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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
zd542
5,339 posts
 
"The more the information, the more objective the assessment."

Why? Information isn't generic. There's a difference between more info and the right info.

"The key is to research sufficiently long enough/thoroughly to get a take on all aspects/perspectives you relate to."

Unless the research includes listening, its not worth all that much.
bombaywalla's avatar
bombaywalla
1,958 posts
 
Thanks for the correction Unsound.
I didn't forget Forte when I wrote that post. My time-frame must have started when Pass & Threshold + Forte coexisted for some time & in my mind Pass Labs was the upmarket brand with Threshold & Forte following suit in that order of target market segment....
unsound
7,358 posts
 
^Also, though Nelson Pass was still there, the "T" series amp(s) that your brother had, were from the pen of Mikael Bladiliaus, Jaynes and Coburn.
greginnh
382 posts
 
Try the Luxman Class A amps. The 550AX and 590AX are awesome sounding, tube like SS amps. Not sure what your music likes are but these may not be good for loud hard rock. The 550 goes for $4,900 US and the 590 jumps to around $9,000.

Not sure where you are located in Canada,but the are many retailers who carry this brand in the "Great White North"!
pontifex OP
31 posts
 
Thanks again folks. The Threshold amps appear to show up at a lower price points on the used markets. Seems worth while to check out! If I'm lucky I might find a seller in Southern Ontario. There's one for sale in Alberta but freighting heavy and expensive things across Canada is somewhat of a costly hassle.

As for Luxman amps I tend to see a lot of the more vintage models for sale.
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