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Sacrilege Going from Tubes back to Solid State

Hello gang,

Well the time may have come. I am getting way over the fuse blowing, bias adjusting and general baybying my Tube Monos are putting me through. I love the sound of my VTL MB 300s that I had VTL upgrade to the new 450 status a few years ago. I love the depth, stage, sweetness and punch they give my Meadowlark Hot Rod Herons. I love the front to rear layering and detail they reveal.
Can anybody recommend a solid state amp or monos that MIGHT give me some of what I love? I am in the $4000.00 range and looking primarily at used product. I use JPS labs Super 2 Speaker and ICs and a modded VTL 2.5 pre with an Ayre CX-7e Digital front end with a Rega P-25 sporting a Dynavector Karat 17 mk II driving a plinius Jarrah Phono stage.
My frustration may be getting the best of me here but I am tired of crossing my fingers when I turn on my stereo!
I have heard good things from Older levinson gear, perhaps newer McIntosh? How about Accuphase? or ARGGGGGGGGGGHH a little help please! Thanks in advance.
128x128meadowman
nsgarch's avatar
nsgarch
2,524 posts
 
There are SS amps that come very, very close to tube sweetness (I'm not talking about the SS amps that are made intentionally "warm and mellow" and try to mimic tube sound.)

I'm talking about SS amps that aren't hard, harsh, grainey, etc. And as someone pointed out the other day, the problem here is that it takes a lot of money before SS amps catch up in quality to the best tube amps. In other words, they're saying that the moderate priced SS amps don't match the performance of moderate priced tube amps.

With that in mind, there are a few great SS amps available used (i.e. within your budget) that will give you 90% of what you love about your VTLs, yet with maintenance-free ownership.

My favorite (in your price range) is a Levinson 23.5 (200W/8ohms) or 27.5 (100W/8ohms), about $2500 and $1900 used. (Stay away from the 23 and 27, they're OK but not sublime.) Levinson 20.5 or 20.6 100W pure class A monoblocks are even a bit better, but will set you back more than $4000. Older Rowlands, Accuphase, Cellos, Spectrals, and Goldmunds are also good bets, but somewhat harder to find, and may be a little more than you were planning to pay -- especially the very desireable Goldmund and Cello, although I have seen Cello Encores and older Goldmund Mimises go for $4k+.
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chadnliz
3,736 posts
 
I think Classe has a very pleasing sound also like Pass Labs YMMV
clio09
3,356 posts
 
This may or not be helpful. When I decided to move away from a tube amp I decided to try the TRL D-225. It is listed at 225 watts but tests out closer to 275 watts. It is $4k new. They can make a monoblock version, but that may be over your budget. I have been very happy with my D-225 and paired it with a Joule Electra LA-100 MkIII and Cary SLP-98. It worked fine with both those tube preamps and my Spendor 1/2e speakers.

I'm somewhat intrigued by the Accuphase vintage gear, specifically the P-300 amp. They are available at very reasonable prices and can be brought up to spec by Accutech. One other option that caught my eye at RMAF was the Butler hybrid OTL amp. I think it is $3295 new, but I have seen them listed here for around $1600.
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