Recommended solid state amp for user with tinnitus


Hello all,

I'm 58 and been a music lover since my teens. Through a variety of jobs in noisy work environments (metal working), target shooting, loud rock in my teens, etc., etc., I have been a sufferer of tinnitus for many years.

I am finding the 20-year old Martin-Logan Stylos speakers in my home theater are aggravating the tinnitus. I am replacing them as the front left-right mains in my home theater with the new Monitor Audio Gold 300's (gen 5 2019), along with a PS Audio DirectStream DAC. My  Marantz AV7702mkII home theater processor will be the preamp for 2-channel playback. The speakers use a MPD (Micro Pleated Diaphram) high-frequency transducer for the tweeter,  90 dB Sensitivity (1W@1m) • 4 Ohms Nominal Impedance • 3.5 Ohms @1 kHz Minimum Impedance, 250 Watts Power Handling (RMS) • 100 - 250 Watts Recommended Amplifier Requirements (RMS).

I was looking for a solid state amp in the $2000 - $5000 range that would work well with the Gold 300 speakers and keep the sound warm and non-fatiguing with good resolution. Any suggestions are welcome and appreciated. I'm wondering if McIntosh might be suited for my situation(?). Any suggestions for solid state are welcome.

In my office, I have a PrimaLuna HP tube amp, PS Audio DirectStream DAC and Monitor Audio PL100 monitors, and they tend to be much easier on my ears and tinnitus issue. I do NOT want a tube amp for my system that I am asking for recommendations on, no way to place it in my cabinetry.

Thank you in advance,
Sam
128x128samster777
Hi Sam, I'm a musician and got tinnitus in my 30's which was a very loud constant ringing in both ears. I'd like to tell you about how I was able to reduce the ringing issue by 90%. It took a long time as in 5+ years but in my situation it was something I needed to try to do. It occurred to me that if the cause was damage to the cilia and the resulting random nerve activity it seemed intuitive that if the ear system got some "rest" it might help reduce not the damage per se but help quiet the whole system that causes the ringing. It worked. What I did was get ear plugs and wear them anytime I was awake and did not need to hear critically. So just around the house, traveling to and from work, etc. Now in my case the worst part was in playing music especially piano loud passages would ping my ears and cause louder ringing. Any loud sound louder than a mezzo forte would cause audible ringing to get worse for a short time. Over about 3 months of "resting" my ear with the plugs I noticed a obvious reduction in the reaction to louder sounds but still there was the constant ring. Over 12 months of faithfully using the plugs and avoiding like the plague really loud sounds for instance outside a jack hammer I notice a very significant reduction in the ping and also a  reduction in the ringing at night and in silent environments. I stopped going to concerts and stopped playing records for the first year also. This was itself "painful" but I felt necessary. I do not recall exactly but after 2-3 years of constant plugs (I got so used to it it was not a burden) the night ringing was reduced 50% and the ping was gone for loud piano playing. All in all I think I did the plugs for about 10 years slowly trailing off on how long during waking hours I wore them. After that period the ping went away except for very loud sudden sounds and the constant ring was reduced around 80+% Now I am able to play a sax or trumpet and go to a symphony concert and sit close up and not have those things re-excite the tinnitus. I still have a low level ring all the time but it's so low now that I can hear it only in 100% quiet at night and it's too quiet to bother me falling to sleep which was not true in the old days. I found by this experiment that absolute and long term rest of the hearing system allows something to occur which reduces the strength of the nerve firings by a huge percentage.  Good luck! 
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I like the smoothness of classic, cult, class A amps from previous decades.  In particular, Bedini, Forte model 4 and BEL 1001’s are my favorites.  All smooth as butter.
McIntosh c49 or the c52.    It three Dates a day in combination with some nuts!   It'll help your tinnitus. Also increase your garlic consumption.   
I have tinnitus on one side only (Meniere's Disease) and have owned the first SS McIntosh power amp ever made (the 2100) for decades. It is very tube like and may be the most so ever made by them. It is built like a tank and has never failed.

I use a more modern and more critical non soft SS preamp with it and it is a wonderful combination that is never irritating. I listen for many hours at a time at live performance volume to classical and jazz with no irritation whatsoever. If you can find a well maintained one you will not be sorry and will never lose a dime.

By the way, I have lots more stuff and this is my favorite setup of all of them.