Hello again. I wanted to clarify my post. My current amp is a Sonic Frontiers Power2 amp. Overall, my current set up is the best sounding system I've had but to be honest I have not tried much of what is mentioned above by other Agoners. I'm sure there are other other tube amps - Joule, VTL, AR..... that might sound better and certainly more tube like. The SF amp has plenty of power but uses 16 tubes. It's a tube amp but not overly tube sounding. However, It puts out enough heat to warm up that section of the house. Not bad in the winter but not so good in the summer. My prior set up was older M series Mirages that just could not get enough power. I tried running these with Quicksilver 8417 amps and ended up bi-amping with a SS amp since QS amps could not provide enough juice to power the bottom end properly. I figured the SF amp could power most speakers and provide more options for speakers. Hence the reason for purchase. Fast forward - I now have the QUAD 22L2 speakers, VTL preamp which I just love for the money (acquired both for $1700). The QUADs are much more efficient versus the Mirages. So, I could get by with less wattage and hopefully avoid the eventual & costly retube issue of the SF amp. So, I like tube sound but would like to reduce tube hassle, and heat. But as others have mentioned maybe a SS amp just won't do it.
I guess sometimes you can't have your cake and eat it too.
So, just not sure what to do at this point. Maybe I could acquire a SS amp or Hybrid amp for the warmer months and put the SF amp back in circuit for the cooler months. I'm sure someone will reply that I'm nuts. Maybe so.
I guess sometimes you can't have your cake and eat it too.
So, just not sure what to do at this point. Maybe I could acquire a SS amp or Hybrid amp for the warmer months and put the SF amp back in circuit for the cooler months. I'm sure someone will reply that I'm nuts. Maybe so.