2. amps-preamps
  3. 1442592580

SST Son of Ampzilla II/Thoebe II

Years ago I had A Sumo Polaris amp and Athena Preamp which I eventually sold to have a single do it all HT system and 2 ch stereo listening. HT has these days taken avery distant back seat and I am now considering returning to the 2 ch dedicated world. One thought is to buy and have restored some older Sumo equipment (Andromeda and Athena) but I then ran across SST and James Bongiorno. Any experiences with the Son of Ampzilla and Thoebe II products would be appreciated. Neither are locally available for me to audition.
jdavis37
don_c55
1,025 posts
 
They were designed after James Bongiorno died.

The only SST Bongiorno designs in production now are the Apmzilla 2000 Mono Blocks and Ambrosia preamp.

I own the SST Son of Ampzilla 2000 power amp, his last, which is very good IMO.

SST is owned by Cullen Circuits - Wyred for Sound.
jdavis37 OP
30 posts
 
Thanks.. I was not aware the Son II and Thoebe II were not designed by him. Of course that doesn't mean they are not good but is good to know they weren't his.
nonoise's avatar
nonoise
10,891 posts
 
You should check out this review.

All the best,
Nonoise
don_c55
1,025 posts
 
I read the 6 Moons review, and the opinion is that the SOA II is colder than the Pass XA30.8.

I have owned the original GAS Son of Ampzilla and like the SOA 2000 was warm, smooth and "tube like".

I also owned the Pass Labs XA30.5 which was very warm and tube like sounding.

I would move on to another brand, the design was screwed up IMO.
More to discover