What tube amp for starting out?

one more - Audio Research VT130

If I had any component that was "dead in the midrange" it would not be in my system very long. Boy, if you don't have the midrange right, then it will be very easy to find an amp that does better. I heard a friend's modified Dynaco many, many years ago and was very impressed with it, but couldn't comment beyond that. Have you tried rolling the tubes with various different brands? Could you have some bad tubes in there that are holding it back?

As far as a replacement, as Tvad points out, you might want to post the speakers you are using in order to get more informed input on the subject. Are you intending on keeping the other Dynaco components? The price of the "most realism possible" can be very high indeed. Also, what you find to be "realistic" may be different from what another person finds that way. You should probably also consider stating a budget, or you will get suggestions from a few hundred dollars to tens of thousands of dollars.

Marco

Groundhog, like Tvad has said, we need to know what kind of speakers you're driving. Better yet, give us your entire rig and the music you love most. Then we can give you some tips on what may help you out. Realistic, but dead in the mid range? The core, the gestalt of realism is in the midrange. This is where most of your music is. Maybe you don't require a new amp. This could get to be an expensive answer to your question or just the reverse.

warren :)

Again get it right the first time,MC275IV,I have one and it is one great amp.It is auto bias so you never have to worry about biasing after new tubes if you get into tube rolling.If you stick to stock tubes they are rated for 3,000 plus hours.You can get a low hours used one on Agon for around $2700.00.