I’ve owned SS, hybrid and tube amps over the years and found all can provide quality sound. The best part has been the experience in the exploration of each type! I’m currently running a powerful Simaudio Moon SS amp that is wonderful paired with a tube preamp. Time will tell if I’ll want to go back to tube amps.
Anyone else constantly curious about amps?
I'll start of by saying I have a really great sounding amp, the Mastersound Dueventi. It's a class-A tube amp running in PSET putting out 20 watts of power, which proves to be plenty in my room. I have other audio upgrades that would be more valuable. I've slowly been replacing cables, a new streamer would probably have the biggest impact in my system next, I'd like a new turntable now that I've stepped up my cartridge and phonostage...
But I just keep coming back to amps. For some reason I just feel a need to bring in something new. I can't afford it. It won't be the most high impact in my system. I don't really have anywhere to demo several of these options. But still, I've been on a two week long rabbit hole exploring solid state class A options like Pass and Sugden. I heard a top in system this past weekend with Jeff Rowland driving the system and I forgot how great those can sound, so I'm finding myself looking at their integrated. I know Norma amps sound amazing with my speakers, so I'm always tempted to bump that up the priority list.
Someone talk me off the ledge and help me with this sickness!
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Curious about amps? How could you NOT be? I'm with you! Why? Because there is no such thing as a speaker on its own. The basic unit is a speaker-amp. Their pairing is about "synergy" which means not just "sufficient power" but "pleasing interaction." In my room, I have had:
Tube:
Solid State:
And everything has been tried both with a very neutral SS preamp as well as with a tube preamp. All these amps sound different. And not just better/worse but different. And I've tried many of them with different speakers. The point is that the investigation of "synergy" is a key part of what I'm interested in, and trying different amplifier-speaker combos is the heart of it. And if you're settled on your speakers, what more could you owe them, and your system, than to try out the right amps until you find what brings out their potential (for you, in your system)? |
@hilde45 I'm glad you mentioned the mentioned the LTA amps as well. Those have been on my radar, and I was lucky enough to hear their gear in two different systems at SWAF. The Areo Dac is very interesting, and something I would strongly consider. The amps sounded good, but it's so hard to judge them not only at a show, but also when they are shown with panel speakers only. Nothing wrong with panel speakers, but they don't really give me a sense of how they might pair with my normal box and driver speakers. Anyway around it though, the LTA Z40+ is also on my radar. |
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