Top Tier Amps

I'll just say that my personal opinion on the audio quality of amplifiers doesn't necessarily match with the perceived amount of prestige (or price).
 
NekoAudio said:
I'll just say that my personal opinion on the audio quality of amplifiers doesn't necessarily match with the perceived amount of prestige (or price).
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For sure. I always found Soulution dry. Others love it. Some say Bryston isn't musical and overly analytical, yet I really enjoy their amps.

It should also be noted that our perception is going to differ based on pairings.


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Not too long ago I spent quite a bit of time researching and pre - COVID demoing many amps on your list. Here's a few more I'd add:

Tier 1: Lamm
Tier 2: Burmester, T+A, Merrill

Also, FWIW I've heard CH Precision several times and never found them to be cold, dry and sterile sounding at all. I did find them to be the most dynamic and the fastest amps I've ever heard. They were the closest to a real band I've ever heard in terms of overall accuracy / realism on a pair of Arrakis in a well - set up system.

Finally I'd put Audionet back in the Tier one category. Their Heisenberg amps are over $100K and I can attest to them certainly competing with Gryphon and CH Precision.

My 2 cents :-)
 
so much great gear, so little rack space!
;):D

however, not nearly enough SET tube love in the list for my tastes. for example what about kondo, air tight, thomas mayer, wavac, audio tekne and similar?

however, to be fair this type amp most often comes from smaller, artisanal companies ...so, they are not on the radar for many.
 
sb6 said:
Not too long ago I spent quite a bit of time researching and pre - COVID demoing many amps on your list. Here's a few more I'd add:

Tier 1: Lamm
Tier 2: Burmester, T+A, Merrill

Also, FWIW I've heard CH Precision several times and never found them to be cold, dry and sterile sounding at all. I did find them to be the most dynamic and the fastest amps I've ever heard. They were the closest to a real band I've ever heard in terms of overall accuracy / realism on a pair of Arrakis in a well - set up system.

Finally I'd put Audionet back in the Tier one category. Their Heisenberg amps are over $100K and I can attest to them certainly competing with Gryphon and CH Precision.

My 2 cents :-)
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Good points. Would the consensus be tier 1? I don’t know. Maybe getting there with a new line....but generally speaking? Still think tier 2 from an overall general perspective.


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aKnyght said:
so much great gear, so little rack space!
;):D

however, not nearly enough SET tube love in the list for my tastes. for example what about kondo, air tight, thomas mayer, wavac, audio tekne and similar?

however, to be fair this type amp most often comes from smaller, artisanal companies ...so, they are not on the radar for many.
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Oh yes, good point. Kondo for sure is tier 1. Air tight, I would say 2. The others might not be well known enough to list accurately.


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sb6 said:
Not too long ago I spent quite a bit of time researching and pre - COVID demoing many amps on your list. Here's a few more I'd add:

Tier 1: Lamm
Tier 2: Burmester, T+A, Merrill

Also, FWIW I've heard CH Precision several times and never found them to be cold, dry and sterile sounding at all. I did find them to be the most dynamic and the fastest amps I've ever heard. They were the closest to a real band I've ever heard in terms of overall accuracy / realism on a pair of Arrakis in a well - set up system.

Finally I'd put Audionet back in the Tier one category. Their Heisenberg amps are over $100K and I can attest to them certainly competing with Gryphon and CH Precision.

My 2 cents :-)
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Lamm is the perfect example of “reasonable” price for a great product. I remember hearing the M2.2 at a store in Minneapolis with a pair of Sonos Olympica 2’s. I thought it was a fantastic amp.


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where's' Rowland? Jeff almost single-handedly brought differentially balanced connections to high-end consumer audio in the late 80s before anyone would touch it. Jeff was also pushing the SOTA for SS designs before Ch Precision and Soulution were even a glimmer in their founder's eyes.
 
Updated. Lamm is a weird one. Not sure where to put them. Resale is atrocious, so not sure how accurate the MSRP is of the performance. Tier 2?


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Mike said:
I don’t know about you guys, but I see the amp market currently in basically four tiers:

Tier 1: Gryphon, Boulder, Soulution, CH, D’Ag, Dart, Constellation, Goldmund, FM Acoustics, Vitus, MSB, Kondo, Wavac, etc.
Tier 2: T+A, Pass XS, Sim 888, Naim 500, VAC, MBL, VTL, Nagra, Spectral, Esoteric Grandioso, AudioNet, Rowland, Air Tight, etc.
Tier 3: Luxman, Sim, Pass, Naim, Classe’, Bryston, Hegel, Accuphase, ARC, Ayre, Mcintosh, etc.
Tier 4: Parasound, Bel Canto, Wyred, Cambridge, NAD, etc.


The marketplace for top tier amps is more crowded than ever with newcomers like Pillium, Block and others.

What are your thoughts on the current amp market?

Will we see a resurgence from brands like Ayre, Accustic Arts (an amp/preamp I had in the store and was floored by their performance) or Zanden or Ypsilon?

Will we see newcomers like Block and others gaining interest or will the stranglehold from the big boys continue to hold?
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Vitus Tier 1 , VAC tier 2 , find that a bit backwards for me also unless Spectral has deteriorated over the years they are easily Tier 1 stuff ...!

Vitus is Tier2/3 IMO..

MSB amp look the part would love to see proper trst bench measurements for compare to Boulder ...!

Regards
 
a.wayne said:
Vitus Tier 1 , VAC tier 2 , find that a bit backwards for me also unless Spectral has deteriorated over the years they are easily Tier 1 stuff ...!

Vitus is Tier2/3 IMO..

MSB amp look the part would love to see proper trst bench measurements for compare to Boulder ...!

Regards
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The love for Vitus has sure fallen. Where’s Bodhi?


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To me, Vitus, Aavik, Naim etc all have a vocal following. But that does not mean that the general perception of the brand is tier 1 or even tier 2.

If somebody came and asked me what to definitely listen to with a "money no object" attitude. None of those would be on my list, even tho for example the Naim Statement pre/power is truly amazing - $250,000 they better be, and certainly rivals any other tier 1 pre/power. But ... if we are going with perception. Nope - not tier 1.
 
How about this: No Boulder product on the latest Stereophile recommended A list, but the new Classé Delta Monos are?


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