Is there a Solid State amp that can satisfy a SET guy?

@scothurwitz I purchased a Pass XA25 a couple of months ago and i agree there is some magic (voodoo) going on. Once they get past their burn in time the XA25 took 120 hours there is some magic to be had. When i bought mine it had a ten day trial where i could have sent it back and i almost did a couple of times but once it got beyond the 120 hours it has settled down and has been near perfect and this is coming from a SET guy. The Pass is the best SS amp that i have heard and i have tried many including the latest D amps.

I have a Pass XA25, LTA UltraLinear, SIT 3, FW7

The Pass is a very good amp, much preferred to my ears over the SIT3 however I don’t believe that my speakers are the best match for the SIT3 so please take that into consideration (Tannoy Eaton ~ 89db @ 8 ohm). That said, I find the SIT3 too rounded for my taste.

The XA25 gives you phenomenal transients, accurate bass (not heavy), lots of color, great staging & imaging. It presents an incredible amount of detail while sounding relaxed. However in contrast to the LTA UL - it is drier.  The tone color is there, but the juice and body isn’t there to the same extent. You still know it’s a solid state amp in a A/B comp.  

All in though - very highly recommended. It tends to be the main amp in my rig for most music. Prefer the XA25 for jazz, fusion, blues etc., but the UL takes the cake for classical !

If I could combine the UL and the Pass - I’d be done. The Bakoon 13R is on my list, looking forward to the 6moons review of the XA25 INT vs the Bakoon. I’m curious to know if the Bakoon is less "dry" sounding (again relatively speaking) than the XA25.

Valvet is also on the list

@rh67  Thanks for your advice. I've reached out via PM.

ag3__ description on the XA25 is spot on with my experiences. In my system, I use a Cary 805C (845 SET)  and XA25. I switch between the two based upon the music and my mood at the time. Generally, I prefer the Cary.

Sansui go on for almost 50 years in audio and the goal for their last 30 years was reproducing their best tube amplifier sound (1965) in a solid state version(1995), they accomplish that after more than 30 years of continuous research... Name one company in audio that have the same goal for 30 years ? Not an indefinite improvement goal, nor a general one, but a very difficult task and precise one, finally accomplished just before their bankrupcy.....Read that review... this is astounding...

http://www.sansui.us/issues_AU111vsAL907MR.htm

My rightly embedded Sansui is the AU-7700 and gives me great dynamic with organic sound without feeling any lacks in details... I embed it rightfully tough, controlling mechanically for resonance, and electrically for a lower noise in the electrical house grid and in my room controlled acoustics I dont feel at all any lack attributed to S.S. amplifiers in general....I own also one Sansui of the alpha series.....


A reminder: it is way more important to embed rightly any electronic component than even upgrading it, because you will never know his true potential S.Q. without a rightful embeddings in the 3 dimensions : mechanic, electric, and acoustic....

There is no comparison at all between the same amplifier rightly embedded and not rightly embedded....This is true for any amplifier.....Out of the box without treating any embeddings dimension is not the way to use ANY electronic component....