Solid state amps that emulate tube amps but don't try to copy them...

spiritofmusic

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...are there any?
I'm speculating about going the restored Apogees route
On another thread, info gleaned has got me to a position where I'm likely to power Apogees mids and treble ribbons 450Hz and above with my existing 60W/ch SETs
But the Apogees bass ribbons need stouter attention, the strong advice being at the very least 200 Watts and preferably more, and ideally high current reserves
I could go VTL push pull mega Watts as recommended by our erstwhile co-leader Ron, but I don't want to preclude a SS option if it can mesh well with the character of my SETs further up the spectrum
I would REALLY need to be convinced Class D is the way to go, A or AB floats my boat
Now, I'm not interested in SS that tries to shamelessly copy or be a slave to tubes signature. No, I'm looking for SS suggestions where aspects of the presentation will complement my SETs
My NAT triodes are particularly good at tonal saturation, bass grip, unflappability, almost hybrid in presentation
What SS should I be looking at to serve 450Hz and below, 200+ Watts, high current, SET complementary?
 

bonzo75

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Dan Agostino Momentums, though Danny Boy won't like to think you are using them only for bass - you could add any expensive good power amp to this - CH Precision etc.

Detlof is using Lamm M2.2 for his mid bass (250Hz below), bridged, and Atmasphere on mids. You could do any, really. Aesthetix Atlas even cheaper.
 

spiritofmusic

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Danny Boy?
 
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bonzo75

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spiritofmusic

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Aesthetix? Fave of Mr. Resnick?
 

bonzo75

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Aesthetix? Fave of Mr. Resnick?

Great used price. Cheapest of the hybrids, and has UK support. The point I am making is there are A LOT of amps at different price points to satisfy your criteria and you could be merry go rounding forever. Since I doubt anyone has ever used NAT and SS amps on the same speaker, your question is the equivalent of asking which high current SS amps over 200w would you recommend? M
 

spiritofmusic

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Ked, that Aesthetix Atlas looks excellent
Reasonable pricing new and good availability used
I think this is a good potential route to go down
That is, go Divas and try my existing SE2SEs, investigate Transmitters, and either/both of these on mids and treble ribbons, Atlas or reasonably priced equivalent on bass ribbons, via Pass Labs or First Watt B4 active crossover

Any other suggestions out there?
 

microstrip

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One amplifier I always feel guilty of having not listened yet is the Pathos InPower - an 80 watt hybrid design. Or even the Adrenaline. Sometime ago I hosted a Pathos TT (its stereo low power cousin) and it was perhaps the most natural sound amplifier I have owned, particularly in the treble. Although it had not power enough to drive the Soundlabs, what it managed to do it was unforgettable. BTW, the Pathos TT is really an interesting design - a tube driving a SEF (single ended FET ...) stage loaded by a choke and coupled to the loudspeaker by a large capacitor.
 

Ron Resnick

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I am a big fan of the Aesthetix Atlas Signature hybrid. I think it is very well made, and I think it sounds substantially like a hybrid VTL might sound. The solid-state output stage offers big power (600w into 4 ohms).

If I owned MBL 101E Mk IIs I would drive them with Atlas monos. (I have heard this combination at length.)
 

bonzo75

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One amplifier I always feel guilty of having not listened yet is the Pathos InPower - an 80 watt hybrid design. Or even the Adrenaline. Sometime ago I hosted a Pathos TT (its stereo low power cousin) and it was perhaps the most natural sound amplifier I have owned, particularly in the treble. Although it had not power enough to drive the Soundlabs, what it managed to do it was unforgettable. BTW, the Pathos TT is really an interesting design - a tube driving a SEF (single ended FET ...) stage loaded by a choke and coupled to the loudspeaker by a large capacitor.

