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Affordable SS that sound like Tubes

I was a 100% vinyl guy for many years. Due to maintenance cost and aggravation I switched to DSD after a lot of research and I have no regrets.

 

I am looking for suggestions on affordable SS that sounds as good as Tubes. 

 

Here's the rub. My Mid Monos were less than $2,000 brand new and they sound incredible. As does my Pre that costed me less than $1,000.

Integrated suggestions are welcomed.

And I would like to hear from people that had fine tube equipment and switched to fine SS equipment.

And please, no mention of "Tubes have Higher Distortion." LOL

T

128x128tonydennison
mahgister's avatar
mahgister
13,008 posts
 

To answer about S.S. versus tubes...

And going on with my Sansui Story:

One of the best designer of tube transformer in the world till today is Hashimoto which is a company which was created by Sansui and which is Sansui legacy in tubes amplifier...

Read this :

http://www.tube-amps.net/Hashimoto_Background.htm

Read this :

 

The Secret of the Hashimoto Sound

 

THE HASHIMOTO SOUND - THE NEO-SANSUI SOUND

I had a great opportunity to personally get know of an ex-Sansui manager Mr. Ichirou Ohshima who was responsible for all ultra-high-end Sansui amps from the mid 1980’s to 1999. During this period, he managed the Sansui high-end amp department for all high-end models, such as the B-2301, the C-2301, the AU-X111 MOS Vintage, the AU-X1111 MOS Vintage, the AU-Alpha Series, the Vintage Series, the MOS Series, the Limited Series, until the reproduction of the integrated vacuum tube amp AU-111 in 1999.

The vacuum tube integrated amplifier, Sansui AU-111 has the significant meaning for Sansui as well as Mr. Ohshima. The AU-111 established the ground for the future Sansui sound, and then a young engineer, Mr. Ohshima wished to create amplifiers which could sound as good as the combination of the AU-111 and JBL speakers.

http://www.tube-amps.net/Hashimoto_Sound.htm

 

I guess that one of the reason all S.S. amplifier sound as "tube amplifier" is because they inherited from the first Sansui tube amplification design and especially from their recognized world wide expertise in transformer design... hashimoto is born from Sansui , it is Sansui under another name...

 

Then it is a safe bet to say the Sansui amplifier S.S. design at his peak is very well known for his perfect balance of S. S. qualities and tube like sound ...

 

Buy a vintage Sansui and judge as i did by yourself...

I will never part from my Sansui alpha and he win easily the contest compared to the 2 tube amplifiers i listened to by far...

 
ditusa's avatar
ditusa
1,883 posts
 

@newbee +10

Mike

michaelalan
14 posts
 

Not quite your question, but I recently acquired the Heaven 11 Billie MKII integrated, which is a tube preamp combined with class D amp. I've been tube rolling the last few weeks, switching preamp tubes makes quite a change. Just throwing out the tube-preamp with ss amp combo.

mahgister's avatar
mahgister
13,008 posts
 

Sansui established this long time ago officially ending successfully  with  their project to create a S.S. design that will sound exactly as their top amplifier AU111...

Then from this came half of your sentence : some tube designer effectively created S.S. design sounding exactly as tube design... ... Effectively the tube and transformer designer Sansui going S.S. design create two amplifiers sounding exactly the same, one was tube and the other S.S. ...

The other half of your sentence about the fact that no manufacturer never said that their tubes amplifier sound like S.S. design is not exact... David Berning said so and he is one of the best tube designer in the world...he claim that his tube design sound fluid as tubes and detailed and dynamic as S.S. design...

Some tube manufacturer claimed exactly that as Berning did because S. S. design has also his qualities , faster dynamic, more details, more power etc

 

Then your sentence is not a very deep truth but a common place joke born from design prejudices...

The reality is any design is a trade-off master piece or not , being tubes or S. S. ; but some company succeed better than others, being S. S. or tubes...

😊

Ever notice that SS manufacturers and merchants often tell us their device ’sounds like tubes’ but no tube manufacturer sez their device sounds like SS. :-)

mahgister's avatar
mahgister
13,008 posts
 

Probably one of the best solution could be a tube pre-amp as the Berning microzotl and a power amplifier of S.S. design which must be tube-like for this optimal pairing as any Sansui of the Au series are... ...

If i could i would have done it...But my Sansui alpha is an integrated with no separate pre-amp and amp function ... Costlier Sansui alpha are designed to be so...The Au 7700 too...

 

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