I have sailed a long journey of amps, which sometimes makes me wonder if I should write a book on this topic:)
But the summary of the book would end up with summary of my amps (here I mention tubed or hybrid amps only even though I have had several solid state amps as well).
I have owned Conrad Johnsons, Audio Valve Challenger, Jadis JA-500, Lamm M2.1, Llano, and have also tried out a few other tubed amps for short while. My speakers have included Avalon Ascent, McIntosh, Legacy Focus, and various Apogees (Fullrange, Diva, Scintilla, Duetta, Stage).
My current Speaker is a modified Apogee Fullrange.
Out of all the amps I have owned or listened, nothing compares to Tube Research Labs GT-400 or GT-800. These
amps stand head and shoulder above anything else in terms of transparency, details, delicacy, balance, control, power, liquidity, or any other performance measure.
The next best amp was the Jadis JA-500 even though the Audio Valve was good too.
My current TRL GT-800 (weighing over 1000 lbs) is easily the final frontier in amps for me.
But the summary of the book would end up with summary of my amps (here I mention tubed or hybrid amps only even though I have had several solid state amps as well).
I have owned Conrad Johnsons, Audio Valve Challenger, Jadis JA-500, Lamm M2.1, Llano, and have also tried out a few other tubed amps for short while. My speakers have included Avalon Ascent, McIntosh, Legacy Focus, and various Apogees (Fullrange, Diva, Scintilla, Duetta, Stage).
My current Speaker is a modified Apogee Fullrange.
Out of all the amps I have owned or listened, nothing compares to Tube Research Labs GT-400 or GT-800. These
amps stand head and shoulder above anything else in terms of transparency, details, delicacy, balance, control, power, liquidity, or any other performance measure.
The next best amp was the Jadis JA-500 even though the Audio Valve was good too.
My current TRL GT-800 (weighing over 1000 lbs) is easily the final frontier in amps for me.