Amplifier recommendation
We who love this hobby/obsession are an interesting lot. We love to converse with, encourage, challenge, insult, and offend one another, then turn to one another for advice and recommendations. Because we are haunted by the possibility that while we think we have Golden Ears, we might just merely have Silver Ears, so we seek reassurance from one another that we really are hearing what we think we’re hearing. “Did you find that to be a little too rolled off on the top end?” “I agree that it’s right tonally, but lacks the imaging of comparable models. Or is that just my room?”
With that brief preamble, I am going to, you guessed it, ask for a recommendation. And I’m going to ask a question hoping some will have a very specific answer to, knowing full well that most will say,”Well, that depends”. Can you name a specific stereo tube amp that is reasonably affordable, (no &100k or even $10 k, please) “vintage” or current, that you think produces 70, 80, 90% of the sound characteristics that tube lovers love? Can you say THAT amp is what a typical high end tube amp “sounds like”? An amp about which you would say, “Wanna know the difference between a good tube amp and a good solid state amp? Listen to THAT tube amp! Thanks!
