New H20 Signature S250

rpw

My amp was purchased as a Signature S250.

Carlton

I recently auditioned the Signature Stereo H20 in my system and liked it so much that I put an order in for one. Like Woodburger, I have an Audio Research VT100 MKII amp. I did not hear any of the problems that Woodburger reported in his system but I don't have networked cables either. Compared to my Audio Research VT100 tubed amp, the H20 is more dynamic with better controlled bass, more transparent, and drives my large ProAc speakers with more authority and slam. It also has a wonderful warm midrange and a smooth top end too. At the same time it gets the timbre and the harmonic neuances of acoustical instruments right and does this at least as well as my tubed amp which really suprised me. It does not sound in anyway like any of the Solid State amps that I have had in my system in the past. I never thought that I would ever get away from a tubed amp but the H20 has demonstrated that this is possible even for a tubeophile. The bottom line is that it really connects me to the music and that is why I am purchasing it.

Help! In reading back over all of the discussions and reviews on Henry's amplifiers, it appears that the best synergies have been found with tubed preamps. Is that true or am I just reading something into it that really isn't there? I've just ordered the S 250 sig. and discussed the same question briefly with Henry. I'm not really a tube lover, but prefer the more neutral sound of most good SS preamps. Having said that, I'm a bit concerned with the recent comments made in the 6 moons review relating to there "lack of texture." I realize that the reviewer is a confirmed tube lover and that may just have been his way of stating the obvious differences between tubes and SS. In any event, what used SS or tubed preamp in your opinion would best get me to where I want to go? My speakers are the Von Schweikert VR 4 HSE and I will most likely be using the Sim Audio Eclipse SE, as my source. Thanks in advance for your assistance.

Lloyd, You found the one seemingly ambiguous line in the whole review. The
writing went like this,

"Tubes create a certain texture which these amps don't. Tubes can be
very transparent but to my ears, it's a transparency modified in different
frequency bands and modulated by certain layering and soundstaging effects.
The latter are highly addictive ( consider me a major addict). But they are
effects. They simply do not ever arise in real life."

The H2O will not add any effects, good or bad, to the recording. It just excels
on digging out the deepest nuances of the recording. I find that much more
addicting.

I believe a little bit of tubes is a good thing. My DAC has tubes. My preamp is
a class A solid state.