Warm sounding ss power amps

Johnny7, this is a classic example of needing to be careful as far as the language used to describe the sound of a system and the potential solution to the perceived problem. You say that your system is bright and you want to warm it up. The opposite of bright is dark and the opposite of warm is cold. Can we assume that your system sounds cold to you? If yes, that may have nothing to do with brightness as far as I'm concerned. I have owned components that were dark but cold sounding; conversely I have had components that were bright but actually quite warm sounding. My suggestion to you is to make sure that what you object to in the sound of your system is not harshness rather than brightness. The most common suggestion in your case is to add a tube amp, but many tube amps in my experience sound "brighter" than some solid state amps. They do however tend to be softer sounding and more forgiving of harshness elsewhere in the system. Perhaps a complete description of the evolution of my amp ownwership and perceived sound characteristics will help. First amp owned: Hafler200(ss)somewhat bright, dry, cold, a little harsh. -- B&KST140(ss) much warmer, softer, dark, slightly dry -- PS Audio200 (ss) VERY cold, uninvolving, somewhat bright -- BEL1001(ss)much brighter, tense, smoothest (lack of harshness) yet -- Berning 2100(tube) brightest yet, most detailed yet, NOT cold, very dynamic -- Manley Reference200 monos (tube) just right!. Remember that this was all in the context of my system. Good luck and regards.

Thank ypu all for the replies regarding warm sounding SS power amps.
I do not currently own a high end system.However,I am planning to put one together.
I have done some listening and will continue to do more.
I would like to get the opinion of someone experienced in
separate components other than a salesperson.
Your replies have been very helpful.
Thanks,Johnny7

belles hot rod or warner imaging vte. jm sound is practically giving one away. good luck.

I like Classe amps, I have a CA-200 and a CAV-75. The rich, full midrange is what sold me on the Classe.

To respond to something that Megasam stated, Bi-polar amps are typically known for having better bass response than Mosfets when properly designed. As such, one would think that they would sound "warmer" but that is typically not the case. Mosfets are typically "softer" sounding to start off with and, as is the case in most "mass produced" electronics, the lack of gain matching in Bi-polar output devices can tend to make them sound hard or bright. Lack of "gain matching" in bi-polar based amps is why most of the SS "muscle amps" of the 1970's and early 80's sounded so "transistor" even though many of them were capable of excellent bass response. Sean
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