2. amps-preamps
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The most emotional amp out there?

OK gang, I need your votes for the amp you feel that brings the chills, the goosebumps, yes maybe even a teardrop or two when you sit down and listen to your particular music of choice. Although many responders will automatically think of tubes, I do not necessarily share that "prejudice". I'm trying to find that special amp to mate with my Virgo IIs that really takes me to the heart of the music...as opposed to just performing the requisite audiophile tricks (e.g. imaging, soundstage depth, etc.). I'm tired of appreciating the specific virtues of a well known amplifier that I am auditioning but never really being transported to a place where I forget about the gear and simply am enthralled with the music.

Don't get me wrong - I enjoy the audiophile thing as much as the next person. But I am searching for the amplifier that will transcend the need to go through the checklist of listening attributes a reviewer does and instead will simply allow me to sit back and just be enveloped by the message that the particular recording artist I am listening to is trying to communicate.

I hope I'm being somewhat inteligible here and thanks for your suggestions.

Gregg
reneaugroup309c
stehno
1,453 posts
 
Why is it that the erudite always need re-clarification? Or did I just answer my own question?

It should go without saying that we are conversing in a forum with an emphasis geared almost solely toward hardware.

If that is true, then it should also go without saying that not only does the hardware influence the software, but the software is rendered completely lifeless without the hardware.

If I’ve misread some of your postings, then please share your ‘emotional’ experiences you encounter listening to your software on your am/fm/cd clock radio and/or phonograph and compare those experiences to other systems.

And while you’re at it, why not also explain why you spend so much time posting on a hardware-oriented web site like Agon?

For the record, I never talk about my experiences as being ‘emotional’, but I freely mention the significant impact that hardware often times has on the software.

-IMO
aida_w
308 posts
 
McIntosh MC 2000!
I disagree with Tripper: the emotion is NOT within the disc but within the music. But if you rely on recorded music (at all) there is gear able to transport this emotion. The above mentioned McIntosh surely is one of the strongest horses in that field.
linkoping
112 posts
 
Gotta be tube amp for sure, Art Jota BX, Mastersound 845 or Vaic amp.
khrys
446 posts
 
Jadis JA-200s surely vie for the title but I think ARC VT-100s have a spooky synergy with the Virgos especially if you run them on the 8 ohm tap.
tripper
223 posts
 
Glad some of you came around ;o) BTW, is this a hdwe site, or one for all aspects of the audio life? And no, that is not a contradiction. A new audio friend is able to listen ~8 hours a day or more, so audio Is a big part of his life. Would that we all had that kind of time to enjoy our music.

Aida, the music is surely Within the disc, and we need the hdwe to which to play it. This gets circular quickly.

Last [counter-] point: Rather than wait for tubes [rolled or otherwise] to warm up, go out of bias, fail, etc, my ss rigs play at the touch of a button and play as musically as I need them to. Not to disparage the magic of tubes or the opinions of those above--they are distinctly wonderful and I own a fine tube dac and monoblocks--but with good ss, I can get inside the music in an instant without the nervosa that plagues many of us. And the musical message is just as valid, no matter how you get there. One of my favorite systems is a simple CD/Headphone setup that can pack all the emotion wallop necessary.

Music is life
Theater is art
TV is furniture

Have a safe holiday and pray for the poor souls in NO and Biloxi.
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