tube pre & ss amp integrated


Been tooling around youtube , I know but what else is there now ? Very cautious !

Wife has fallen for  Mcintosh MA352 . I must have  tubes some place in there , she likes ss, seems to be the best of both worlds  for us . 

I am wondering what would compete with mac soundwise?

Will be using Klipsch Forte 4's with it .

Thank you and be safe.

saki70

The most important consideration is what sound characteristics you’re looking for.  Are you looking for something more neutral or more in the more traditional warmer tube sound?  What other aspects are important to you?

That said, the MA352 puts out 200Wpc and the Forte doesn’t need anywhere near that much power, and you could also save $$$ and maybe even realize better sound quality by going with a lower-powered amp.  Here’s a quote from the review in Stereophile as an example…

The 20Wpc Shindos were easily, profoundly better with the Forte IVs than the solid state amps had been. The life-affirming jazz swing pumping out of the Fortes had more impact, tonal beauty, force, and weight, and the images were larger. I was floored by the wall of sweet-toned sound coming at me like a warm music wave. With the Shindo/Forte IV pairing, all was flesh and blood, texture and tension. Hank Jones's piano glistened, Tony Williams's drums had terrific tone and weight, and Ron Carter's bass was upfront and present—all rich and first-row palpable.

Yeah, but that’s a $15K tube amp!

@jasonbourne52 That wasn’t the point. The point was that the speakers can thrive on 20 Watts of power and 200 Watts is complete overkill.

If it's gotta be SS, and you love the sound of tubes...Pass Labs. With Fortes, lower power, better design makes sense. XA-30 or XA25 would fit the bill. Cheers,

Spencer

If it were me, I would buy the McIntosh MA252 with the Klipsch Forte 4’s, more then enough power. 😎

Mike