/ClassicSpecs.htm#M8
show a damping factor of 100. This suggests that this amp may not be ideal for driving speakers with very low impedance. If you like as I do the special sound of Jeff Rowland amplifiers, you may have a look at the model 312, JRDG's current flagship. It has a damping factor of 1000 and an output voltage of 125Ohms. Yet, it is to my ears one of the most musical devices I have ever heard. . . plus the usual audiophilic musts of revealing, harmonic complexity, macro/micro dynamics, extension, staging, imaging. You can read a semi-technical sidebar I have just published on this device on the December 2008 issue of The Absolute Sound on page 80, part of my review of the Vienna Mahler speakers. Guido

Stax DMA-X2 Monoblock.

i enjoy my Mac 501's. lots of power and looks like no other.
Pepe

Spectron Musician III Mk 2. Particularly as monoblocks - so relaxing and "real" sounding that it is a completely different experience for me.

My Counterpoint Solid 1e love it.

My Counterpoint Solid 1e love it.Blows away digital amps.

I don't know if one considers a Lamm 2.2 or 1.2 a solid state, but this is one of the best amps I've heard & owned.

I should add now the Acoustic Plan Sitar Integrated amp, it is not a pure SS design but keeps the benefit of both topologies. Very nice indeed.

i am a Musical Fidelity fan, but since the 'original' oblong NUVISTA series went out of the market, my taste went wth it.

these are the SS amps that made me really happy (latest to oldest):

- Krell FPB 200c - current and probably my main stay
- Musical Fidelity XA-200 with a Nuvista or XP-100 Preamp
- Threshold Stasis
- Forte Model Fity-five
- MF Typhoon

I will have no difficulty getting these amps again if they are still or made available.

.e.

Whatever you consider them, I agree with Nolitan, the Lamm hybrids are the end of the line for me. The M1.1 is what I can afford for now, but the 1.2 is on the horizon. Pretty close to everything I could hope for.

McCormack DNA 125

I have the Pass Labs X350. I nearly pass out in ecstasy every time I listen. Seriously, it is very good and gets even better the longer it is on- ie. several days as the temperature and bias current stabilizes. It runs warm- makes for a great heater in the winter.