Lab12 Suara. $5400 (new). 60w. 4 ohm taps. Balanced. Cool factor.
Tube amps under $7500
Ready to experiment with combinations never before (or not recently) tried. Step one requires a tube amp. Now looking at Prima Luna EVO 400 which sells for 5K. Any other tube amps I should consider in this price/feature range? Must come in silver with balanced input. For pairing experimentally with various tube and SS preamps. Efficient 4 ohm Legacy speakers (and the room/setup) are the constants.
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The ARC VT80SE is a fully balanced amp so it fits your specifications. I don't consider it a warm sounding amp, but that is a very subjective judgment. I have never heard the Lab 12 Suara, but, nothing in the description suggests that it is fully balanced. Just because a component has balanced input jacks does not mean it is fully balanced (the jacks might be there as a convenience). |
Yeah, not sure myself. Have only heard Lab12 at audio shows, so really hard to tell. I did see a Part-Time Audiophile review that suggested the integrated was somewhat “warm” and “tubey”, but definitely YMMV. I’m a big fan of some of the European and Japanese niche companies out there that provide alot of value for $ (e.g., Synthesis, Triode Corp., Lab12, Audio Hungary, Fezz Audio, etc.) Hard to go with ARC, VAC, BAT or CJ and meet the OP’s budget. Me? I have 3 tube integrateds: Synthesis, Leben, and Triode Corp. |
@mdalton I would use the word 'vivid' to describe my Lab12 and also Jadis. They give a bold first row live music experience type that demands your listening attention. I agree that more niche brands tend to give incredible value of money. I still think my Lab12 is as good or better than anything in the market below $20000. @larryi You are correct that Lab12 Suara (and Integre 4 MKII2) do not have balanced input, despite having XLR input. There are a couple more options that OP can consider. An used Air-Tight ATM-1 would be exactly what he is looking, minus the balanced input. I've heard good things about Luxman MQ-88UC as well. |
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