Best power amp below US $ 20.000,00 ??
The Tom Evans Linear A is another option. Gliderguider loves his. I've not heard it, though this review calls it a home run. I have heard the DeHavilland, several times in fact. It has exactly the qualities you describe in the DIY amp that you heard. |
Boa2 -> I'm aware of deHavilland amp. The only thing that is putting me off that amp is the fact, that the DIY amp I mentioned was MUCH more sofisticated than deHavilland offering: hand wound transformers, all NOS paper-in-oil caps, all tube rectification plus the GM70 was driven by 300B triode. deHavilland looks like toy next to it, although a much better made one ! Sbank -> I haven't tried any OTL amp so far (the only one I could possibly borrow is little Graff GM-20 OTL - way too underpowered for Eidolons, I guess) but I heard many times that all OTL designs are best suited for 8 Ohm impedance speakers, or even higher. The Eidolons Vision drop to 3,6 Ohm. ----- Today I brought home the Plinius SA 102 amp. I know that it is much cheaper than other offerings we are discussing here, but my dealer didn't have the more expensive Plinius models on hand, so I decided to listen to SA 102 first, just to see If I like the Plinius "house sound". If I do, I may investigate the more expensive models. If not - well, I will move on. |
deHavilland looks like toy next to it, although a much better made one !Considering that you could probably get the $10K deHavilland for several thousand less than retail, the additional $13K to your budget limit should get you what you want without much difficulty. Of course, if you require week-long auditions of each amp, then these long-distance suggestions are a moot point. Good luck in your search. |
I highly recommend the Lamm hybrid amplifiers. My friend, who has the Avalon Eidolons, went through many amplifiers trying to find the best. He tried the following amps: Classe CA-401, Kora Cosmos, BAT 150s (non-SE version), Manley Neoclassic 250s, VTL MB-450s, Rowland 501s. Finally he found his best and last amps, the Lamm M2.2s. These are 220 wpc mono-blocks. They sound incredible with this Eidolons, the best of all his amps. (In my opinion, these amps are the best upgrade he has made to his system, and I have seen him upgrade most of his system over the past few years.) They has the low frequency response of the best of the solid state units and also the touch of mid-range magic that tubes provide to the mid-range. The treble is the best I have heard from any of the amps, period. The imaging and soundstaging is incredible. He managed to get a decent discount from the dealer, so they came in under the $20K price you mentioned. (Although that was before they went up in price.) I loved the sound of his amps so much, that I bought a pair of used Lamm M2.1s for my Revel Studios. (These are the predecessor model with 200 wpc.) They sound almost identical (maybe the treble is a little better on the M2.2s, just maybe), but used, I paid only $7K. (And luckily for me, from a local seller so no shipping!) They have transformed my stereo from very good to excellent, IMHO. (Even my friend has said that my stereo took a giant leap forward when I got them.) In fact, I think that my speakers are not quite in the same class as these amps. (I am jealous you can afford the Visions actually.) PS BTW - bday0000@aol.com, in a good chuck of the world, they use commas for decimal points and periods for commas when writing numbers. (Interesting that so many places have such different syntax when writing numbers.) I believe some places use a space instead of a comma as well.) |
