Help me find a smooth solid-state amp?

above responses to check out sam tellig's article in the dec s'phile are good - he also liked the mccormack & the musical fidelity amp, but from what he said, i don't think the m/f would be a good match for you. prolly would be better off getting a tubed pre-amp - imho, it seems the only way to enjoy cd's.

but, if yer intent on getting another amp, here's a shameless plug: check out my ad on this site for my electrocompaniet aw100 - 100wpc, 190 into 4 ohms, 80 amps current output... ;~)

doug

I would suggest you use a tube Pre if you must use a SS amp.The Classe are nice as is Bryston.Though i find the brystons can be bright.The tube pre can take some of the brightness away.

As Garfish also noted, I have found that most DVD players tend to sound brighter than a good CD player. It might be cheaper to invest in a seperate CD player instead of buying another amp. Keep in mind that MOST solid state preamps also tend to err on the bright side too. As to the specific amps that you mentioned, i would go for the McCormack as being the warmest sounding. The smaller Classe' amps sound bright (not grainy though) and slightly lean, the Aragon's have a reputation for a slightly "hot" high end with very solid bass and the older Bryston 4B that i had was nothing special at all. The newer Bryston's might be better or worse, i don't know. I would agree that the Pass amps are very "sweet" sounding but may not be "warm" enough for what you want. My suggestion is to evaluate each component on its own and see if they fit into the plans that you have for your system down the road. You may find out that changing one component simply "re-arranges" your problem. Sean >

IF YOU CAN FIND A USED FORTE 4 AMP WHICH IS 50 WATTS PURE CLASS A, IMHO THIS FAR EXCEEDS ANYTHING ELSE IN ITS PRICE RANGE.USUALLY $700-800 USED.ROOM TREATMENTS CAN CHANGE YOUR SOUND FROM BRIGHT TO DARK,SO KEEP ON TWEAKING!!

Get a Adcom 5802 Amp and have Stan Warren modify it. Stan Warren used to be the S in P.S Audio. This guy is an amazing modifier. He modified my 5802 for 300 dollars. He took out the so so parts and put in top quality parts. After this mod, i have to tell you, this Amp sounds so great. The Amp as it is, is a great Amp. But after the Stan Warren mod, this Amp goes to a new level. You can talk to Stan. His number is 541 344 3696