solid-state class-A integrated amplifiers

aKnyght

aKnyght

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recently been having an itch to try solid state amplification in my system... cannot believe i just said that !!

i think the curiosity is to actually know / hear what SS amplification would bring to the table in my specific system and what the tradeoffs are relative to my tube amp.

at this point, just learning and doing some research. however, i would love to know what solid-state class-A integrated amplifiers members here would point me toward.

nothing crazy price-wise and i would probably look to buy used if i get that far.
 
the viking speakers are 97dB efficient.

my SET tube amp is 18 wpc and has NO problems at all driving the speakers. so, don't really need a lot of power. besides, i never listen above moderate levels (9 o'clock on the volume dial would be extreme for me with this pairing).

viking recommends 5-50 high-volt tube watts or 50-250 transistor watts -- not really sure why the difference here and if the SS specs include class A?

pass int25 as well as accuphase e-650 are quite nice but probably a bit too pricy for my purposes -- at least new.
 
thanks for the responses and suggestions -- this should get me started exploring this area.

for grins i pulled a 20+ year old adcom amp that had not seen the light of day in 8 years out of the closet and hooked it up in my system. input was direct from the t+a dac8 dsd with the volume control enabled. i was not expecting much; however, i must say it sounded pretty good in certain respects. nowhere near the musicality of the almarro and the mids were pretty flat in comparison... but, it was quick and had a firm grip on the bass.

anyway, this experiment was an interesting A/B test and certainly encourages me to further explore SS class-A amplification.
 
that had occurred to me but i think integrated is probably the way to go in my case. OTOH, still very early on in the learning phase.
 
I’d say older Pass INT30A might be what you’re looking for.

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Why not go with separates, a SS amp and tube preamp? I use a BAT tube pre with my Pass amp. I preferred the tube pre to the Pass preamp I had.
 
I don't know much about them but Monarchy, like A70's, are fairly reasonably priced used. Not sure if still sold new.

Coda new may be out of price but they sometimes have refurb or trades at a great price and he provides some warranty usually. Not all the amps are pure Class A. You will often see some on Ebay.

I can't think of any Class A integrated. Seems the trend is Class A/D similar to Devialet, which I like the sound of but it's not a sweet type of sound like Pass.

I think you will have some trades, giving up some midrange magic for bass & control when moving to SS.

If memory serves, David is using a Pass XA30 and is happy with it.
 
Mr Peabody said:
If memory serves, David is using a Pass XA30 and is happy with it.
Click to expand...

Yes, I am a tube guy and never thought I would have a SS amp.
But after recommendations to try a PASS XA30.5 amp, I sold my Coincident 300B amps and never looked back.
Previously had tried Bryston, McCormack, Luxman, Valvet and some others but nothing checked all of the boxes like the PASS.
Granted, these were not integrated amps and I had them all paired with a tube preamp.
 
generically speaking, putting a pre-amp between the a source and power amp is probably good for SQ... and my inclination is still to keep with an integrated... keeps the box count down as well as the cabling. also, a bit friendlier on the wallet all else equal.

otoh, a tubed pre amp into a class-A, SS amp probably sounds like something to explore -- i am not sure if that exists as an integrated, anyone know?

the pass and sugden certainly look like the real deal in this niche area... still more to learn though.

thanks to all for the help!!
 
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