Ok....Audiogoners: need some tube amp ideas


Any suggestion/comment is appreciated. Just off the top of my head, below is a list of initial parameters.

- budget: $4k ish (somewhat flexible)
- tubes/valves amp(s)
- preowned or new
- mono or stereo configuration
- min wattage: 70 and higher (this rating would afford me more speaker options down the road e.g. 4/8 ohm and >88db efficiency)
- brand(s): leaning toward more esoteric manufacturers or models (e.g. Dodd 120, VAC PHI, Audio Valves); would prefer staying away from manufactueres that do magazine advertisement.

Current thought: I might push the budget a bit to consider a pair of preowned Lamm ML1.

Thanks much. (currently listening to Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No.2 by NY Philharmonic/Berstein)

Ken
kyyuan
Indofunka- the Atma was the M-60 2.3; the Joule VZN-80. And to keep the discussion current; after several back and forths, I believe that I am sticking with the Joule but with a quicker, more dynamic i/c.
Sheeh. My apologies to Nkj and everyone else on this thread. His post was a year ago! When I emailed him, he had forgotten about it.
Wow, the internet is a strange place. I was queried the other day on comments I posted a year ago and low and behold did not remember what I said. I assure you I have had the atma amps as I described in my system. I decided to go with the Berning amp because of chassis size, tube heat and biasing fiddling.

Ralph has addressed 2 of these issues in his current line-up ...that's great. My comments were relevant for the models that were availble to me from my dealer's current stock at the time I auditioned them and posted.

Atama's are great amps ...so is the Berning. Go listen and live with them and see which you prefer.