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Recommendations for good Class A SS Amp 100-200W

I had been very impress by my friends set up where he bi-amps his celestion SL6000 speaker with a pair of Krells - KSA100 & KSA250. Both are class A and I haven't heard bass slam like his set up since.

I now have gotten hold of a pair of Celestion SL6000 but I haven't been able to reproduce the bass slam and solidity I remember in my friends set up. I'm driving mine with Ampzilla 2000 MK2 and Mccormick DNA 500. Both have 2-3x the power ratings of the Krell.

I'm suspecting it may be due to the Krell's Class A bias. So looking to find a pair of amps that may better suit the Celestion 6000's. I have a pair of VTL 450MB which I intend to switch in soon, but haven't gotten around to it yet. That may do the trick for me as well, but need to find out.

I know I can find Krell's like my what my friend has easy enough, but I know Plinius and others are making SS class A maps still. So wondering if anyone has experience with the more modern Class A SS amps and if anyone can comment on how these compare with the old Krells.

Gerald
geraldedison
koestner
670 posts
 
It was more likely your friends room, rather than the class of the amp used.
csontos
1,311 posts
 
Probably a combination of both. I have upwards of 20 different amps. I happen to have a G.A.S.500 newly rebuilt by Mike Bettinger of gasudio. This thing is literally brand new. It is superb. However the ones I've just gotten back from Roy Esposito are the ones that knock my socks off: the Acoustat TNT200. I have three of these and one TNT120 I will be using for an active JBL 4345 system I'm currently building. Roy has rebuilt these with mono switches and balanced input option. Bridged, they put out over 1100 watts but even in stereo mode, just one of these will shake your floor. Super fast with a damping factor of over 1000 up to 1khz. The lowest, strongest bottom end I've experienced so far. The most realistic amp I have ever heard. Roy was part of the engineering team that designed the Acoustat products and runs a small facility dedicated to their revival.
lloydelee21
1,202 posts
 
Gerald,

In my experience, its not the watts that matter for what you seek. Not necessarily the Class A topology either. The Krell is known for bass wallop and is a very high current design. High current (and high capacitance maybe?) usually make a big difference...i suspect in addition to bass volume, the Krell is tight-fisted as well...which means the bass has both impact and snap...the VTL should have volume and impact...as much snap i cannot say.

Get a Krell if that is what you seek...other Class A amps include Pass Labs, Gryphon, Vitus...all of which throw serious bass. I know and own Gryphon. Again i am not convinced its just about the Class A design. For just the bass element, you can also use big Brystons, or possibly Classe, Rowland.

BTW, i think Celestions are great...my first speaker was the SL6si...and i always wanted to hear the mighty SL6000 system...congrats. A seriously great system by all accounts. Enjoy.
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