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Thinking of buying a solid state amp

I will be moving soon, my BAT 150SE might not work in the new environment due to hotter weather and smaller listening room. My speakers (Aerial 20T) requires lots of power so I can't go BAT 75SE route, I have not found other tube amps physically smaller to sound anywhere as good as BAT either.

So I have two options. Buy a good solid state and sell my BAT. Usual suspects are Pass 350.5, Bryston 14B-SST, McIntosh 501, etc. Question is will I be happy with anyone of them coming from BAT?

My second option is to buy some class D like Bel Canto or Nuforce and keep my BAT to use during cooler days.

I will rather have 1 (or 1 pair) amp than 2, but will any of the above (other suggestions welcome) make a tube guy happy? In my 20+ years of audio journey, I have owned 10+ solid state amps but they never lasted over a couple months.

Pre amp is an Einstein.
semi
ck
101 posts
 
If you are going to go SS and heat is an issue you can eliminate any class A amp ie Pass. The Nuforce would give you plenty of power an they produce very little heat and take up a small footprint. The fact you are using a tube preamp is also helpful and should match well with the Nuforce. By the way Nuforce is coming out with the V3 later in the fall so you may want to wait.
winoguy17
1,185 posts
 
McCormack
semi OP
649 posts
 
Hovland is definitely worth considering though not sure if they are in my price range.

As for Pass X350.5 or XA.5, I am aware of the heat they generate but they are still cooler than BAT 150SE. I did consider McCormack DNA500 initially, but read in forum Spectron and Pass are preferred by most.

I will try to borrow some Bel Canto or Nuforce before deciding on either.
larryi
4,169 posts
 
Smaller listening room probably also means less power required to reach high volume levels. If you like the BAT sound, why not at least try the smaller BAT or some other smaller tube amp?

A lot of people over estimate the amount of power needed to drive a pair of speakers. To achieve high output for either tube or solid state amplification, some sacrifice in terms of sound quality is inevitable. Often this comes having to parallel a lot of output devices (more of an issue, to me, for tube gear than solid state). Perhaps a small compromise on available power for the few instances when really high sustained power is needed will yield greater rewards for the vast majority of your listening.
guidocorona
4,298 posts
 
Semi, if you seek a warmer sound, between the NiuForce and Bel canto Ref 1000 Mk.2, you may want to consider the latter. I have used both in my system driving Vienna Mahler speakers, and BC sounded a little warmer. . . NuForce may have been overdamping the bass among other things. I have reviewed BC Ref 1KMk.2 on Positive Feedback at:
http://www.positive-feedback.com/Issue43/bel_canto_ref1000.htm
My reference amplifier is the Rowland 312 which I adore, but it is significantly more expensive than the BC.
If you get any class D amps, be prepared to be very patient with break in. . . BC is relative benign at about 600 hours, NuForce seems to require about 1000 hours to settle down, and so do most Jeff Rowland amplifiers. BC is listenable out of the box, but NuForce and Rowland amps will sound pretty dry for the first couple hundred hours.
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