Need highly transparent detailed amp---how does Pass XA25 compare to Gamut D100/D200 MKIII

dorby

Unfortunately I have never listened to the Chord. But you can save yourself some money with the 680, as the 780 I have I purchased as a demo for same price as new 680. They sound very similar. 

Giving up on the SET amps. I don't want to replace another expensive tube and the heat from 805 tubes is a warm weather deal breaker. Considering the Pass XA25

@lcherepkai  That's a big leap. The heat of tube amplifiers comes mostly from the class of operation. In this regard a solid state amp will make about 90% of the same heat if operating in the same class. SETs are class A, and so are many of the Pass Labs amps. That's how they get the sound that they do. I am curious- there are tube amps out there that might be easier to live with than an 805-based SET, which would sound better and make more power (and may well make less heat, since SETs are inefficient in this regard). Why the big leap to solid state? If the heat is such a big deal, have you considered class D?

atmosphere---the 45w my JAS Array 2.1 puts out is about the minimum I could use and get the sound levels I want.  I've had 2 of these amps and love the liquid midrange and the palpable 3 dimensional images and everything else I've heard has sounded veiled in comparison.  A couple gainclones have had an acceptable sound so I think I can get (mostly) to where I want to go with solid state.  And as mentioned, I don't want to spend the bucks on more tubes.  It's close to $1000 to get the tubes I want/had for this amp.  And my experiences with class D are the early PS Audio and Wyred4Sound amps and neither moved me at all.  I hear that class D has come a long way but both amps I mentioned have many excellent reviews indicating they may be the sound I'm looking for.  Thanks.

gato?  I haven't heard that one.  I'll look into it.  Thank you

@lcherepkai  45 watts is a lot of power for an SET! Its very difficult to get good bandwidth in an SET with that sort of power, but its pretty easy with a more conventional Push-pull amplifier, and the power tubes are often much less expensive! Our M-60 makes about 60 watts into 8  ohms, but the power tubes for both channels together are only $420.00 and we warrant them for a year. If you had a H/K Citation 2 (refurbished) they make 60 watts also, and the output tubes are only about $140.00 total. That amp is also wider bandwidth than almost any SET, and its certainly lower distortion.

My point here is there are a lot of tube amps out there that may well do the job that could make more power, less heat and less distortion, and very likely sound better at the same time with a lower output tube cost. One limitation nearly all SETs face is that if you really want to hear what they are about, they should be played on a speaker that does not require that they go over about 20% of full power. This is to prevent the higher ordered harmonics from showing up- those harmonics will cause the amp to sound 'dynamic' and they will also cause it to sound 'loud'. With most push-pull amps, the usable power is much greater- often well over 90%, so you get a lot more usable amplifier power for your investment.