Pass Labs XA30.5 and ModWright KWA150

No burnt fingers/hands on curious youngsters.

As Semi said, the Spectron sounds nothing like a good tube amp. I am not saying the Spectron sounds bad or is a bad amp, just that I can't see anybody remotely saying it sounds like a tube amp.

My statements are based on having the Spectron amp in house for an extended audition. During this audition I was able to directly compare it to Pass and Atma-Sphere amps.

George

Ral, what does "tube-like" mean to you?

Tube-like to me means: Dimensionality of images, bloom and decay, a sense of instruments actually present. Then why not just get a tube amp? Well, issues of maintenance and heat, along with typically lower damping factor. Some pure class A solid state gear gets you part way toward tube sound (but never all the way of course).

Right. The Pass will run near as hot as a tubed amp with similar power. The Pass is overbuilt and is essentially no maintenance. However, if you have a speaker that can work well with a tubed amp, and you are looking for something that sounds like a tubed amp, then buy a tubed amp. You will spend more time trying to get the SS amp to sound like a tubed amp, than time spent with any maintenance issues that are likely with a tubed amp in the first place.

There are some good choices with autobiasing, good customer support, and very good build. You can often find something with an intact warranty at a used price from dealers.

SS amps can work very well, but they take much care and effort.