Does anyone have any experience of hybrid valve and solid state power amps?

Lamm, Vincent and Conrad johnson offthe top of my head.

@bazb ,
hi, i'm also interested in Dyad amp. would you describe how the sound image portrayed in that setup ? what kind of music you tested in the audition?
does it sound forward but seemingly relax and lean, airy and have more SILKY sparkle in the high ?
is it more spacious, orchestra instrument separation, airy presentation ?
is it capable to resolve complex passages & pop electronic music better ?
lastly, does it sound slightly veil or clarity with hear through effect ?
any info would be appreciated. Thank you.
-phil

Hi Phil

I have heard this amp on several occasions now, both at the dealers and in a friends set-up. It's difficult to evaluate in my friends set-up because it's difficult to tell what exactly each component is contributing. However, in his set-up it sounds excellent. He likes to play the music much louder than myself, and despite the high volume I can happily listen to his set-up for several hours without any listener fatigue.

The listen I had in the dealers was more illuminating. When I heard it I was actually auditioning amps retailing for less than a quarter of the Dyad's price. If I was rating these amps at around 4 or 5 out of 10 then by comparison I'd have given the Dyad 10 out of 10. It was simply in a different league. I listen mainly to rock/heavy metal and many of my favourite records sound lifeless and compressed. The Dyad opened up these recordings and delivered a level of transparency and space around the instruments that was stunning. This scale and depth of sound was also apparent on well recorded tracks. It sounded very musical and brought recordings to life.

Unfortunately, its well outside my price range otherwise I'd have bought it. I hope these comments are helpful, and if you can afford it I would urge you to audition one and let us know how you get on!

Most hybrid amps have a valve input stage and solid state output. Roger Modjeski instead went with a bipolar input stage and valve driver and outputs stages in his Music Reference RM-200 amp. It’s a great amp (100w/ch, from only a pair of KT88 or 6550 tubes per!), residing in Stereophile’s Class A/Tube category for many years, where it is by a wide margin the lowest priced amp. Unique for a valve output-stage amp, it puts out more power at 4 ohms than at 8 (1, 2, 4, and 8 ohms taps provide. 1 and 2 ohms in a tube amp?!)) and has an unusually low output impedance for a valve amp, resulting in a more even frequency response than typical.

A well-kept secret (it’s not expensive or fashionable enough?), Music Reference having few dealers, doing no advertising, and infrequently reviewed (just like Eminent Technology products, designed by the great designer/engineer Bruce Thigpen). Modjeski (and Thigpen) has no interest in playing the frequent model-revision (one change to the amp in twenty years, now in Mk.2 guise), endless-update marketing game. His amps are keepers, rarely coming up for sale used. Buy one and concentrate on your music.