I heard the Pathos TT integrated with Analysis amphitryon, really nice
 

KeithR

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I've compared the Dart and Dag integrateds and preferred the Dart. Ymmv and all that stuff.

but I think its probably hard to match SS and SET through bi-amping. Why not consider NAT pre and SS amp?
 

spiritofmusic

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KeithR, I have NAT pre and 60W SET monos

The conundrum is trying to maintain NAT sensibility on the Apogees, and I think a consensus is developing that keeping these SETs on the mids and treble ribbons of the Divas, and a good powerful but soulful hybrid like Aesthetix Atlas on the bass ribbons, is a good way forward
 

Ron Resnick

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I've compared the Dart and Dag integrateds and preferred the Dart. Ymmv and all that stuff.

but I think its probably hard to match SS and SET through bi-amping. Why not consider NAT pre and SS amp?

If I ever considered solid-state amps the darTZeel would be one of the contenders on a very short list. But if a mission calls for solid-state I like the hybrid solution.

No NAT pre and SS amp for Marc, I suspect.
 

bonzo75

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If I ever considered solid-state amps the darTZeel would be one of the contenders on a very short list. But if a mission calls for solid-state I like the hybrid solution.

No NAT pre and SS amp for Marc, I suspect.

Hybrid might be the worst of both instead of the best of both...hard to say.
 

Ron Resnick

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Hybrid might be the worst of both instead of the best of both...hard to say.

I agree. That is very possible. It is hard to say a priori.

But, in concept, for someone who is sympathetic to tubes to begin with, if a tube person has a need for a solid-state output stage, then having a tube input stage, rather than a transistor input stage, seems like a nice idea.

What is your theory as to why hybrid might be the worst of both worlds?
 

bonzo75

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I agree. That is very possible. It is hard to say a priori.

But, in concept, for someone who is sympathetic to tubes to begin with, if a tube person has a need for a solid-state output stage, then having a tube input stage, rather than a transistor input stage, seems like a nice idea.

What is your theory as to why hybrid might be the worst of both worlds?

Because I liked the Luxman M800 bridged amps better on Vivid Giya G1s than Ypsilon Aelius, though the owner Joel marginally prefers it the other way. Pure valve was Ypsilon's main focus, as I would assume it was Lamm's and Aesthetix's. Core competencies.
 

microstrip

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Hybrid might be the worst of both instead of the best of both...hard to say.

As usual it all depends on the implementation and the expertise of the designer. Some people were afraid of hybrids because it combined the high voltage needed to tubes with the high current of solid state and faults could be catastrophic. The main question was that equipment was not properly designed, not that the mode is intrinsically unsafe.

Although we usually think of tube input / solid state output stage, I have seen hybrids using solid state input and tube output!
 

Mike Lavigne

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what you want is a Class D amp but feed it's signal from your SET. not sure how that is done technically but it's how Evolution Acoustics does their active bass speakers. I think the line level signal is picked up from the on-speaker terminal in some way. and 'gain' has to be adjusted in some way.

the great part is the character of the source amp comes through.....and the neutrality of the Class D amp allows for the character to come thru. and the class D amp is small form factor, and won't stress your power grid. I've had any number of tube amps through my system and even a 1 watt 45 tube DHT or 3 watt 2a3 DHT worked in terms of cohesiveness.

I've had the CJ LP140M, the Lamm ML2.1, and the Berning 211/845 mono blocks.

in each case the bass performance seemed 'of a piece'. this was both with MM3's and MM7's.
 
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microstrip

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Because I liked the Luxman M800 bridged amps better on Vivid Giya G1s than Ypsilon Aelius, though the owner Joel marginally prefers it the other way. Pure valve was Ypsilon's main focus, as I would assume it was Lamm's and Aesthetix's. Core competencies.

What was the preamplifier? I must tell that the Ypsilon Aelius is one amplifier is my wish to listen list.
 

bonzo75

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What was the preamplifier? I must tell that the Ypsilon Aelius is one amplifier is my wish to listen list.

Coincident line stage. The aelius are very good. I gave heard them two other times with the ypsilon pre in private set ups on another pair of vivid G1 and soundlab ultimates
 

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