Your top 10 favorite amps (inspired by LL21's post)

[microstrip]

IME, tube life may be technically correct as stated, but it is the definition of the end of life that can sometimes seem to be at variance with the manufacturer's claim.

It's why I have always recommended that my clients keep a complete set of replacement tubes on hand. Not just for the occasional emergency replacement, but to try out after 6 months-to-a-year to see if new, unbroken-in tubes have more vitality & life, especially in the areas of dynamics, presence & tone.

For myself, I have rarely heard a set of tubes - especially output tubes - that couldn't be improved upon by a new set after a year or so (assuming "normal" use), sometimes after just 6 months. The original tubes may still test ok, but they may not sound better than an unused tube.

I've never said this in a forum, but in one that is tltled, What's Best, it seemed OK to stick my neck out...

Best,

Jim

Jim,

Can you translate your "year or so" in hours play time?

 

[Jim Smith]

Jim,

Can you translate your "year or so" in hours play time?

Probably around 1200 hours.

Depends on the number of on-off cycles, and probably on how hard the tubes are being run.

Doesn't seem to matter if it's a "standard" tube amp or SET.

As I think about it, it may be that I have preferred amps that were biased a little hotter, but I have no idea if that is true.

I do know that it's a worthwhile test to perform from time-to-time, rather than assuming a certain life expectancy.

Also, I have not observed this effect with OTL amps. Whether it is due to insufficient experience or otherwise, I cannot say.

Best,

Jim

 

[still-one]

Interesting...have you heard the newer 2100 or 3000 series? I have only heard the 2060 stereo amp...really liked it. Just curious. How are the newer models different in sound to the 2060?

No, I have not had the opportunity to hear the latest 3000 Series amps. I would assume the newer products an improvement over their older products, and those products were already fantastic.

 

[Jazzhead]

Do you have any link to these reports? One good thing of the AA62B tube is that, although expensive, it is supposed to last for 5000 hours.

Afraid not , this is word of mouth from a beta tester, who has Lamm , Kondo, besides a few other amps in house.

 

[andromedaaudio]

A little of topic maybe, but the tube amp i have now suggests to adjust the bias for the first to weeks up to the prescribed level( with new tubes) , and after that never adjust it again and just let it slide as older tubes sound better on a lower bias .
Regarding boulder the dutch importer stopped importing boulder , probably to expensive , i would love to hear the 3000 series one day , just seeing how theyre made will tell something on how they sound
Gonna test the Kharma P 150 pre amp on saturday , should be interesting , i think a good pre amp will make any poweramp shine a couple of notches

 

[Whatmore]

Sanders Magtech has to be in there as one of the best value amps in the known universe

 

[LL21]

No, I have not had the opportunity to hear the latest 3000 Series amps. I would assume the newer products an improvement over their older products, and those products were already fantastic.

Yes, agree...i was very very close to getting the 2060 when it happened to come into my local dealer's 2nd hand. I intuitively felt that the treble balance was superior to my older Antileon at that time, and overall was exceptionally quiet, allowing remarkable detail to come thru the music i was using to audition. And while i suppose i could how some have felt that Boulder's extraodinary detail/delivery might seem 'cold', i honestly never felt that way, revelling in the amp's power, effortlessness and ease (which really helped that level of detail come thru for me without being cold/analytical).

In the end, it did not grab me quite enough for some reason...and equally the timing was not quite right. When it was right, there was a 2nd hand Colosseum available and i have been happy since. But the 2060 was truly memorable.

 

[Atmasphere]

of the tube amps I've heard i would agree the VTL Siegfried and the VAC Statement 450's (i might prefer the VAC to the VTL) are quite good at large scale music, and likely have to include the Audio Research 610T too..........maybe the big Atmosphere MA2 MK2 (or whatever the current designation is) on the right speaker.

That would be the MK3.2, currently, the Mk2s went out of production over ten years ago.

 

[LL21]

That would be the MK3.2, currently, the Mk2s went out of production over ten years ago.

Hi Atmasphere, Yours are one of the few amps that i would be tempted to audition seriously at this stage. I love my Gryphon amp and have virtually nil desire to switch because it delivers the sound quality i wish for...along with seemingly unlimited power so that i dont feel as limited with some of the beautiful SETs out there for example.

