solid state vs tubes--with a twist

If you go back about 10 years or more I would say yes. But now it seems like the trend is to get more resolution and detail-everything just seems to be getting brighter. To me this is a negative. For tube like sound I think the CJ solid state amps are a good bet. Some of the older integrated amps from England have a warm sound. The Creek 4330, Audio innovations Alto, and Magnum Audio are good examples. You can always go for a 1970's receiver.

cont.. Many of these companies have gone under and the ones that are still around have also become much brighter sounding to my ears like the newer Creek amps. I heard the "Heed" from the country of Hungary sounds sounds warmish. Maybe the Audio Analogue stuff from Italy too. You can give them a try. There sadly is not much new solid state gear out there these days that sound warm and/or tube like. Either the amp designers are getting older and are losing their hearing or too many people are going to too many loud rock concerts. :) I hope this changes in the future. Someone please design a warm sounding, analogue sounding solid state amp.

Thanks for the clarification Magfan, it seems I was playing a little loose with all the facts in this case. The further result was that Carver did develop an all out tube design that was highly regarded. I still take issue with any classic sounding tube gear and ss of any variety I've heard sounding similar in the way that it seems Mr. Tennis is looking for. I am quite familiar with 2 out of those 3 amps the MV75 and MV 125, owned a few cj pre-amps from that era and was in love with that sound myself at the time and I have NEVER heard any ss amp that sounds similar. That was a real signature sound for Conrad-Johnson. I can't say I am familiar with their new offerings and where they have gone.

Yes Racamudi, it was the N.E.W. 20.1 but weren't they battery powered as well? In any case I was quite impressed actually very impressed. I saw them at an audio show back in the early 90's and there were several demos using that amp.

I purchased the NEW DCA-33 back in 1996 along with the P-3 preamplifier (built by Cary and based on the SLP-50 circuit) and LP-3 phono stage. I enjoyed this set-up for about 7 years. The amp was definitely on the warm side of neutral, but after comparing it to a Cary V-12i I don't think I would confuse the sound the DCA-33 produced with the classic tube sound of the Cary.

While living in CA I happened upon the designer of the DCA-33. IIRC he confirmed for me that the design was based heavily on a Nelson Pass circuit known as the A-40. It's available on the Pass DIY website.

i review for audiophilia.com.