I just upgraded for one hour yesterday after the purchase of one of the best tube amploifier in the world...
I tought my Sansui alpha can be easily upgraded being a mere S. S. amplifier...
The new purchase is in the refund mail after one hour ...😊
i will not name it, my goal here is not bashing a good company and a good product...
But audio is about ACOUSTIC first, after it is about SYNERGY between components...
I bought the two Sansui i owned because Sansui claimed to have reproduced the exact sound of the best tube amplifier they ever designed , i even see the video where they present the comparison between the two, a top tube amplifier one even today, compared to a top amplifier of their AU series, it was this that convince me to buy a Sansui S. S. 12 years ago , and Sansui import and export this knowledge in the AU series and in their alpha series...
I bought the AU 7700 and the more refined Sansui alpha 607i , which is so good that it is impossible to upgrade under a very high cost ...I learned that yesterday... It cost me the postal fees ( 150 bucks) to learn that...
I know now that upgrading my vintage AKG K340 and My Sansui alpha is impossible save to invest a huge sum of money... And even if i do so there exist no other headphone in the market designed as the K 340 with his specific soundfield holographical and out of the head ...
It is a match in heaven with the Sansui , speaker like and not headphone like sound at all...But it is impossible to drive the K340 OPTIMALLY with most headphone amplifier... Audible listening level dont means that it work...
S. S. amplification is a mature technology, some company know how to design good one in the past and today...
My Sansui alpha sound as detailed and as fluid as the tube amplifier i bought and sound better on any count anyway in the coupling with the k340... There is not even a comparison save on the noise floor level ...The sansui need to be driven out of the electrical house grid with battery to shine quieter... With another headphone pairing it will be another story ... Synergy matter more than price tag ...
I owned 2 tube amplifiers and i prefer by far my Sansui alpha sound... No comparison... mut i buy a tube amplifier costing 10,000 bucks to beat it ?
I will pass... I am too afraid to buy any future so called upgrade... I am already in high end audiophile experience now i know exactly why... 😊
The problem is not tube or S. S. ; it is synergy supposing you had bought a good tube amp or S. S. amp to begin with ..