From 7-3-18 to 12-31-18, I designed and developed a SE two stage directly-coupled tube amp for my ALTEC speakers. It must do 0.3 Watts. It had a power supply to support a 100 Watt amp. It was hard-wired internally with wire with having silver content. Unlike any Pass amp, there is no feedback in the amp.
In December 2108, a friend sent me a PASS ACA 1.6 version, professionally built, to sell for him on eBay. I allowed the Pass amp to warm up for 24 hours. When I put the ACA 1.6 in my system , ( compared to my much lower powered tube amp ), the ACA sounded thin, anemic, un-dynamic, two-dimensional, removed from the music, and uninspiring. My DIY tube amp design - easily and simply trashed the ACA. That .............was my recent listening experience.
If a triode tube amp is done well ( sadly for the public, 99.9% are NOT !! ) you can not match it, with any low-powered transistor amp, IMHO. YMMV, fine with me !!
Dowto1000
In December 2108, a friend sent me a PASS ACA 1.6 version, professionally built, to sell for him on eBay. I allowed the Pass amp to warm up for 24 hours. When I put the ACA 1.6 in my system , ( compared to my much lower powered tube amp ), the ACA sounded thin, anemic, un-dynamic, two-dimensional, removed from the music, and uninspiring. My DIY tube amp design - easily and simply trashed the ACA. That .............was my recent listening experience.
If a triode tube amp is done well ( sadly for the public, 99.9% are NOT !! ) you can not match it, with any low-powered transistor amp, IMHO. YMMV, fine with me !!
Dowto1000