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RE: SS integrated amp under $6k?

First no SS amp is going to sound as good as the better SET amps - for one you can tailor the sound of SET amps with various tubes which you can't do with SS amps - including all the ones mentioned in this thread.

But hey we have to make do - we all have to make compromises based on a whole pile of factors from room quality (for instance if your room is made of wood you have a strike against you) if walls are plaster strike 2, we have budgets or you have a WAF to deal with, positioning issues and of course features, aesthetics and budgets to deal with.

Frankly, I would not play into the spend more than you have to with SS - SS just doesn't sound good enough to warrant paying high prices for. Especially when you have speakers that are close to 100dB sensitive and as a single driver really don't output a tonne of bass. So you don't exactly need a big power SS amplifier.

My go to SS amp for sound quality on a budget tends to be Sugden but because it is a pure class A amplifier - it runs hotter than some tube amps and can be just a big a fire hazard. (Ahem Krell recall).

And once you get to the typical class A/B integrated amp - there is a sameness that pervades everything - none of the reviewers in a blind level matched session is going to be able to tell most of these torroid transformer using A/B amps apart. Has anyone ever? This doesn't mean you have to buy into blind level matched tests but it does at least illustrate that if differences do in fact exist they are not particularly noticeable.

Further, you can save buckets of cash here by going separates. Used SS power amps usually go for a tiny fraction of their initial prices - because SS is generally worthless the second you walk out the door. You can buy $2k power amps for $200 on the second hand market - the exceptions are companies like Bryston that offer 20 year warranties but it is fairly easy to buy a $2200 3B SST for $700 Canadian with 10+ years left on the warranty. So it's still 1/3 the MSRP.

You could pick up a Bryston B60 which uses the 2B LP amplifier stage (one of the better musically sounding power amps from them) and it would be more than enough amp for your speakers. You could probably pick up a 2B LP for $400 and then find a preamp as well for relative peanuts.

Put the bulk of the money to the preamp which accounts for more of the "sound" you ultimately get. Maybe from First Watt or Music First Audio. They have the Classic V2 selling for $4k US and the best thing about Music First Audio is that you don't plug them in - they are passive transformer coupled stages.

I have been interested in them for awhile because I travel around the world and many amplifiers don't allow voltage switching.

But I need to hear one first before I opt to buy one - and unfortunately you have to buy first. But if you are in North America you can actually listen first.

But for $4,000 for the preamp and going for a relatively small power am in a second hand 2BLP for peanuts - it may in fact take up less space than an integrated. And Bryston is a professional grade amp - you can leave them on for a decade in all likelihood. The 2B is also a warmer sounding amp than most of the rest of their offerings. UHF noted that it was their favorite sounding amplifier from Bryston.

The Bryston can hold the fort down until you can get a second hand First Watt Sit amplifier. You can easily flip Bryston amps at virtually no cost because they're usually easy to sell. First Watt second hand amps in Hong Kong are selling for less than half the new retail price. I was tempted to try one - unfortunately I don't as yet have a preamp.

Lastly there is a guy on another forum who is saying that class D amplifiers based on the TPA 3116 chip that sell for $100 beat $20,000 SET and SS amplifiers and that the audio press doesn't mention it because it will cripple their livelihood. It may be a conspiracy theory but for a $100 it might be worth a try - parts express sells many amplifiers using these chips - they are usually low power but your speakers can take them. Hey you never know right? $5900 left over to buy a couple of vacations overseas or something and see musicians live in concert.





Edits: 07/03/16

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