Affordable SS that sound like Tubes

@tonydennison I have wrote about the Neurochrome and Pass BK1, KB1 a few times over the Years.

The Pass Pre-Amp’ has a Korg Nutube incorporated which is a very modern version of a Tetrode Valve and is claimed to have a 30 000 hour usage life.

I know this Pre-Amp very well, I also am quite familiar with it produced as a non-standard build guise. I have a design of it built for myself and is awaiting to be completed when I make the bespoke casings being produced available.

As a standard build it held its own against very expensive Branded Pre-Amp's as a non-standard build, the cost difference between the Pass and the comparison Pre's make the idea of the Pass Pre-Amp' a no-brainer.

I have been demo'd the Neurochrome in an approx' £200 000 System in comparisons with Power Amplification getting close to £50 000 for SS, where both Branded Model SS and Valve Power Amp's were included in the Demo's.

A 211 Valve Power Amp was used at approx' £30 000.

There is absolutely nothing from my perspective to suggest the Neurochrome fell short in any way, and it was able to deliver the impression it was as relaxing and enjoyable to experience as any Valve Amp I have a familiarity with. 

I have been demo'd on a regular occasions the Pass BK1 + differing build guises > Neurochrome 86 and it is as enjoyed through recollection as when I heard the Soulution 525 > Neurochrome 286 used in demo's alongside the 525 > and much more expensive Power Amp's.     

Earlier you said your Mac Mini is used only as NAS. Now you’re saying it is connected to the DAC via USB cable.
NAS = Network Area Storage, would mean that your DAC would be accessing the data stored on Mac Mini by means of a network connection. And that isn’t how you have it all set up. 
So in the end, you are using the Mini as a streamer. Let me repeat what I said earlier - Mac Mini sucks as a streamer. If you like the sound of your current amplification, focus on upgrading your source. Your digital front end is far from optimized. 

OK you might think I’m crazy but the $750 Rega Io

this little amplifier is absolutely spectacular for the money!

It’s only 30 watts, but I can power fairly large speakers and just about any bookshelf because it has a lot of current. I loved mine. It does sound like tubes.

I owned the PrimaLuna EVO 400 preamp and power amp combo and really liked it. I wanted to go back to SS gear that had a tube sound.

That said, the PrimaLuna was replaced with a Luxman L509X integrated which came very close to a tube amplifier. Then, I decided to go back to separates and I currently have the Holo Audio Serene KTE preamp and a Parasound JC5 amp. The JC5 amp is a sweet sounding amp which comes close to a tube sound, but I haven’t heard a SS amp that sounded just like tubes. It may exist, but I haven’t heard one yet. I do highly recommend the Parasound JC5 amp because it’s a lot of bang for the buck. They can be found for a good price on the used market and I recommend you try to audition one if you can. The Music Room may have a few and they allow about 30 days to audition. That’s where I bought mine from.

Lastly, in my experience, it’s all about system synergy. So, the preamp will play a part in what the SS amp will sound like in your setup and of course, your speakers.

I’ve owned some decent tube gear over the years (Cayin, Rogue, Allnic, Van Alstine) and some nearly high-end SS stuff (Coda, Pass, Mac etc.) I’ve also auditioned some of the very high-end brands. Admittedly, I don’t have much experience with low power SETs but I do believe I’ve heard some of the best of what push-pull tube gear has to offer.

IME, the Yamaha MOSFET-powered integrateds (specifically the previous 1100/2100/3000 series, not as much the current series) come closest to the tube sound than so many desire. This isn’t to say they’re slow and mushy, rather they have nicely saturated tones, a lush midrange and expansive soundstage. On top of that, the bass extension (of the 2100) competes with some of the beast SS amps over $10K. They sound far more powerful than their specs indicate (especially the 2100). The preamp sections in these integrateds are worth their original retail price alone IMO. I realize this all sounds like hyperbole, but when you actually compare these integrateds back-to-back with other amps costing multiples their retail price, they are hardly outclassed. Typically, what I find is that some of the much costlier amps do one or two things a little better, but none have outperformed the Yamaha’s in every metric. That includes comparisons between the Yamaha preamp sections and separate preamps around and under $6K. Twice now I’ve preferred the Yamaha preamp sections to stand-alone preamps approaching $6K, one of them tube (Allnic) and one SS. I won’t mention the latter one because I still need to sell it. 😉

While the various speakers I’ve used in these comparisons (Revel, Spendor, Stirling Broadcast, Spatial, KEF, Magnepan, Audio Physic) are considered “mid-fi” by the standards of this community, they are speakers that have mostly punched above or well above their respective price classes. And I’ve heard what far costlier speakers can do in good rooms, thus I believe I have a decent frame of reference.

With regard to push-pull tubes, I have found there are quite a few competive SS offerings in addition to these Yamahas, such as Coda and Pass Labs. But for around $2K on the pre-owned market, I think you’d be very hard pressed to do better than a Yammie 2100.

I think it’s also worth mentioning that I am relatively young among these parts and my audiogram tests show I still have excellent hearing. I don’t say that out of ageism. I merely believe it’s relevant because I know of multiple audiophiles who come on here and other sites espousing the sound quality of various components, then elsewhere they reluctantly admit they rely on hearing aids or suffer from tinnitus.

Good luck with your quest.