tube amp shoot-out

To follow the complete thread, see "tube amps $2000-$3200 below." Here are the results of my amp shootout from last weekend. I had at home the Conrad-Johnson MV60SE, the Rogue Stereo 90, and the Manley Mahi-Mahi monoblocks.

The Rogue, in short, I found silky (my listening partner's term, but it fits) but dull overall. The bass was thick and undistinguished. Plenty of energy on rock and pop (I admit to being a less particular listener in that music), and sorted things out reasonably on most classical music, but the presentation was just kind of disinterested. That's not a very clinical analysis, I know, but it was the overall impression.

The C-J sounded simply gorgeous on everything I played. Never ran out of steam on even the largest orchestral/choral music, every instrument true to life--with the exception of some of the natural air that surrounds voices and instruments in live performance. That's mainly what I missed: a certain amount of sparkle to the sound.

The Mahi-Mahi had all the sparkle and life that the C-J lacked. I really loved this amp--and the little monoblocks look sparkly as well. Vocals were stunning, chamber music was mesmerizing and sucked me right into the performance. I played this amp in both triode and ultralinear mode (as I did with the Rogue; the C-J came factory-set in UL mode), and which sounded better depended on what music was playing. The great failing of the Mahi's, for me, was in orchestrl music, which it really didn't seem to be able to handle very well. It didn't sound like it was running out of steam, just gave a confused presentation. Instruments were sometimes unidentifiable, multi-layered textures were clouded. Since I'm an orchestral conductor, this was an insurmountable problem for me, and quite depressing, because I loved everything else about this amp. One other exception: After a certain volume level (and I'm no head-banger), the sound got a bit glaring, which didn't happen on either the Rogue or the C-J. Is this what people mean by "tube glare"?

So the overall winner would be the Conrad-Johnson, because it had many virtues and did nothing at all wrong. But I didn't buy any of them. I guess I really want the life and love of the Manley, with the control of the C-J. I wonder, for another $2000, do the Manley Snappers have all that???

My system:

Nottingham Interspace/Dynavector 20X-H
Sony XA20ES cdp
Rogue 99 pre/phono
ProAc Response 2.5 speakers
Cardas/MIT/Analysis Plus cables

So, still looking! Hope to bring home a Cary Rocket 88 and the Rogue M-120 or M-150 monoblocks in a couple of weeks.