The most emotional amp out there?


OK gang, I need your votes for the amp you feel that brings the chills, the goosebumps, yes maybe even a teardrop or two when you sit down and listen to your particular music of choice. Although many responders will automatically think of tubes, I do not necessarily share that "prejudice". I'm trying to find that special amp to mate with my Virgo IIs that really takes me to the heart of the music...as opposed to just performing the requisite audiophile tricks (e.g. imaging, soundstage depth, etc.). I'm tired of appreciating the specific virtues of a well known amplifier that I am auditioning but never really being transported to a place where I forget about the gear and simply am enthralled with the music.

Don't get me wrong - I enjoy the audiophile thing as much as the next person. But I am searching for the amplifier that will transcend the need to go through the checklist of listening attributes a reviewer does and instead will simply allow me to sit back and just be enveloped by the message that the particular recording artist I am listening to is trying to communicate.

I hope I'm being somewhat inteligible here and thanks for your suggestions.

Gregg
reneaugroup309c
Jadis JA-200s surely vie for the title but I think ARC VT-100s have a spooky synergy with the Virgos especially if you run them on the 8 ohm tap.
Glad some of you came around ;o) BTW, is this a hdwe site, or one for all aspects of the audio life? And no, that is not a contradiction. A new audio friend is able to listen ~8 hours a day or more, so audio Is a big part of his life. Would that we all had that kind of time to enjoy our music.

Aida, the music is surely Within the disc, and we need the hdwe to which to play it. This gets circular quickly.

Last [counter-] point: Rather than wait for tubes [rolled or otherwise] to warm up, go out of bias, fail, etc, my ss rigs play at the touch of a button and play as musically as I need them to. Not to disparage the magic of tubes or the opinions of those above--they are distinctly wonderful and I own a fine tube dac and monoblocks--but with good ss, I can get inside the music in an instant without the nervosa that plagues many of us. And the musical message is just as valid, no matter how you get there. One of my favorite systems is a simple CD/Headphone setup that can pack all the emotion wallop necessary.

Music is life
Theater is art
TV is furniture

Have a safe holiday and pray for the poor souls in NO and Biloxi.
I'm swooning over the most luscious Heathkit UA-2's. They are unmodified but completely refreshed, generating 16 watts (per side) from NOS 6BQ5's.
Why is an amp supposed to be "emotional"? I thought the goal of us amp makers was to produce a product that neither added to, subtracted from, or changed the original source.

Right????

Pat
There seems to be more soul in most LP's than in the whole lot of CD's out there. Tonight with a few beers the best was some old R&B on a scratchy old disc.

I'm tellin' ya 'bout my Rocket 88, cruisin and boozin' along...

It's all about the company you keep... and the joy you find there