Baby Steps back to Tubes.

So- He should have said something like, "a tube amp WILL GENERALLY SOUND louder than a SS state amp of the same wattage." Some things are difficult to quantify, but- still facts!

Just how much are you looking to throw at an SS amp, BTW?

Mono blocks? Stereo?

I'd think a natural mate would be the Cary 501s.

Does that pre go out xlr and rca?

on a budget, you could do worse than an odyssey Extreme, or for less, the Stratos Plus.

For the $$, and with your pre, I think you'll be suprised!

A BAT vk500 would be nice after that... BAT pack preffered of course.

Pass too might give you as much bass.

those 402 Mcintosh' amps sound pretty good and keep their value... but they're pretty hefty.

for that matter the Krell FPB 200 has great botom end and is very neutral. your preamp will definitely have an influence.

I enjoy your musical tastes, and would mention the Dodd MK II or even the ones out now, depending on how much is in the till for this adventure... with the cap upgrade, blues, R&B, complicated jazz, etc, should sound great! BTW, the 120 wpc MK II do seem to have a bit more on tap than does the Odyssey Stratos Plus at reportedly 180wpc...; or it sure seems that way.... it isn't 4 to 1 though.

if you want to stradle the fence some, try auditioning the Butler 2250. outstanding imaging and quite natural sounding. Plenty of that PRAT business too. Very nice IMO.

>>08-11-09: Cine100
Remember that a tube watt will play (4) times as loud as a solid state watt.<<

Please explain watt you just wrote.

I'm ohmfamiliar with this concept.

Thanks in advance.

A little FYI regarding the perceived loudness(some cite 12db) advantage of tubes over SS: click on, "Basics of Tube Amps for First Timers": (http://www.geofex.com/tubeampfaq/taffram.htm) and read the last two subjects("SIGNIFICANCE OF MUSICAL HARMONICS" and "RELATIONSHIP OF FACTORS AND FINDINGS") covered in this JAES treatise: (http://www.dwfearn.com/tubes_vs_transistors.html)

Go with a solid state amp with the NHT’s.

Any speaker with an impedance curve that varies a lot across its frequency range is generally not a good match for a tube amp.