That said, if i were to venture down the Atmasphere route...which amp would you recommend i stack up against the Gryphon Colosseum if i were looking for an equivalently powerful Atmasphere amp that could handle a more difficult load than i drive today (like an Arrakis)?

 

[Mike Lavigne]

That would be the MK3.2, currently, the Mk2s went out of production over ten years ago.

thanks Ralph. the Mk2 was the one I had in my system back in the day.

I knew it had been upgraded multiple times but was not up on the current designation even though I always enjoy hearing it at the shows.

 

[Atmasphere]

Asking an amplifier to drive a difficult load, regardless of the amp, is something you always should consider avoiding. The harder your amp has to work, the more distortion its going to make. The lower the impedance of the speaker, the more severe the phase angles, the more the distortion that amp will make. It does not matter tube, transistor or class D.

The manifestation of that distortion will be harsher sound and less detail. So one should always be considering a speaker that is easier to drive rather than one that is harder.

On paper the MA-2 makes a little more power than the amps you have now but I suspect that in the real world which does not exist on paper that the Gryphons are making more power into the Rockports, which are likely 4 ohms or less. The MA-2 is comfortable with 4 ohms, but if you really want to hear what it does you probably don't want to go much less than that. We do make a bigger amp called the MA-3...

 

[LL21]

Asking an amplifier to drive a difficult load, regardless of the amp, is something you always should consider avoiding. The harder your amp has to work, the more distortion its going to make. The lower the impedance of the speaker, the more severe the phase angles, the more the distortion that amp will make. It does not matter tube, transistor or class D.

The manifestation of that distortion will be harsher sound and less detail. So one should always be considering a speaker that is easier to drive rather than one that is harder.

On paper the MA-2 makes a little more power than the amps you have now but I suspect that in the real world which does not exist on paper that the Gryphons are making more power into the Rockports, which are likely 4 ohms or less. The MA-2 is comfortable with 4 ohms, but if you really want to hear what it does you probably don't want to go much less than that. We do make a bigger amp called the MA-3...

Thank you...very helpful. Always good to go to the source!...happy new year.

 

[microstrip]

My favorite 10 shortlist:

Audio Research D70mk2 my first "serious" amplifier.
Futterman OTL's with Quad ESL63's surely
Krell KSA250 - after a long warmup with the Extremas
Audio Research VT150SE - I could have stopped here.
Conrad Johnson Premier 8
Conard Johnson Premier 350SA
DartZeel NH108B
Audio Research REF750 - should have one fifth of the number of tubes.
Hercules II / Monoblock Power Amplifier - with the matching premaplfier. It redefined (two times) what can be achieved in stereo.
Pathos Classic One - yes it is an integrated. But playing low level on my Soundlabs has shown a few thinks other power amplfiiers can only dream about.

(...) On paper the MA-2 makes a little more power than the amps you have now but I suspect that in the real world which does not exist on paper that the Gryphons are making more power into the Rockports, which are likely 4 ohms or less. The MA-2 is comfortable with 4 ohms, but if you really want to hear what it does you probably don't want to go much less than that. We do make a bigger amp called the MA-3...

When reading Ralph's post I felt like the guy who missed the marriage of his best friend because he forgot the day - how could my list miss the Atmasphere MA2? I have owned the MA2 mk2.2 and only changed because I did not have conditions to manage the heat produced by these great amplifiers. Used with the MP1 and SoundLabs it would bring Jacques Brell in your room in flesh and bone and Mahler in your neighbor house - yes, the orchestra was really deep.

Please make it my favorite 11 ...

 

[Atmasphere]

Thanks!

Ours are not the only amps that make heat- and there are easy ways of dealing with it. We have a customer in Guatemala City who has our big amps, The MA-3s. He has them placed beside his speakers, near the corners of the room. Now the MA-3s are one of the bigger triode amps made, and are the most powerful OTLs worldwide. They can make some heat; they have 42 power tubes per channel (and a built-in on-the-fly tube tester)! But he can run them day in and day out without the use of air conditioning, regardless of the time of year and the listening room remains comfortable. He did this by installing an inexpensive set of vents in the ceiling above the amps. The heat from the amps rises and goes out the ducts rather than collecting in the room. A simple bit of ductwork goes to a low power squirrel cage fan, which pumps the heat out of the house. It was an inexpensive solution; quiet, low power and elegant.

