Who makes the highest quality tube amps?


One scale of 1-10, 10 being best designed and constructed technically, personal sound preferences aside, who are the 8s, 9s, and 10s?

VAC, ARC, Atmasphere would seem like likely candidates I can think of. Are they ?

Where does Decware rank? Rogue? How about others?

SOme technical facts to help support any claims is appreciated please.

Durability and reliability matters to me here as much as anything. I would want my tube gear to continue to work as reliably as designed years down the road as well as up front.

THanks.

Thanks.
128x128mapman
Shoutout for BWS Consulting high power tube amps, alas, no longer available. 600 lb delivered. Bruce was David Berning's neighbor back in the 70s.
Mapman, just curious here, are you planing to replace your class D amps with tube amp(s)?
Add in TRON, Border Patrol, LAMM and Kondo to that list. My money went on a TRON Voyager 6W OTA using an EML20B tube. Fabulous sound and unbelievable build quality. My preamp is a TRON Meteor (predecessor of the top end Syren preamp). If you want to see the build and component quality, here’s a topless pic of my TRON Meteor preamp.

http://topoxforddoc.zenfolio.com/p25034437/h32a36fef#h32a36fef

Jeff at Highwater Sound, NYC, is the US distributor for TRON and also holds Border Patrol.

Charlie
I have a VTL Stereo 90 Deluxe Ultra-Linear tube amp that I mate with a Harman Kardon Citation 1 with Focal Diva Utopia Be Speakers. Simply Stunning!!!I find the VTL more holographic, more musical, more transparent, more harmonically textured, a more magical level of refinement and tonally richer than ARC and in addition, VTL exhibits greater Pace, Rhythm, Attack, and Timing (PRAT) which allows me to experience a greater emotional connection to the musical presentation. I am using New Sensor Corp. Genalex KT88 power tubes with (2) NOS Siemens 801S's in the input position and (2) NOS GE's in the phase inverter position.

BTW, I'm taking a Poll on two very influential jazz recording engineers. Please visit my website and vote for your favorite jazz engineer: Rudy Van Gelder or Roy DuNann.

Michael Miguest
http://www.audiocognoscenti.com/blog.html