Location: East Riding of Yorkshire these days
Posts: 4,779
I'm Shaun.
Not so sure about that. Plenty of rubbish valve amps around. I've heard some shockers. But I also think the best power amps I have heard (to date) have used valves. Power is really the problem, restricting the speaker options. Good and powerful valve amps are mega money and that isn't true of solid state.
Current Lash Up:
TEAC VRDS 701T > Sony TAE1000ESD > Krell KSA50S > JM Labs Focal Electra 926.
Item i would buy again (and in each case actually have bought more than once):
Bladelius Embla Pre/CD Player/Streamer/DAC/Media player - Sounds magnificent, even today! Gui a bit loong in the tooth though. Using my second unit!
Philips Fidelio X2 - One pair at home, another at work.
Yamaha NS-1000M - One pair in the main HiFi, always looking for a second pair!
Raspberry Pi and MacMini - Brilliant computers that work very well as music players!
Items i have tried but wouldnt want back:
Sennheiser HD-598, HD-650, HD-700 - Not my kinda noise, even though ive tried them again, and again...
VTL TL 5.5 Signature Series II - What a load of overprized crap...
Simply Black Magic - Swedish record player of dubious quality...
HRT Musicstreamer HD - What the f@ck is all the hype about? I do like their cheaper DACs though, still use one of them at work!
Location: N London
Posts: 582
I'm Steven.
I had an Art Audio Jota single ended Class A 22w 300B-XLS valve amp. The new price of the current version is about the same as my Dev 250 Pro, about £12,000. The Dev is ClassA/D hybrid. Besides the Dev being a better amplifier, it also includes a state of the art DAC, phono amp and steaming and only requires speaker cables and speakers to form a system.
There are also a lot of exceptionally good value for money solid state amplifiers from the likes of Yamaha and Onkyo, but I doubt many people here would consider them.
The problem with valve amplifiers is that good transformers, such as from Sowter, are expensive, so many have poor transformers and therefore are not linear.
I have no doubt that you can put together a really good valve system, I reckon it could be matched by solid state at 25% of the price or less, which is why valves wond cross my threshold again.
Wilson, Luxman, Innuos, Holo May, Puritan, Garrard
Location: Seaford UK
Posts: 1,861
I'm Dennis.
I have a hard time trying to evaluate mid, it is relatively easy to do so with top and bass, but mid usually is a complexed waveform and the many components are spread wide.
The result for me is that solo piano is the main tool, it is so revealing of lack of integration/fragmentation of the tones.
The ATC SIA2 gained numerous awards internationally, and the mid was especially praised.
Do you valve lovers like/dislike or even despise ICEpower amps? I would in theory and bias, until I owned them.
There were also very good Jap amps in the 70s and onwards, the Sony ES range comes to mind.
My 'Benchmark' friend also has had many speakers, most of the BBC/Rogers heritage, several Harbeths and KEFs, and has now settled on some top JBLs with 15" units and 4" voice coils going up to 800Hz.
For me the best test of the midrange is the human voice. That's why the BBC had to develop their own speakers, as most commercial designs were found wanting.
Barry
Two best for checking is Frank Sinatra and Eva cassidy. Both distinguishable and hold perfect key
Regards,
Grant .... ؠ ......Don't be such a big girl's blouse
I've said it before and I'll say it again: democracy simply-doesn't-work.... ..... ...... ...... ................... ..... ..... ..... ..... .....
FIIO K7 BT, M11 PLUS, BTR7, KA5 - OPPO BDP-103D - PANASONIC UB450 - PANASONIC 4K ULTRA HD TV - PIXEL 6 - AVANTREE LR BLUETOOTH - 2* X600 SOUNDCORE - HEADPHONES INCLUDE, FIIO, NURAPHONES', FOCAL, OPPO, BOSE, CAMBRIDGE, BOWER & WILKINS, DEVIALET, MARSHALL, SONY, MITCHELL & JOHNSTON - 2*ZBOOK'S- MERCURY BD ROM, ROON, QOBUZ, TIDAL, PLEX, CYBERLINK, JRIVER - MULTI HDD'S -
Oh my god! There's nothing wrong with the bidet is there?
“Nothing discloses real character like the use of power. It is easy for the weak to be gentle. Most people can bear adversity. But if you wish to know what a man really is, give him power. This is the supreme test. It is the glory of Lincoln that, having almost absolute power, he never abused it, except on the side of mercy".
“You see these dictators on their pedestals, surrounded by the bayonets of their soldiers and the truncheons of their police ... yet in their hearts there is unspoken fear. They are afraid of words and thoughts: words spoken abroad, thoughts stirring at home -- all the more powerful because forbidden -- terrify them. A little mouse of thought appears in the room, and even the mightiest potentates are thrown into panic.”
"You don't have free will. You have the appearance of free will.”
“There's a war out there, old friend. A world war. And it's not about who's got the most bullets. It's about who controls the information. What we see and hear, how we work, what we think... it's all about the information!”
***SMILE, BE HAPPY***
The dog's bollocks:
EAR Acute CD (mkI)
EAR V20
EAR 861
EAR 890 (hmm I think there's a theme emerging here)
Radford STA25
Tannoy GRFs
Leben 660p
Townshend Glastonburys
Townshend Rock Reference
Audio Note Io 2 / AN6s SUT
Hashimoto HM7
Quad ESL 57 and 63
Audio Origami PU7 12in
Fidelity Research FR64S
Audion Silver Knight 300b PP monoblocks
Audion Quattro preamp with phono stage
Aurorasound Vida phono stage
47 Labs Shigaraki transport
Longdog MM valve phono stage
All would be welcome again if I had the space/cash
Just bollocks:
Unison Research S8 what a total pile of shite
Whest PS20
EAR 509 monoblocks - boring
Audio Note AN-Es - tried them repeatedly at ever increasing price points I just can't abide the singalong cabinets
Audio Note Meishu - zzzzzzzzz and floppy bass
Krell KSA 50
EVA2 LDR preamp
Lyra Helicon
Glasshouse passive preamp
.... to my ears in my system ymmv blah blah