Classic McIntosh tube amp or new other brand

quicksilver

Can't go wrong with Quicksilver or MAC. jallen

Thanks for the responses

I auditioned the Mid-Monos yesterday and I was pleasently surprised. Esthetically I find the units not so attractive, but sonically they sound awesome. Great detail and a nice low end. I now understand where all the positive feedback comes from for the quickies.

I also auditioned a Cary Rocket 88. We used the pre-amp that was used to audition the quickies and it did not have enough gain to drive the rocket 88. Even in ultralinear mode the rocket 88 was not capable producing enough volume. At 40W it should be more than enough to drive the RS6s, but it wasn't. It was explained to me that Cary power amps require high gain pre-amps. I do not have a high gain pre-amp.

Besides the brands already suggested, are there any other good value brands the you could suggest?

IMHO there is probably good value to be had at almost any price point. When I started looking for an amp for my primary system, Luxman was one of my preferences; I really like their SS class A amps but they don't work budget-wise. So I listened to their relatively new MQ-88, a class A 40-watt stereo tube amp and that did it for me - completely. Beautiful amp, built like a tank, and a sonic marvel - everything I love in a tube amp, but it somehow also presents the best attributes of a high end SS amp. The only thing I auditioned and liked a little more were some great Shindo monoblocks, but they were quite costly and I felt that the real sonic value was to be had with the MQ-88. It continues to astound me!

Try a Cary pre with cary. I use the cheapest one ever a AE-3 originaly $550 but $300 used> Ae is a sub brand made by Cary that they DC'ed due to canabalizing the parent brand I suspect. It uses only two tubes there are a few around still. The remote and the upgrade will cost a lot more but under $1K loaded new (Upscale had some). Ckeck out Audio advisor demos . That can drive it an 88 .
The Quicksilvers are remarkable bargains I can't argue with that So if you like em.
BTW The Cary of choice is the big V12 with either 100 per side AB or 50 triode user selects.