Don, I am not sure if this would be something you would try, but an online friend rid himself of tubes after he auditioned a (I think) 6500 Musical Fidelity.
His thing is the way it can be a 500wpc integrated, yet has the "delicacy at low levels like my flea power tube gear."
I guess the next one down, at 200wpc, fits right in your price range and sounds very much the same...but with less power.
I am told when there is no signal, nothing comes out. This may sound elementary, but he is the third person who has commented this way about these amps. Black hole silence between passages and warp speed transients. (Not my words...but when three people say the same thing...)
Might be worth a listen. It is not something I often hear about solid state at low volume levels.
I wish I could hear a few of the offerings mentioned in this thread.
His thing is the way it can be a 500wpc integrated, yet has the "delicacy at low levels like my flea power tube gear."
I guess the next one down, at 200wpc, fits right in your price range and sounds very much the same...but with less power.
I am told when there is no signal, nothing comes out. This may sound elementary, but he is the third person who has commented this way about these amps. Black hole silence between passages and warp speed transients. (Not my words...but when three people say the same thing...)
Might be worth a listen. It is not something I often hear about solid state at low volume levels.
I wish I could hear a few of the offerings mentioned in this thread.