2. amps-preamps
  3. 136176-7301

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
lak's avatar
Ag insider logo xs@2x
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
rocray's avatar
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. 
atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
11,784 posts
 
If you are into tubes (and BTW, there are some very nice mods available for the SCA-35 at this link: http://www.tronola.com/html/a_new_look.html), the devices that are closest to tube operation are Static Induction Transistors (SITs).
They have linearity not unlike triodes and even have soft clipping like tubes.

The old Sony VFet used SITs, but Sony didn't have a good grasp on how to use them at the time and so the amps were a bit unstable. Nelson Pass has designed a new circuit employing the SITs. The problem of course is that SITs are no longer in production, you have to build the amp from a kit (if you can still get one, check with the DIY store on DIYaudio.com) and the amp only makes about 20 watts, but at least the latter is in the ballpark for you.
More to discover