I'm just mentioning this as many audiophiles have to deal with heat, but often don't think how simple and inexpensive the solution actually is.

 

[JmCamrn]

In no particular order:

1.) Goldmund Mimesis 3
2.) Goldmund Mimesis 6
3.) Goldmund Mimesis 28
4.) Ayre V-1X
5.) Pass Labs Aleph 3
6.) Goldmund Mimesis SRI
7.) Bryston B-60R
8.) Pass Labs X-150
9.) Rotel RB-1080
10.) Rotel RA-1062

 

[Vicks7]

Back in the 2000-2005 time period my company - Avantgarde-USA - was the original North American Audiopax distributor.

I really had great regard for Eduardo. He is missed.

I second that Jim. Eduardo was a great guy and I was fortunate to have him in my home on a few occasions. Very sad when he passed. I started out with the Audiopax Model 88 and I am now using the Audiopax Maggiore M100 monoblocks which are fantastic sounding amps and which use a series/parallel connection of six discrete single-ended amplifiers in one chassis for each monoblock.

Silvio has taken over the running of the company and Eduardo had left behind a number of great designs which they intend to implement. From what I understand the company is getting back on its feet again after a difficult period.

James

 

[Peter Breuninger]

Since I started the thread, I am taking artistic license and expanding the list to 11.

http://www.avshowrooms.com/Wells_Audio_Innamorata.html

 

[DaveyF]

A few I like:

Jeff Rowland model 8 and 9
ARC D70Mk2
BAT Rex 2
Tenor 75's
Ayon Titan Monos
Lamm ML3's
CJ Art monos
CAT JL3 Sig
Krell KSA 50
ARC Ref 150's with KT150's

 

[egidius]

..If I really would list them, I hardly get to ten within my experience, where does that leave me??
But I was really impressed by:

Audio Consulting MIPA about on a par with Berning ZH230
Berning ZH270
Audiopax M88 (yes, completely agree, love them!!)
Vacuum State dpa300B (more like Berning, but could never quite make them work, probably not systemcompatible)
Sugden Masterclass (first transistor..class A. VERY good, could have, should have stopped there.)
Accuphase E550 (second transistor, also class A, but somehow slow.)
Pathos Twin Tower (can't quite remember, but that was one nice amp, except heavy..)
Einstein "absolute tune" a really good, if slightly cool sounding amp
CJ Premier 11A, where I really understood what it was about. Still miss that amp.

yes, that makes it ten amps. Used in about exactly the reverse order, which implies it got better and better, which of course is true, as long as we live ;-)

 

[LL21]

..If I really would list them, I hardly get to ten within my experience, where does that leave me??
But I was really impressed by:

Audio Consulting MIPA about on a par with Berning ZH230
Berning ZH270
Audiopax M88 (yes, completely agree, love them!!)
Vacuum State dpa300B (more like Berning, but could never quite make them work, probably not systemcompatible)
Sugden Masterclass (first transistor..class A. VERY good, could have, should have stopped there.)
Accuphase E550 (second transistor, also class A, but somehow slow.)
Pathos Twin Tower (can't quite remember, but that was one nice amp, except heavy..)
Einstein "absolute tune" a really good, if slightly cool sounding amp
CJ Premier 11A, where I really understood what it was about. Still miss that amp.

yes, that makes it ten amps. Used in about exactly the reverse order, which implies it got better and better, which of course is true, as long as we live ;-)

Interesting...my first separate amp was the CJ MV60...great amp, a true classic imho. I went from there to Gryphon Antileon, and then Gryphon Colosseum...I remember making very deliberate and specific comparisons between that CJ and the Antileon because the CJ 'magic' was so important for me to preserve. Fortunately (for me), it did.

Would love to hear Berning some day...i know you have been a big proponent for some time. And given your musician background, that is always intriguing to me.