What kind of amp do you like?

[bedrock602]

I have a dozen or so amps that I rotate in and out of my system, TUBE: 12 to 35 wpc, SOLID STATE: 25 to 100 wpc, some integrated, some amp + preamp. My listening room is fairly small so there is never a lack of bass, but the one thing I listen for is how well the mid-range frequencies are presented, in magnitude and articulation.

Generally speaking, the higher watt SS direct-coupled amps seem to have the cleanest, flattest response, but the mids always seem lifeless to me. The amps that produce the best sounding mid-range are the higher watt tube amps and lower watt capacitor-coupled solid state amps. These amps paired with lower-end JBL 2-way speakers of the 1960's playing some well recorded strings or reeds produce sounds that I feel in my chest.

[SEAWOLF97]

Never messed with tubes.

Initially ran the 250ti's on a 110wpc Denon receiver , sounded good.

Went to 375wpc amp and then things opened up, a lot. Can't go back to SS receiver.

[hjames]

I recently swapped out my Carver TFM-25 for an Acurus A200 (both in the 200+w/ch range). I have an Acurus RL11 (remote control) Preamp, and when the matched power amp became available,
I immediately offered to buy it, knowing the seller well and trusting him. The Acurus has a near silent noise floor and is a great improvement with tracks on my local server as well as streaming
audio via Qobuz, a WiiM Pro Streamer and a Topping D30 DAC ...

[gasfan]

I'm on a tube trend presently. I have some great ss amps with pedigree and same with tubes. "Warmth", whether ss or tubes makes me wanna puke. It's a type of distortion that's always gonna be there if it's an attribute, very fatiguing. Stop the bloom! Transparency is where it's at for me. That way you're always gonna hear(kinda) what the engineer wanted you to hear. So iow, an accurate(kinda) presentation limited by the ancillaries. I want it "trying" to be real. Having spewed all that, imo, the best sq comes from tubes. So far. I find it has the most refined, transparent low level resolution. Extremely fine transient response, better than any ss I've heard.

[tomt]

I try as many different amps,

as I possibly can.

Prefer tubes,

yet any is better than not listening at all.

'Class A'

[Ian Mackenzie]

I recently bought a Parasound A21+

Its very good. I would describe it as a neutral power amp as far as mid range goes with plenty of inner detail and depth.

I am preferring it over some of the Pass Labs amps which have a warmth to the highs that are not necessarily accurate.

The Pass range has moved to a more mellow, lush presentation in recent years. Its a bit too obvious on an accurate monitor.

The Parasound scores favourably on bass lines. There is more definition.

The power is effortless with 160 watts a side on tap.

These John Curl designs keep getting better and better.

[Mr. Widget]

I recently bought a Parasound A21+

Its very good...

These John Curl designs keep getting better and better.

+1

I had a Parasound Halo A52 for a while, it was good, solid and clean, but didn't quite do it for me. My original Halo JC1s on the other hand are wonderful. A couple of years ago I had a pair of Halcro DM68s and did a series of shoot outs over a few weeks. I preferred the JC1s. I was using both sets of mono blocks full spectrum on my Everests. Both sets of amps were very, very good, but I thought the DM68s were just a bit too dry.

Today I am using the little Pass Labs XA25 up top on my tri-amped system and it is a marvelously smooth and detailed amp. I have the JC1s doing mid bass duty below the tiny Pass Labs... the JC1s are overkill for sure, but what the heck.

Regarding tubes, I have had 845 SETs, all manner of push pull amps from McIntosh and obscure boutique brands, I even had some OTL room heaters at one point. Every one of them had something going for them, but I prefer a well designed solid state design for day in and day out consistency and honest sound quality.


Widget

[Chas]

Widget, first world problems using a JC1 for woofers? Geez, I thought I was bad using a Bryston 4BSST2 for subs...

[rusty jefferson]

I recently bought a Parasound A21+...

..The power is effortless with 160 watts a side on tap...

That model is 300 watts per channel @ 8ohms. I recently picked up an A 21(sans "+" that's 250 per channel) for running the woofers in a furure 3 way active project.

[Paul001]

Classe A

[Robh3606]

Ones that sound good driving the speakers and don't get strained if I choose to cut loose and things get a little loud. The class isn't that important to me. As long as the loads they are working into is compatible to the overall amp design things should be fine. So pay attention to minimum impedances and phase in your speakers response plots as the combination can make life difficult for the amplifiers.

Rob

[Doctor_Electron]

As far as technologies, topologies, and power output ranges go, I think there are great and not so great amplifiers of every type.

I've had many highly regarded amps, and I can tell you two that sounded best to me.

Sansui AU-7700 Integrated Amp Very clean and detailed, early to mid 1970's, about 50 W/ch*. Sansui knew what they were doing.

Alesis Matica 500 Power Amp 125 W/ch* , 80 V/usec I think this high a slew rate tributes to the sonic excellence of this one.

*Rated power outputs at 8 ohms nominal load impedance

Evaluations when listening with JBL 4410 and JBL 4412 monitors.