Pass Labs INT 60 VS. Primaluna Dialogue Premium HP VS. Arcam A49

OP, If you cannot demo both before purchase and from my experience with Wilson, get the Pass.   My brother has a Pass Labs INT 60 and is terrific.  It's more linear than most Pass class A models.  1st 30 watts Class A and weights 93 lbs, it's a beast!

Unsound,
I’m not looking for another tube vs SS debate either. By now those number in the multiple hundreds. My point is that feedback from owners is significant and very valuable. Often times their actual experience with a product runs contrary to expectations based solely on test measurements. I see no rational reason to dismiss real life results because they violate preconceived beliefs.

No question good quality SS will work very well with the Sasha, actual listening encounters verify that certain tube amplifiers will not just "work" but succeed with stellar results. Bottom line  for me is that real world use/interactions takes precedence over measurements and test bench environments. Listening is the ultimate determining factor. 
Charles

I have had my Prima Luna HP with EL34's and 2 Mullard cv4003 as drivers and primaluna stock 12au7.  I have Aerial Acoustic 5T's.  

I auditioned it against Aerial 7t's.  If I ever purchase the 7T's I would be tempted to put in the KT150 tubes.  These have been well received for their tones in upper mid and then their stomping lows. 

Tube amps generate tone our ears appreciate.  That's why the best guitarist use tubes not SS.

I can sit and listen for hours each night and not get enough.  Nuf said. 



 

Unsound, you’re probably right about manufacturers hedging their bets to make a sale, but, sorry, Dave states his thoughts on whatever amp the customer has, if he’s heard the amp. Or at least, he used to. I always found Dave to be quite honest, both in his estimation of his products and other manufacturers as well. So, what might apply to others (in your statement) cannot be applied to Dave.

 I didn’t ask Dave’s recommendation for an amplifier when I bought the WATTS. (I knew what he used to design the WATTS: Goldmund Studio turntable, Rowland Coherence 1, Spectral DMA-50/Rowland Model 7s, MIT cables. ) And I already had a Rowland Model 5 when I first got the WATTS. And then got VTL 300s, later adding the Goldmund Mimesis 9.

I use my own ears for listening, not the manufacturer's, and when HP wrote his review on the  original WATTS, I could only nod my head in agreement on every point he made, and he was using the Goldmund Mimesis 9 amp. Since I had both a Goldmund Mimesis 9 as well as VTL 300s, as well as the Rowland I didn’t have to "figure it out." All I had to do was listen, and, aside from the Mimesis’ phenomenal resolution and airiness, the VTLs - aside from resolution - revealed everything the Goldmund did, and were superior in bass power (which doesn’t mean that much to me, but it was obvious, so...). The Rowland was great, too, by the way.

(SOME) tube amps will work just fine with Wilsons, as will SOME solid state. Sonically, the VTLs had no problem with the WATTS (the most difficult of all Dave’s speakers to drive, especially the first generation WATTS), which I kept until the Series IV WATT/Puppies. And since I’ve had actual long term experience with tubes (VTL, Jadis, VAC and CJ (not such a great pairing), perhaps that can assist those interested in tubes.

The ONLY way to KNOW anything is to try it Everything else is sheer speculation, and speculation can cause more problems than almost any other factor.

^"Speculation"?
I don't think that the principles of physics and electrical engineering can be merely disregarded as "speculation". Without the principles of which, this conversation probably wouldn't be happening.