Help me find a new SS amp

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KeithR

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Hey guys, have a pair of Fyne F1-12s which are 96db/8ohm speakers (though probably measure a few dbs less if the F1-10 measurements online are correct).

I'm looking for a 50-100w SS amp. Have tried a FirstWatt SIT-3 (not enough headroom) and Pass XA25 (not my cup of tea) so far. I also heard them at Mike's before purchase on Pass X260.8 and Gryphon Essence - the Essence was great but above my budget.

Any ideas? I have a lot of amplifier flexibility.
 
I'm assuming from your post you are shopping around $5k budget give or take. It's a shame most of the well known amps start around $10k.

If I'm correct on your budget Sim Audio and Bryston are in that range with models and are more neutral than Pass.

You could look at something like Audio by Van Alstine. His amps do sound good, IMO, able to convey music without being overly warm or neutral.

Merrill Audio typically have used/trade-ins Veritas for sale on USAudioMart for around $4k, the monoblocks were $12k new.
 
budget is ~$15k, sorry for not being explicit. I tried the other amps as they are simple circuits without a lot of power.
 
3 years ago I started looking for a ss amp to replace the valve ones I'd been using for 15 years. I bought or borrowed a dozen amps in the £5-10K range including ones from Accuphase. Sugden, Micromego. Mark Levinson, Lingdorf, GamuT, Benchmark, Quad, Valvet, Bakoon and others, but I found the modest NAD M32 matched or bettered all the others, Since then I've changed to the even better NAD M33 and I am still very content. It offers streaming, DSP (best not engaged), MM/MC, headphone out and amplification, all in a single box costing just £4K. A true bargain and good enough for my £32K speakers. Certainly worth including in your list of possible amps.
 
Keith,

Have you listened to Mike (and Jay’s) videos partnering Fynes with the Classe Delta?
They are over your 50-100W, but sounded mighty good to my ears.
 
Lucidear said:
Keith,

Have you listened to Mike (and Jay’s) videos partnering Fynes with the Classe Delta?
They are over your 50-100W, but sounded mighty good to my ears.
Click to expand...

Great suggestion. $13k and as good as we’ve heard under $30k. Gorgeous build and look too.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
 
An amp I was sort of looking at but have not heard, Constellation Inspiration 1.0, 200x2 into 4 ohms atabout $12k, plenty of reviews. Although from the reviews, which are good, still I'm not getting a good picture in my mind of the sound. I guess that's to be expected though from reviews. I'm learning only so many adjectives and they really don't mean much, usually once you hear the product it's different from what I imagined. :)
 
With 96dB efficiency and 8 ohm nominal, they are clearly well suited and probably were designed with tubes in mind. Don’t want tubes, go for a Class A amp. If you are running out of headroom, a McIntosh amp with autoformers will get you all the wattage you paid for into 8 ohms instead of half with traditional SS amps.
 
I listened to the Logos Pathos mk2 with the persona 7f and really fell hard for the combo. I know how revealing the personas are and since the pathos could tame it I just have to give it a mention.
 
I'm curious, what was not to your liking with regards to PASS ? I tend to agree with Serge, given the efficiency of your speakers a valve amp and the flexibility it provides does make sense.
 
when the Avantgarde Uno Fino XD and Cornwall IVs were here, I used a Valvet E2 which sounded really good on both speakers with plenty of drive and very low self-noise (quiet). Their A4E monos are supposedly more of the same and within your budget.
 
I've had so much tube gear go boom on me - and i have considered a ZOTL40 of course to match my preamp. It only weighs 15lbs which is a positive but just not sure I want the hassle anymore.

Puroagave- I owned the Valvet A4mki 5 years ago, which was surpassed by a Dart integrated. The mk2 versions apparently are quite good though and under consideration. That said, the guy who reviewed them also had the Essence I heard and well, let's just say it didn't seem close in performance. Of course the Gryphon is 3x the price.
 
Have you given much consideration to the Dart CTH-8550? A bit above your price range but you could possibly eliminate your preamp and some cables
 
rbbert said:
Have you given much consideration to the Dart CTH-8550? A bit above your price range but you could possibly eliminate your preamp and some cables
Click to expand...

Well, a friend is bringing over a 108 soon. I replaced the Valvet with a CTH and have very fond memories. Just wasn’t a good match in the bass with Devore. Fyne maybe different.
 
Seems to me that rich people see spending more as a solution to pretty much everything. But that is always so.

My current amplifier philosophy is that the power amp ought to be totally neutral: if you prefer some color, (or call it what you will), get that upstream from your preamp.

Accordingly I recommend the lowest distortion power amps as the place to start: examples:

  • Benchmark AHB2
  • Purifi 1ET400A-based amps
Then again it you really must part with more money, consider the McIntosh MC462 that measures extremely low distortion and delivers huge power.
 
I kind of agree Bill, other than the actual amps you picked out. I have always felt benchmark gear is very sterile sounding, not organic at all. I know a few people who have purchased the AHB2 and returned it complaining that although it was clear and powerful it was not very musical.

I also admit that I have never heard a Purifi amp, but I have owned and heard many Class D amps and never warmed up to them. Again, same thing, tons of power but never felt they were as musical.

I have always felt Class A amps were very musical but they had other disadvantages. Low power, suck in oodles of electricity, and run very hot. OT already said he was not thrilled with the First Watt which many would consider one of the finest value Class A amps. Which leads to what I previously suggested. A good pre-owned amp... of these I have always liked German (T+A, MBL, etc.) and Swiss (Goldmund, etc.) made amplifiers. There are a lot of really good amplifiers to be had on the used market, such as the MBL I stumbled across.

Then again I will never complain about anyone recommending McIntosh since they are from my home town. They carry their own huge disadvantages though. They tend to be F'n huge.... heavy, etc., which certainly is a consideration, especially when you reach the age that many of us are and really find something that big and heavy as objectional :) (not to mention the price... what do they start at, $5000 I think for their lowest models and it goes up fast from there).
 
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