Best Pure Musical Amplifiers (power not important)

Kingrex said:
I wish I could find a musical pair of solid-state monoblocks that we're reasonably priced. All my cabling and set up is design for monos.
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I guess it depends on what you consider reasonably priced and what kind of SS amp you are looking for. The First Watt was one of the best sounding musical amps I have owned, if you are leaning toward modest power amps. I don't believe they current manufacture mono amps though. Of course Pass would be a good choice, if in the budget. I do not believe T+A makes reasonable mono amps, so I can't lean you that way :).

Other good choices... Benchmark's little amp is supposed to be outstanding. If you are thinking class D I would direct you towards PS Audio or even more so Wyred 4 Sound.
 
I mean nothing about Quicksilver. I'm sure its a great sounding little amp. I like the off beaten products. I'm a little tired of listening to the talked about products. I just chose what I chose and I'm darn happy.
 
Kingrex said:
I'm a little tired of listening to the talked about products. I just chose what I chose and I'm darn happy.
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And that is the bottom line, all that really matters!

I simply decided that I was not into tubes at this time. The heat and having to have backups on hand, tube rolling, etc. While I am sure many people find this one of the things they enjoy about audio gear, just like some find fine tuning and adjusting a turntable setup one of their joys in life, I no longer do. I like the ease of use, the convenience of solid state. Now that I found one I can live with, at this point I am satisfied!
 
I'm getting there Randy but not quite. Sometimes I worry if anything were to happen to me, im leaving my wife too much stuff and maintenance. She likes the stereo but would be happier with a set of Raido X5 and and SS amps.
 
Kingrex said:
I'm getting there Randy but not quite. Sometimes I worry if anything were to happen to me, im leaving my wife too much stuff and maintenance. She likes the stereo but would be happier with a set of Raido X5 and and SS amps.
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Rex, Rex, Rex...


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Hello Ed. You know I have a mess of stuff my wife would have to deal with if I was suddenly not around. There's a boat she would scratch her over. There's a stereo she would scratch her head over. There's all sorts of woodworking tools as well as electrical contracting tools. I feel sorry for her if something were to happen to me. I on the other hand if something happened to her would only have to deal with unloading shoes and clothing.
 
Kingrex said:
Hello Ed. You know I have a mess of stuff my wife would have to deal with if I was suddenly not around. There's a boat she would scratch her over. There's a stereo she would scratch her head over. There's all sorts of woodworking tools as well as electrical contracting tools. I feel sorry for her if something were to happen to me. I on the other hand if something happened to her would only have to deal with unloading shoes and clothing.
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But I’ll have $2500 cash in hand and take on the moving [emoji851]


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I made the mistake of contacting a Salesman I know and he's all over me about an Ypsilon Phaethon amp. He can't absorb I wont spend +$20k. Kind of funny. I thought about some used Pass XA60.5 in the $6k range. Then I started mulling the T&A Amp 8 for $4k or so. Is the Amp 8 that good. It might be a nice way to step into SS.

Any thought on how the two will voice. I do love my Ampsandsound Casablanca. It's my kind of tone. All I want is a little more juice on the bottom end when I rock out. Yet, rocking out is 6% of my play. Today, my jaw is a little loose over how nice classical and jazz are sounding as is.
Why change then ?? Like Randy. I want to see if I can find the magic with SS.

I have Pure Audio Project Trio 15 Horn. One day I may end up with Daedalus or Joseph.
 
I have had the following Amps go through my system

Kondo Kaguras
Kondo Ongaku
Audio Note UK Ongaku
Soulution 710
Vitus SM 101
Goldmund 3300 Nextgen
Goldmund 2500
Gryphon Colosseum Mono
Orpheus Ultimate Amplifier
Analog Domain Apollos
Constellation Audio Centaur Monos

Most musical? Kaguras and Orpheus.
 
Kingrex said:
I made the mistake of contacting a Salesman I know and he's all over me about an Ypsilon Phaethon amp. He can't absorb I wont spend +$20k. Kind of funny. I thought about some used Pass XA60.5 in the $6k range. Then I started mulling the T&A Amp 8 for $4k or so. Is the Amp 8 that good. It might be a nice way to step into SS.

