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"Warm Sounding" Solid State Amplifiers

As a Canadian I am naturally a huge fan of Bryston products but not long ago I switched things up for a NAD C355BEE integrated amp and instantly realized what I had been missing in terms of warmth, sweetness and overall pleasant sound.

I'm interested in moving up from there into some Class A or A/B amps but I don't know of any other warm sounding Solid State amps other than Pass Labs which are out of my price range at the moment.

Tubes are obviously "where it's at" as they would say but the maintenance factor is somewhat of a deterrent for me. Should I just go for an M series NAD amp or is there another intermediate product between that and Pass Labs??
pontifex
gslone
274 posts
 
Conrad Johnson makes warm sounding solid state amplifiers.
soniqmike
140 posts
 
Hi, also from Canada.

Well, although my recommendation may not be a solid state amp, it is one...almost!

Pathos Logos. It has 100 watts / channel solid state power section with a pair of 6922 tubes in the preamp section.

Call it the beauty and the beast! Wonderfull, sweet sound with no maintenance needed.

I may unfortunately have to sell it soon due to system change and lack of use.
maplegrovemusic's avatar
maplegrovemusic
1,113 posts
 
ZD , What do you like about your Ayre amps ? What speakers are you driving ? What preamp do you use ? What Ayre model do you have ?
phd
1,283 posts
 
I second the recommendation for Conrad Johnson solid state amps leaning towards a warmer sound, not to mention they sound superb especially when paired with a good tube preamp. One reviewer questioned as to why buy a Conrad Johnson tube amp when their solid state sounds every bit as good but with more power.
zd542
5,339 posts
 
Right now in my main system I have a Wadia 861SE going directly to 2 Ayre V-5's vertically bi-amped driving a pair of Vandersteen Model 2's. AQ IC's and Speaker cables. ESP Essence power cords. And a Furutech e-TP 80. I have other components I sometimes put in the system, but what I just listed is what I use most of the time.
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