Sanders ESL Power Amp & Mono blocks

Hi Tpsonic,

Roger strongly prefers SS to tubes and suggests that his own SS pre is a good partner. His view on the SS vs. tube debate is interesting because he has actually designed both. His view is that valves DO sound better than transistors, but only in amplifiers that are clipping. When both valve and transistor amplifiers (and preamplifiers) are operating within their design parameters and not clipping, he maintains that they can (and usually do) sound identical.

What digital source are you now using? Still the Gamut?

Kiwi 1282001, Yes,still the Gamut CD3.
Roger had a local designer build his iTube units and had him working on a tube pre.I believe that whole deal fell apart after Roger no longer controlled Innersound.Only 3-4 iTubes were built.I believe Roger has one and a few customers.
When I had the amps,I was using a modified Mark Brassfield/MSB design trans/dac combo.

I had the Innersound I330 power amp paired with the Innersound Eros Mk 3.5 passive ESL's and the combination was pure bliss. I would highly recommend a used Innersound amp or one from Roger, especially if you own a difficult to drive electrostatic loudspeaker.

I have the ESL preamp, phonostage, esl amp and crossover/bass amp and Eros Mk II and think the sound is absolutely spectacular. Both digital and analogue sound awesome. I purchased my setup from Roger before the big reviews, and before he sold and moved to Colorado, so picked up the whole shooting match for a song. Tough to upgrade as I would probably need to spend $50k just for amps and speakers. I think the synergy of having all the same components may have something to do with it. I auditioned some pretty nice sounding systems (B & W 802, Classe amps/preamp and CD player; Dynaudio 25's, BAT CD player, amps and preamp) and Roger was recommended by a friend of his. Ordered the system from Roger solely based on the design, his buddies recommendation and the fairly limited press at the time. Once the reviews hit, it all became history. I am absolutely delighted with Rogers gear. He is a genius--and was easilly approachable. When my amps went into oscillation because of a speaker wire termination issue (not by him) he not only talked me through things--he gave me his cell phone number!

Ah, some more Sanders amp users...

Why? Well it has one of the purest mids-highs I've heard from SS amps, while retaining the grunt in the bass. Its like a marriage between v good SE tube w/o the euphony, and powerful clean SS bass.

What else? Nothing really. I only consider changing equipment when it is able to move me, draw me into the music. Otherwise I don't really bother. I'm mostly a tube guy, so getting this amp really speakers volumes about its musicality.

Opted for the ModWright SWLP with NOS tubes. Heard the Sanders pre, but I couldn't warm up to its sound.

I don't agree that this amp is meant for digital, that would be very obtuse. The amp is extremely neutral and clean. It would therefore reveil whatever warts or beauty there is from the source.