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Low Watt Solid State Amp

I am a tube guy.  Have been for the last 20 years.  I have various tube amps that I rotate depending on my mood.  More recently, I have had the urge to add a solid state amp to the rotation.  Looking for something clean, detailed, natural sounding that is in the neighborhood of 20 to 50 watts.  I use a deHavilland Ultraverve 3 preamp with relatively high efficiency Tonian Lab speakers.  Firstwatt comes to mind but is higher than I want to spend right now.  Budget is about $1,000.  Looking for a diamond in the rough kinda piece.  For example, one of the tube amps that puts a smile on my face every time I plug it in is my Dynaco ST-35 -- not a huge investment, but just always sounds right.  Any ideas are much appreciated.  Thanks
gotog
atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
11,841 posts
 
If you are into tubes (and BTW, there are some very nice mods available for the SCA-35 at this link: http://www.tronola.com/html/a_new_look.html), the devices that are closest to tube operation are Static Induction Transistors (SITs).
They have linearity not unlike triodes and even have soft clipping like tubes.

The old Sony VFet used SITs, but Sony didn't have a good grasp on how to use them at the time and so the amps were a bit unstable. Nelson Pass has designed a new circuit employing the SITs. The problem of course is that SITs are no longer in production, you have to build the amp from a kit (if you can still get one, check with the DIY store on DIYaudio.com) and the amp only makes about 20 watts, but at least the latter is in the ballpark for you.
charles1dad's avatar
charles1dad
10,250 posts
 
Last summer a generous audiogon member loaned me his D.I.Y. Nelson Pass  S.I.T. (push pull version 35 watts) amplifier.  It was well broken -in and I used it for about 4 weeks. It was one of the best sounding solid state amplifiers I've ever heard. 
Charles 
lcherepkai
280 posts
 
Gainclones/chip amps are another fine option.  I had the Audiosector integrated and the transparency & detail were strong points.  I later bought a DIY gainclone here on A'gon and it was even better.  There are several available presently, here and on the Audiomarts and Ebay and most are way below your $$ limit. 
kalali's avatar
kalali
1,977 posts
 
This is stating the obvious but for a $1K budget you’re better off looking for a high(er) power SS amplifier even if you don’t need the power. The newer low power SS amplifiers, except older/vintage receivers, tend to be almost all class A and hard to find in that budget.
simon
53 posts
 
You may want to take a look at the Teddy Pardo ST-60. Great little amp and excellent build.
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