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SS amp mosfet 'haze' - ever experienced this?

Tried a new amp in my system on the weekend: the well-reviewed Gamut D200 mkIII (partly based on HP's great review), a single-mosfet SS design. At the dealers' place, it sounded great (speakers were Wilson Benesch Discovery, an isobarak, lower-efficiency design). I can't use a tube amp right now (unfortunately!) due to pending child and the system is on a LOT (2-ch/HT mix), so am looking for the most full-bodied SS amp I can find (prefer fully balanced design to match my modded SF Line 3 pre).

Well, to my surprise, the amp did NOT work out as well at my place. My speakers are 97db Coincident Total Victory. Yes, it was full-bodied, but I was definitely aware of this haze, or veiling around each note. I have a friend who designs amplifiers, and he said that this is inherent of mosfet designs. I called Israel (Coincident) and he was not surprised that I only heard this once I got back to my place, due to the high resolution abilities of my speaker vs the speakers at the dealer's. I guess I will be sticking with my Sim Audio W-3, as it is much 'cleaner' on my system (given that I must stay with SS). Too bad, 'cause my Sim W-3 definitely has the edge in clarity, but the Gamut was a touch more full-bodied.

Has anyone else experienced this 'haze' with a mosfet-based design? I admit, those with higher-efficiency speakers like mine (97db/14ohm) probably are NOT using higher-powered mosfet designs anyways, but I would like to know how others feel about mosfet designs and this issue I had.
sutts
jtgofish's avatar
jtgofish
517 posts
 
Hazy is how the vast majority of SS amps sound.Compressed too.Efficient speakers just highlight it more.
The one exception seems to be chip amps that can sound amazingly clear and fresh on sensitive speakers.
aball
2,018 posts
 
The Kora Aries MOSFET hybrids will knock your socks off. They have a clarity that is unmatched by any BJT or tube amps I have ever had in my system.
sutts OP
702 posts
 
Kalan- those are all good points- did not realize the Gamut was 'adjustable' in that way... Hey- a fellow Coincident owner huh? The SEIII's are cool, and in fact more flexible in that I have found a wider variety of amps that can sound good through them. I recently had the Victory's updated to 'II' status at Izzy's place (he lives 15 minutes from me here in Toronto, which is handy!)- increased resolution, yet not in any harsh way, in fact the greater inner detail was immediately apparent.

Jtgofish- sounds like we are on the same wavelength with SS amps- agreed on the chips- they could be the way of the future, however equally likely seems these 'digital switching power supply' amps like the Bel Cantos I tried. In fact, if you can believe this, when I plugged the BC's into the BPT line conditioner, all of a sudden my Accuphase fm tuner went all staticky- sp?? also- my television (also plugged into the same line conditioner) had snowy lines through the picture on certain stations!! Those digital nasties from the amps are definitely not for me- maybe they would work for someone in an all-digital, audio only system with very careful electrical isolation...
audiofeil
4,011 posts
 
>>Hazy is how the vast majority of SS amps sound<<

IMO that is an unfair and general mischaracterization of solid state amplifiers. Perhaps your other components did not match well with the amps you've heard.
Thank you.
jtgofish's avatar
jtgofish
517 posts
 
It is a generalisation and I accept that a lot of people don't seem to hear this and maybe never will.We do not all hear or at least listen the same way,but there are also many people who hear this haze and prefer valve amps.Not that some of them don't also sound hazy,but the good ones certainly don't.
You owe it to yourself to hear the chip amps.Use one for a while and then switch back to your transistor amp.You will probably get a real shock regarding midrange congestion [imaging,dynamics,clarity,speed] just as I did.Over the years I have owned and tried all sorts of SS amps[even single ended class A].I can't say that I did not enjoy listening to some of them but everything is relative,and these devices really are becoming dinosouars[good for driving bass though],and probably would have become so a long time ago but for the conservatism of amp designers.[or unwillingness to embrace alternatives]
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