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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
bombaywalla's avatar
bombaywalla
1,958 posts
 
04-22-15: Geoffkait
Tubes are less distorted when you listen to them. That's my consensus.
I disagree Geoffkait. Tubes have more pleasing distortion than SS. Both SS & tube s can be made linear.
And a "consensus" is a collective opinion. So, are you saying that 3 of you & yourself & your alter-ego collectively endorse tubes?? ;-) ;-)
mapman's avatar
mapman
22,182 posts
 
bad news: its all distorted.

Starts in the recording process and only gets worse from there.

Its a wonder any of us can enjoy any music at all. Go figure!
csontos
1,311 posts
 
Nah, it's all in your head. It sounds the way it's supposed to ;)
sabai
2,027 posts
 
I agree with Ralph. I have the Atma-Sphere S-30. There is nothing I have ever heard in solid state that even comes close.
zd542
5,339 posts
 
A good strategy to deal with distortion is to match your speakers to your amp, room and volume preference. If you get that right, distortion shouldn't be an issue, tube or SS.
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