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Integrateds: Warm sounding SS vs Hybrid

I have recently had Bryston B60 and Unison Unico amps. They each had their strengths. Overall I liked the Unico better, its more forward, fuller sound and a wider soundstage, due to its tube preamp. However, I wasn't enamored with the tube hiss I was getting, I realize that there might have been a problem with the amp, but I have read about others having this problem. With no music playing, or very quiet passages in classical music, the hiss could be heard from the listening position6-8 feet away.

I have read reviews of some SS amps where their sound is described as "tube-like".

My questions are:

1) Has anyone who had owned tubed gear heard a SS integrated that sounds like tubes?

2) Was my experience with Unison tube hiss likely due to faulty gear/tubes, etc?

Thanks in advance for your thoughts.
sandman012
chashmal
605 posts
 
The Unison Unico and Pathos are great hybrid integrateds. The SS integrateds that I like is the Audio Analoge.
brawny
51 posts
 
Hey John,

A fellow skeptic I see. After reading your response my first thought was that you were a shill for some company competing with Red Wine Audio (RWA). Why else would you be trying discredit or silence the RWA crowd? How's that for a conspiracy theory :) I agree with you that there a lot of shills out there trying to capitalize on the latest high-end audio fad. It's unfortunate. I no longer own my RWA 30.2, but I do believe that RWA offers a unique product line at reasonable prices. If you feel the need to provide a public service warning to Audiogon members about potential shills, then by all means, knock yourself out. However, I doubt that there are many Audiogon members blindly making expensive high-end purchases based upon recommendations by some unknown individual on the internet. I could be wrong though. Take care!
mrtennis
3,295 posts
 
what is meant by "tube-like" ?

my experience with solid state amps and conversations with a designer who offers solid state and tube amplifiers indicates that tube and solid state components are voiced differently. thus , without a denotation of "tube-like", i would say that solid state amps are not tube like, especially when driving planar dipole speakers.
jmcgrogan2's avatar
jmcgrogan2
6,346 posts
 
Nate (Natewalker_2006), my apologies if you are truely a sheep in sheep's clothing. Like I said, I am happy when folks find great sound, especially for a good price.
It would really help your case if you would go into more threads/details about your musical tastes, and equipment/cabling experiences.

How does RWA sound compared to ARC/BAT/CJ/VAC/Krell/ML/Threshold/Pass/Classe/Rowland/Coda/Cary/ etc. Yes, I've heard all of the above companies and more, and know what their 'house sound' is.
I haven't heard RWA, what can I compare it to?
Those that only ever mention one brand, and one brand only are those that are taken (rightly or wrongly) for shills.

Brawrny, yes one does learn to be skeptical after many years, whether it is warranted or not.....yes, that is sad.

Cheers,
John
audiofeil
4,011 posts
 
>>Those that only ever mention one brand, and one brand only are those that are taken (rightly or wrongly) for shills.<<

Good point John.

One need only to read the Rowland threads as good examples.

That's some serious cheerleading.
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