I'm yet another very happy customer of Aric Audio.I've had the Transcend Push Pull amplifier in my system for a couple of months now.Dead quiet background,wide and deep soundstage,outstanding timbre across all frequencies,the placement and three dimensionality of the musicians is almost spooky on good recordings.There is detail galore but presented in a natural nonfatiguing way.
This is in comparison to the Quicksilver Mid Monos I've lived with happily for the past five years,a NuforceSTA200(auditioned and returned),and of course memories of other tubed and SS amps I've owned in the past.The Transcend is like supercharged Quickies-more and better of what I've always liked about them.The Nuforce is a fine amp but to my ears it lacks emotion.It's smooth and powerful but soulless.I clearly require that tube magic to reproduce my tunes:)
The reason I was considering SS or any new amp is because I thought one of the Quickies wasn't working(just a bad cable,whew!) and thought a back up amp and a placeholder was a good idea until it was repaired.So now the Quickies are set aside for emergencies,which actually might solve another dilemma - which of my two kids inherit the stereo.So can get a couple of of new(or used) things and have something nice to pass on to each of them.What an excellent excuse to purchase stereo equipment,lol! "It's for the kids honey,really!"
My system is:Vincent CDP(tubed),Rogue 66(tubed) preamp,Tekton Impact Monitors,SVS subwoofer.
Music I love:Rock from the 60s and 70s,acoustic and electric blues,folk,a little country,a little classical.
Every genre of music I've listened to with the Transcend in the system has simply become more alive and natural sounding to me.One example of a well recorded song is from an Analogue Productions sampler disc "Don't Let Your Right Hand Know" Sonny Boy Williams.I've heard this hundreds of times in various systems but now he's right there between the speakers.I can hear him breathing and the rustle of his clothing before he begins his performance,his lips moving on his harmonica,his position relative to the mic,his physical movements.It was startling,thrilling,and really not what I expected at all.On some recordings I can hear several musicians moving around on the stage.Attack and decay of notes is very good,bass has texture and impact.Even not so well recorded music benefits with better separation of instruments and vocals.I'll stop blathering on and just say I was expecting \hoping for a good amp.What I got is a great amp IMHO.
A couple of other cool things about the Transcend are you can listen in triode or ultra linear with the flick of a switch,adjust the feedback,the volume, and it's self biasing.The flexibility is a real plus.
So thank you Aric:)
