EL34 Lovers?

The Quicksilver Mid Mono or Triode are two other is amps on my EL34 "hit" list. Aside from the additional power of the RM9 (the QSs are 50 watts), which is proabably not necessary with my Merlin VSMs, the three amps would seem to be good ones to compare.

Audio Electronic Supplies(AES)Super Amp MkII, designed and manufactured by Cary Audio in NC, USA.

Fast, airy, dynamic, great frequency extension, with good bass. It sounds like a cross between SS and tubes.

I am using it with a full compliment of EH tubes for the driver, input, and output tubes. These tubes take a long time to break in. They are harsh for 100s of hours before they settle in, but they have great extension and tonal pitch.

As I've experimented with my Music Reference RM9, I cam to conclude that even though the amp was designed with the EL34 in mind, and even though the EL34 is said to be a good match with my speakers, I consistently prefer the KT88s in the amp in almost every way.

I second Pubul57's experience with KT88s in a Music Reference RM9.

I've heard that KT88 can sound quite good and I have yet to try them. The Super Amp 2 is so versatile it can use 6 different output tubes and also be configured in triode as well. This amp looks like Cary discontinued Rocket88 that used KT88 tubes so it makes me want to try it sometime.

http://www.audioelectronicsupply.com/cgi-bin/audioelectronicsupply.com/view_services.cgi?request=detail&dept_id=2&aisle_id=21&prod_num=superamp_mk2