Cary Six Pac vs. sli-80

Well, I've not heard the SLI-80, but I own, and love, the Sixpacs. The bass is very good, IMO. Not as much impact as a 200 watt SS, but much better than a lot of tube amps, again IMO.

The SLi-80 has 80 watts of power in ultralinear mode and 50 watts in triode. The Sixpacs are 50 watt triode only amps. I own the Sli-80 and love it, but haven't heard the sixpacs so I can't compare the two. You're not going to get the bass of high powered SS with either amp - or most tube amps for that matter. Obviously, the Sixpac's sound would also be influenced by whatever preamp you select, so a direct comparison would be somewhat subjective. Another point to consider is that the SLI-80 is quite flexible since it has sub outs, a highly regarded headphone section, you can switch between ultralinear and triode on the fly and the amp will accept a wider range for output tube types (kt88, 6550, el34, etc.). If you research further here and over at AA I think you will find many fans of both amps with few detractors, so you can't go wrong with either, IMHO.

Get a CaryV12R. I replaced a McIntosh 7270 270 wpc power amp with one and I only need the 50 watts in triode mode. I don't really use the 100 watt ultra linear mode. As far as distortion forgiveness, 50 to 100 watts in a tube amp is about equal to 150 to 300 watts SS. Hook one up to a Cary SLP98P preamp and you can't go wrong. polk432