2. amps-preamps
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looking for truly transparent affordable amp s

I'm looking for recommendations for amps in the 100 + watt area that are highly transparent, coming in under $2500 on the used market. I have 3 systems that include Meadowlark Audio Hot Rod Herons, BG Corp 520DX, and custom speakers similar to Legacy Focus using Eton drivers. The custom speakers are paired with a JAS Array 2.1 SET amp using 805 and 300B tubes. This is my reference for transparent sound. Source has ranged from a Consonance Droplet 5.0, to Modwright and Upgrade Co modded Oppo players (83SE), and a Cambridge Audio 851C (which I hope to have modded as well) all driving the amp direct. I don't like preamps. I'm looking for a similarly transparent amp to drive the BG Corp speakers and the Meadowlarks. I recently acquired a gainclone built with premium parts and love the sound; it's quite a clear window on the original performance. But it just doesn't have the power to drive any of the speakers to the levels I like to listen at so I'm looking for an amp capable of this level of transparency and detail, with sharply defined images. Any recommendations? I have Gamut on my short list. And may I ad that in the last few years I've had the following amps and none come close to the level of transparency I'm looking for:

Theta Intrepid (used to biamp)
bridged Pathos Classic One MK III
Wyred 4 Sound ST-500
Sim Audio I-5 LE
Consonance Calaf (tubed version)

Amps that had promise but didn't quite make it:

VAS Citation II EL34 monoblocks
Audio Zone integrated gainclone
Cambridge Audio 840W

Thanks in advance for your input
lcherepkai
lcherepkai OP
280 posts
 
Dick--thank you for illustrating the Pass Labs XA30.5 info. That changes things a bit. I'll look further into that option. Much appreciated!
zd542
5,339 posts
 
"11-12-15: Djohnson54
Lcherepkai,

Not trying to sway you one way or the other but your comment regarding the Pass XA30.5 and power is a common misconception. Not sure why Pass doesn't try harder to set this straight. The following is from the measurements section of the Stereophile review."

I've had the same experience with Pass. I used to own the 0's. They were higher up in the Aleph line and the power was just incredible for what it was rated for. It was hard to tell the difference between that and the Krell I mentioned earlier. You almost never see them used, so I didn't bother to mention it.
ebm
9,311 posts
 
Used Pass 250.5 or smaller.
geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 
Of course, transparency is not an actual audio parameter, at least not the last time I looked. Perhaps distortion or even THD or Signal to Noise Ratio or Channel Separation might be more appropriate, at least more uh measurable. I'm not even sure everyone actually agrees on the definition of the word transparency.
lcherepkai OP
280 posts
 
Zd542---putting the KAV 250 in the same league as the Aleph 0's intrigues me. I demoed, in home for a week, an Alternative Audio CA100, which I was told by the dealer, was a similar design to the Alephs and of similar sound (he said the AA CA100 was better but that's what he was selling so MMV). That amp killed the Threshold T-200 I had at the time, which had just replaced a Threshold SA-4e which replaced a Krell KSA-100S, making the T-200 sound quite opaque.

May I inquire as to the system you had the KAV-250 in where you found it to sound as transparent as the Aleph 0? Thank you!
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