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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
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lak's avatar
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lak
4,619 posts
 
I don’t mean to divert away from your original question but have you considered a class D amp which can be very tube-like in sound and be well within your budget.
I was shocked at how good and tube-like my amp sounds that I purchased from Class D Audio. 
BTW; besides the class D amp I use in my secondary system I also use a CJ Classic Sixty SE amp and an Allnic T-1500 Integrated 300B.
gotog OP
128 posts
 
Thanks again for all the good input.  The Bedini 25/25 is interesting but I sense it will be difficult to find one. I am educating myself regarding the other options mentioned.

armstrod
610 posts
 
I owned the Monarchy SM-70 (now Mk2) and it was terrific at 25w/ch. If you have really high efficiency speakers the noise floor can be a little bothersome, but with most speakers it’s fine. New it would be just under your budget, but I got mine used for significantly less.

http://www.monarchy-audio.com/SM70_MK2_Main_Frame.htm
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rocray
1,448 posts
 
I own a First Watt F5,and a pair of Monarchy SM-70mkII's. I picked all of them up on the used market. The F5 was slightly over your budget.(and I do mean slightly) The pair of Monarchy's were well under your budget. Very nice amps in tasty class A. 
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