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Beyond Ayre Pass and Rowland

What would it be? Transistor or Hybrid. This is a general discussion.
I heard that Gryphon and Ypsilon qualify but I didn't audition either. Lamm hybrid does too, I believe.
inna
inna OP
7,296 posts
 
Hddg, I agree with you except with what you called 5%. At this level I would only be interested in 100%. 95% or 50% are the same, that's they are not 100%. It is either yes or no.
larryi
3,922 posts
 

Charles1dad,

Wow, you certainly have heard a lot of the gear I wish I could audition.  Also, we pretty much agree on the sound of a lot of brands of gear.  I too have heard the Viva and Trenner and Friedl combinations and they sound very good.

My own personal focus is on low-powered tube gear that is pretty much only suitable for speakers with efficiencies close to 100 db/w.  At the Washington DC CapitalAudiofest, I heard a single channel (mono display) amp built by Aldo D'Urso (the builder of my amp and preamp) that utilizes the 217 output tube.  This is one of the best amps I've ever heard.  I don't know how it compares to the another amazing amp I heard, the Western Electric 59B (meshplate 252 tube), but, it was MUCH cheaper in price.

Any chance that you have heard David Berning's 211/845 ZOTL flagship amp?  His other ZOTL amps are a bit lean sounding for my taste, but, they are still certainly contenders where a little bit more power is needed than the stuff I play with.

I know we are listing crazy expensive stuff here, but, there should be a place to mention more down to earth gear that sounds great, like Wyetech (tube) and First Watt (solid state) gear. 

charles1dad's avatar
charles1dad
10,250 posts
 
Hello Larryi,
I have not had the opportunity to hear the Berning 211/845 amplifier.  I suspect that it is quite good sounding. I'm biased towards low-moderate  power tube amplifiers but I have heard very fine sounding higher powered SS amplifiers in certain systems.  The big distinction I hear is that usually  good quality tube amplifiers are superior in the realm of tone and  tactile presence which is important to me. Having said that,  my friend's 600 watt Krell driving Rockport Altair speakers does provide exceptional performer presence. 
Charles, 
larryi
3,922 posts
 

Charles1dad,

I am like you, mostly in the low-powered camp.  I own three tube amps, the most powerful being the Audio Note Kageki, which is rated at 6.5 watts per channel.  My current favorite is a 5 watt pushpull amp that runs the 349 tube.  If I had the need for more power, the first place I would be looking is at OTL amps (or quasi OTL amps, like the Berning); I find their liveliness quite compelling.

I too have heard very nice setups with the kind of electronics I usually don't like, so I agree that matching is more important than particular choices and types.  I have heard nice setups using Momentum amps, for example, and a system with Spectral gear that, while not precisely my taste, I could at least understand the appeal (there are lots of expensive systems I heard where I had no clue as to what anyone liked about them).

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greginnh
382 posts
 
Oranfoster, I can relate.  I have been enjoying my Accuphase E-470 for several months now.  It was actually used by my dealer to power the new Paradigm speakers just released last month.  The regional Paradigm rep was floored with how well the Accuphase performed.

I'm off the merry-go- round when it comes to amps.
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