Tube amps - what 3 things…

I wanted to mention Ive been using a Aestheix Mimas for a couple of years now. It has a tube preamp with a solid state power amp. It’s an awesome integrated amp. Lots of features great metal remote, tons of power but it can sound really delicate if the music calls for it. Great reviews out there: 

Anything Jim White at Aesthetix make is finely engineered by a guy with ears. The Mimas is fantastic value…

IF a person believes point to point is inherently better than a well executed multi layer board in the right places…. might want to reconsider , ….

Best in music

Jim

Hybrids are wonderful. A few nice AH integrated out on USAM now. 

There are many good Tube Amps on the market for sure, I have had many being a Tube Amp only guy since I was a teenager, (60) now. I like and currently use the McIntosh MC275's run in parallel through McIntosh C2600 Tube preamp. These units are built like a tank, take plenty of abuse and keep playing excellent music. The other 5 Tube Amps I currently have, sound great but seems there's always something little going on with them that annoys me. These others are all the name brands we hear about, and yes they are good but not quite as bullet proof as the 275's in my opinion. Which must be about the general consensus on McIntosh 275's because they are very hard to find new or used for the past 5 years or so.

Unless you are unlucky, trying tube amps will not result in you going back to SS.

Cary Audio used to have a kit division, Audio Electronic Supply, and it disappeared as soon as Dennis Had retired. Presumably it was too good a bargain. I had their phono stage and pre-amp (both in standard form and 'Dennis Had Special Edition') along with their Sixpac monoblocks and their SE-811 SET triode monoblocks. Also used a Copland CTA-301 and CTA-305 pre-amp, Quad 24p phono stage, Quad QC-24 pre-amp, and Quad II/forty monoblocks. Even used a NuVistor phono stage.

Currently the Quads are still in use, but I do miss the addictive musicality of the SET monoblocks. Sure, it was distortion-laden, but I loved it. I wish I still had them.

All of these were better than the best SS power amp I ever had, a YBA-1, from the era when they were built in France rather than China. I still have it, but it just doesn't begin to compare.