tube amps with El 34s your favorites ??

I second the Arpege, but I wouldn't buy one again. I used to own this amplifier. It is in my opinion in the top 2 or 3 of many that I have owned. HOWEVER the following reasons make me stay away from it. For one thing, dealers are almost non-existent, and those who are still left have some issues with the distributor. He does not let them offer any discounting whatsoever, not even a dollar ! Secondly, if you need service - good luck! I once waited a long long time to get a simple reply from the distributor (my dealer had dropped the line) because I wanted some ''premium priced'' ''Audiomat approved'' tubes (sure). I just put in tubes from Upscale Audio and it was just dandy. Overall, this amplifier IS nice, and I was a bargain five years ago. However, they are getting greedy on pricing and I feel you can do better for the price of the Arpege if you buy it new ( and do LOT better with other amps if the newer outrageously expensive Opera amplifier is considered). On the used market, the Arpege remains a good deal as resale market is usually pretty low (good for us, but bad for the original owner who bought it full retail- the only way to fly with Mutine). Well made, good-sound, no service. You decide. In all honesty, I did enjoy mine and it IS a good-sounding unit and a good looker too. I was wondering, is ANYONE paying FULL RETAIL for anything audio here as far as amps and preamps are concerned?

Just gotta chime in here. Canary Audio CA 160 is the best hands-down EL34 amp I've heard. Sweet like a VTL and with the same dynamic drive, but much more open and transparent, with tighter and deeper bass and airier highs.

Depends what speakers you're driving, as always... amp and speakers are a system, as Art Dudley memorably pointed out in Stereophile a few issues back.

That said, I really love my Radford STA-15, driving Quad ESLs.

Opera-Consonance Cyber 800 mono-blocks with some tube rolling will compete with amplifiers costing twice its original $4000 price tag.
It represents good value in today's very competitive market.
This amplifier has the refinement as well as muscle to drive almost any speakers you can imagine.

One of the best amps coming from the "East".

The Consonance M100 Plus. I used to own a CJ MV55 but didn't care for its dry sound. This little Consonance however, despite its humble beginnings, is totally amazing. I like it way better than the CJ in terms of detail, dynamics, and soundstaging. It is really an amazing little amp - and it sells for super cheap!

Arthur