Bryston vs. McCormack

I couldn't agree more Garfish. To get the top to bottom coherence of a good solid state amp, you would have to buy high 4 figure or possibly a five figure tubed amp. Then there's the retubing... 70 watts per channel = $$$$ at the tube store once a year. Dont get me wrong, Jerry, I Love the sound of say, CJ Premier 8's, but I cant even afford their tubes once a year, much less the amps themselves. It IS all about the music. But a solid state amp, the McCormacks at that (I guarantee you if Stereophile accepted no advertising, these would be in the Class A listing) paired with a tubed Preamp (now... 2 12AU7's, I can handle that once every 2 years) gives you MOST of the magic of a full tubed rig. IT is all about the music, and if a 20 watt Jolida Tubed integrated does it for you, then great. I would rather find a speaker that I agree with, then find supporting components. IF I could live with Klipschorns, then I guess a 2A3 or 300B based 3 to 7 watt per channel amp would be the answer. Anyway, I like to see the sharing of opinions and information in such a positive manner as in this particular posting. It's refreshing to see that some of us are still interested in spreading the knowledge and love of a truly noble quest.

I couldn't agree more Garfish. To get the top to bottom coherence of a good solid state amp, you would have to buy high 4 figure or possibly a five figure tubed amp. Then there's the retubing... 70 watts per channel = $$$$ at the tube store once a year. Dont get me wrong, Jerry, I Love the sound of say, CJ Premier 8's, but I cant even afford their tubes once a year, much less the amps themselves. It IS all about the music. But a solid state amp, the McCormacks at that (I guarantee you if Stereophile accepted no advertising, these would be in the Class A listing) paired with a tubed Preamp (now... 2 12AU7's, I can handle that once every 2 years) gives you MOST of the magic of a full tubed rig. IT is all about the music, and if a 20 watt Jolida Tubed integrated does it for you, then great. I would rather find a speaker that I agree with, then find supporting components. IF I could live with Klipschorns, then I guess a 2A3 or 300B based 3 to 7 watt per channel amp would be the answer. Anyway, I like to see the sharing of opinions and information in such a positive manner as in this particular posting. It's refreshing to see that some of us are still interested in spreading the knowledge and love of a truly noble quest.

?? Any DC output offset on some tube preamps?? I'm following this thread with great interest (owning a DNA-1 myself) that worked pretty well when once auditioned with a Golden Tube SEP-2 preamp. However, my dealer told me to be very careful of mating some tube preamps with transistor PA's, as some tube preamps have DC output offset, which would really be a problem into a direct-coupled PA! Has anyone experienced this problem, or wishes to otherwise share experiences?

Hi Fpeel,I had a 3BST that was replaced by DNA-1 Deluxe. The biggest differences was that the DNA was smoother in the highs and the 3BST had a tad more bass slam (This made the DNA much more listenable with loud and brighter recorded music.I also plan to get the revision A upgrade when my budget allows.The Line 1 is a good choice as I had a SFL-1 Signature that is said to sound simular to the Line 1 and it sounded nice with the 3BST. I recently replaced the SFL-1 Sig with a new Audible Illusions 3MA.(The 3Ma has had upgrades every year since 1996)and the detail and micro dynamics was the most noticeable improvement and the sound improves with tube upgrades.Downside on A I ,is that service takes at least a month or two.I ,ironically also have a the Hales Revelation 3's and my Cal Alpha(also have the Delta) recently returned with the 24/96 upgrade and is well worth the $450. Some have complained about clicking between tracks.This can be eliminated by a simple mod. when you tell service the dac is to be used for audio only.I also have a PS Audio PP 300 which makes a very nice difference and I plan to try a couple of Lab Cables once the long wait is over due to the world copper shortage.I also am interested to try a Reference Line Preemminance 2 passive line pre amp when I can find a mint used unit on the net,and there will be a showdown with the A I M3A.I also am usng the very latest MIT High End Series Shotgun cables between speakers and components and am extremely pleased with their performance.Happy listening with what I can confirm is a well matched and very satisfying sounding system.