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Low Watt Solid State Amp

I am a tube guy.  Have been for the last 20 years.  I have various tube amps that I rotate depending on my mood.  More recently, I have had the urge to add a solid state amp to the rotation.  Looking for something clean, detailed, natural sounding that is in the neighborhood of 20 to 50 watts.  I use a deHavilland Ultraverve 3 preamp with relatively high efficiency Tonian Lab speakers.  Firstwatt comes to mind but is higher than I want to spend right now.  Budget is about $1,000.  Looking for a diamond in the rough kinda piece.  For example, one of the tube amps that puts a smile on my face every time I plug it in is my Dynaco ST-35 -- not a huge investment, but just always sounds right.  Any ideas are much appreciated.  Thanks
gotog
elevick
2,636 posts
 
Look into Sumo amps.  The other one that pops into my head is older Yamaha M series, M80, M60 and so on...
gotog OP
137 posts
 
Thanks for all the ideas.  Much appreciated.

amg56's avatar
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amg56
887 posts
 
@gotog I can recommend any of the Yamaha RX-A30 series eg A3030 and up. Great Stereo, 9.2 channels to play with, Audyssey room correction. Good solid clean sound and should be in your price point. Only down point is that it doesn't support 4ohm speakers on the primary pair. Buggered if I know why. A.
wolf_garcia
6,711 posts
 
I was auditioning some speakers at a shop and because I told them I had a 12 watt per side single ended tube amp, they used a 25 watt per side Luxman M200 that sounded great...weird little seemingly well made SS amp with a display of the watts it was using.
roberjerman
4,319 posts
 
I am the original owner of a Bedini 25/25 (bought new from Innovative Audio in Brooklyn, NY in 1981).And I agree with trelja - it is still the amp (SS or tube) to beat in the sonic sweepstakes! I have never found a tube amp to equal it - though my Futterman's came the closest!
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