Playing with the idea of solid state amps

A Plinius amp purchased two months four months ago has made me not really miss my tube amps (mostly SETs) of the last 19 years. Just last night I was marvelling at the sheer musicality of the SA-50 MKIII and the fact that I have no desire to get back to a tube amp any time soon. However, I do have a Joule Electra LA-150 II pre-amp which I think is beautifully musical, and also have Harbeth speakers which need quite a bit of drive.

On the other hand, I do miss seeing the glowing tubes and even looking at the trannies. And I've got a flawless Ait Tight ATM300 just setting here looking gorgeous. I can't seem to get up the nerve to place it on the market.

Of the amps you have listed, with your existing preamp, the Ayer and BC make the most sense. The BC 8 is one of my favorite amps. Then the Pass and McCormack. The Sim is very accurate, maybe a little dry. Since the door was opened for digital amps, look at the Channel Island DM 200 (or the 100 if you do not need the power). It mates with the SE9 extremely well and will outperform most amps more expensive. It is musical and accurate without dryness or being analytical. It is a sleeper, clearly light years ahead of the Nuforce and others in its class.

But, it all comes down to your ears, room and overall tolerances.

Yo; philfreak--In a thread I started and went nowhere and within another thread I asked about the Pass 350.5 we seem to be in the same boat. I have looked at ads for the same amps you mention. I nearly bid on the dutch auction for 350.5's last week. I have had in the past,2 dif.845 amps.I just weren't to happy with the overall presentation--(I NEED bass) I now have Wilson Sophia. I just paid 1600 to retube my CJ8's. I listen way to much. Sometimes my stuff is on 24 hrs a day. Between the cost of tubes and the summer-time-heat,I just think a decent SS is the way to go;saving the CJ for special sessions. The Lamb M1.1 / 2.1 and such are just a bit more than I want to spend right now. Does the 350.5 run hot??

I would highly consider CJ's premier 350 it runs warm but not hot. The pass will run quite warm to hot because of circuit topology. Both are exellent amps.

Chuck

Go odyssey, maybe the extreme dual mono, I went from several tube units, Rogue, Cary, love the odyssey, I heard and liked a Ayre for about 1500.00 used, and Threshold, Sunfire, mcCormack, forget it the odyssey takes the cake, especially with the low risk of money... The extreme gives you 120 amps of current per channel, 180,000 mf of capacitance, and built with Plinith transformers, and WBT binding posts standard,,, none of these amps for anywhere near the price get you that close, The sim audio I think will only get to 30 amps per channel peak, And most other manufacturers do not even give you those specs. In my experiance the Higher current Solid state design you can get the more liquid and tube quality(closer) you can obtain. Plus You can try an odyssey for an audition and no questions asked return, but they take a nasty amount of breakin time just like the rest of the Transistor based units.