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Help: low Maintenance Tube Amp short list.

I am making a short list of tube amps for audition. I would like to spend around 2000, give or take a couple hundred bucks. I would like to stay in the 50 to 60wpc range. And, last, but now least, I am looking for very low maintenance. I have seen some pictures of some tube amps, like the BAT models, with so many tubes that I wouldn't know what to do with them if they failed or needed replacement. Don't even ask me about biasing because I don't even know exactly what that is. Right now I have my eyes on a Conrad Johnson MV60. What else is there out there?

Help!
matchstikman
twl
3,251 posts
 
Berning ZH-270 is 70 wpc, has auto biasing, runs cool, has 10-20 year tube life, and has about the highest reliability rating of anything. Also has about the best sound, and is under $5k. Hard to beat. Plug and play. No long warmup required. Downside is that it looks very plain.
dopogue
1,773 posts
 
Note the CJ Premier 11A listed on Audiogon today. It's in your price range, is very reliable, easy to bias, and has the power you're looking for. (No, it's not mine.)
trcnetmsncom
431 posts
 
Hi, As Jfrech said in his post the Bat tube amps couldn't be any easier to operate. The auto-bias feature does it all. Just plug in turn on and play and they don't need a long warm up time for them to sound their best. Also would like to add their costumer support is the top in the industry. Fantastic sounding also! Good luck, Tom
mwilson
430 posts
 
Rogue Audio - I believe everything they make is auto-biasing.
matchstikman OP
205 posts
 
Zaikesman, I have a small listening room. My system consists of Decware preamp, two no-name 60wpc tube amps(low quality), Pioneer DVD player as transport, Bel Canto Dac, audioquest cables, and a pair of Silverline Panatella II speakers. I recently switched from B&W DM602s over to the Silverline speakers. My room is very small and it couldn't hanle large, full-range speakers, so I switched to the Panatellas which are basically floor stand and monitor, all in one, plus their frequency range goes much lower than the DM602 and they are very tube friendly speakers.

I listen to everything from rock to classical, but lately I have been more into classical than anything else. I have two pieces left to finish my modest system; a subwoofer(probably a Rel Strata III) and the amplifier. Audiogon has been a good ride so far.
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