Any thought on how the two will voice. I do love my Ampsandsound Casablanca. It's my kind of tone. All I want is a little more juice on the bottom end when I rock out. Yet, rocking out is 6% of my play. Today, my jaw is a little loose over how nice classical and jazz are sounding as is.
Why change then ?? Like Randy. I want to see if I can find the magic with SS.

I have Pure Audio Project Trio 15 Horn. One day I may end up with Daedalus or Joseph.
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I think there is another musical and fare cheaper option, Purifi. Nord Acoustics and Apollon Audio have monoblocks and stereo dual mono configurations. Audiophonics has an even cheaper alternative but do not be mistaken by the price, I consider them even better than the Hypex NCore1200 except in case of serious power needs. I am considering two three channel amplifiers in an active crossover for my PAP Quintet Horn.
 
Many of the high powered amps sound every bit as good as the, what I might refer to as, "ultra-boutique" low powered amps. Power, whether high power or low power, doesn't necessarily guarantee a superb sounding amp.

Having said that, I love my Pass INT 250. It sounds superb at any volume/power setting. It's one of the finest sounding amps I've ever heard. Definitely in my top 5 of best sounding amps...to my ears. I just love the "flavor" of the tones and the over all sound of Pass amps in general. I really like the creamy smoothness of them. I also really like the Diablo D300. Both the D300 and INT 250 are high powered amps. I also like several of the lower powered amps. But being a high powered amp doesn't necessarily knock it from contention of being a great sounding amp.

However, I must disclose that I cheat a little bit...I run the INT 250 through an MSB Discrete dual power supply DAC. And as my new system breaks in (INT 250, Harbeth Super HL 5+ 40th anniversary speakers, the MSB, and Roon Nucleus), the result is sublime...big power or little power. My 2 1/2 cents.
 
I feel like Bryson doesn’t get much love around here. I have 28b3’s powering my KEF Ref 5’s and I think they sound fantastic.




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I absolutely loved my 28bsst2 amps. I thought they were awesome. Definitely sorry I sold them.
 
I feel like Bryson doesn’t get much love around here. I have 28b3’s powering my KEF Ref 5’s and I think they sound fantastic.




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If I may liven up this thread, then I would like to add that recently I have been most impressed, by far, over anything I have heard in my long history of audio, not counting what I hear at fairs of course,...

The Alieno preamp mkII with the 250LTD mkII power amp.

"Even though" this is a tube amp, it's pure presentation, incredible speed and dynamics and openness have impressed me from the 1st few seconds it turned on. This amp makes the music so real and tangible!

I heard this in combination with Magico Q7 mkII many times and with any music genre, and it shakes my tree. Even over Soulution 710, TAD M-600, Boulder, CH-Precision at my "playground" here: welcometoplayground – Highend Audio.
Quite amazing.

Apart from that I love Pass labs and Soulution amps.

Cheers!
 
Wavac MD-805m SETs....amazing.

Wavac-Stereo.jpg
 
I took a chance on a set of Atma-Sphere Class D mono locks. They hit many of my current boxes. Light weight, run cool, and efficient, 50-100 watt, true balanced, and voiced well.

Designed and voiced by a long time Tube Amp Designer, sculpting the distortion spectra to be similar to his classic OTL amps. Very similar to the DIY class A amps I have built over the years, but with more grunt.

Really loving them with the Daedalus Muse Studio speakers 95db, 8 ohm.

Saving for a new Streamer/Dac/Pre/headphone amp. I need to find time to fly down to Sarasota to compare Boulder 812 vs Esoteric N-05XD. I need one XLR analog input for Vinyl input from Technics 1200GR + Boulder 508, so many streamer/DACs don’t qualify.

Kinda leaning to the 812 for the size, weight, and headphone amp. The Esoteric DAC might be better, and nice Esoteric remote control, and Lumin software.

Sorry to put all that in this thread, but do love my new amps.
 
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