Solid State Amp Recommendations

Years ago, I heard GM was putting Chevy engines into Cadillacs, go figure. I am selective with respects to products. For computers, it is only either Dell or HP. For cars, it is always foreign nameplates but they are built in North America anyway. For audio gears other than CDP since North American audio companies no longer make SACD players, that choice is unavailable. Perhaps I will bite the bullet and end up getting an Esoteric. For my new amp, it has to be North American made and I will pay up for it.

 

I realize this is a non-audio tangent but, are you telling me you wouldn't buy a Cadillac because it has the powerplant of a Corvette Z06 in it? You, my friend, may need to rethink that. At that point it's not about homologation, it's about realizing you have a pretty darned good powerplant to stuff in a Cadillac CTS (the CTS-V). I realize we're basically talking in analogies but for me, getting Corvette power, all 560+ bhp of it, with the amentities and luxury of a Cadillac seems like a winning proposition. This is an example of combining the best of both worlds IMO. And it's a VERY small use case, I realize that. But still, try not to make such a venture a non-starter, you may be surprised what awaits on the other end

 

This may be a cultural issue but maybe it is not. We folks in the northeast just do not care much for Cadillacs or GM. MB, BMW, Audi and the Japanese luxury nameplates rule and Cadillac ranks dead last among the luxury brands. But I love my audio gears to be built in the US ...

BTW, my wife was born in Milwaukee, spent part of her childhood in Detroit, went to college in South Bend but has never driven anything but Japanese cars.

 

Small world! Though I advocate for something like the CTS-V, I primarily drive Japanese cars as well. The last domestic car I personally owned was a crappy Dodge in 1997

 

I certainly concur with that.

 

Have you looked at Simaudio? Made in Canada. I searched an didn't see anyone mention them. The Neo 250i or 340i might be of interest. The 250i is more in your original price range.

http://www.simaudio.com/en/product/32-integrated-amplifier.html

 

I have. Bryston is still under consideration as well as McIntosh and Rogue. Clearly, Bryston, McIntosh and SimAudio are in a different league from Rogue. My budget is flexible since it will be paid from my investments. I prefer my buinsess to go to North American companies ...

 

Exactly. Take a listen to the Synthesis line and you be the judge. However, they, as well as most of the JBL line, are made in Mexico now. But, to be honest, I haven't had any problems with my pair of S4700s. I did take a risk buying them, especially after I swore them off here and in other forums, but the price was too good to resist, and I like the way they sounded at CES.

 

I would disagree a little with this..... I think Rogue is easily in the same league as the others that were mentioned when it comes to sound quality.

 

Rogue is nice stuff and it depends on what you are looking for. I much prefer the neutrality and resolution of Sim or Bryston. Then Once you add the build and warranty they are hard to beat at their price points. Rogue will allow you to roll tubes (if only preamp) which can give you some flexibility. Their class D designs, certainly, are looking forward.

 

I am very curious about Rogue's Class D hybrid amp and it may be the only audio company out there currently making such design. As I indicated in an earlier post, I have always owned Class AB amps and a Class D hybrid will be a significant departure in amp design/performance for me ...

 

Nice layout!

 

I traded up to the 350P and 400M's. I sold the 250i I had to a buddy and he AND his wife love it. He has Totem Staff speakers that I had convinced him to buy years before after the cones dissolved on his Infinity speakers that another buddy of ours convinced him to buy. What they love is how great it sounds without having to crank it up. Okay they love cranking it up but they really notice the difference between it and their old receiver at low volume - "We don't have to crank it up to make it sound good".

For the record, it replaced a Kyocera receiver. Something like this:

 

Just to play "Devil's Advocate" for a moment, a couple of companies that are known for for their Class D prowess, are offering some interesting A/B products.

Nuforce, with the assistance of Goldmund-

http://www.optomausa.com/soundproduct/STA200

wyred4sound/SST

http://www.sst.audio/son-of-ampzilla/


I do believe that Class D will continue to make advancements at mind boggling rates, but I still think that the sound of massed strings & some piano pieces, is still presently best served by more mature technologies. I am sure, and hopeful, that I will have to eat those words within the next five years!

If you only listen to Rock or Jazz, I think you can safely jump into the Class D waters now without too much discomfort!

 

A definite strength of most high-end amps is their ability for low-volume resolution ...

 

I do have a fair number of Rock and Jazz recordings from years ago but have listened almost exclusively to classical music over the past 10-15 years ...

 

Kyocera was in the audio equipment business for a relatively short period of time, though it made some pretty good equipments IIRC ...

 

I really think that you're going to have to audition some of these amps that you're thinking about first, with some of your own favorite recordings.

I don't know how easy it is for you to audition different amps. I live out in the sticks, so it involves a road trip, sometimes a weekend trip which is fun & difficult at the same time.

"My" experience with Class D is that it sounded great with 90% of the music that I liked.

Classical? It sounded great with all the War Horses.

Copeland's Rodeo? Oh yes! That's what I'm talking about!

How about Samuel Barber's Adagio for Strings? Hmmmm, not quite right......

Miles Davis' Kind of Blue? Perfect!

White Stripes? Bring it on!

Tori Amos, with just her voice & piano? Hmm, I miss the Tori that other amps made me think she was singing just to me......

90% may be good enough for most folks, but it's hard to get past those few special recordings that don't make into that slot.

Good luck, and good listening!

 

I don't listen to warhorse classical music much. The type of works I prefer always require good low-volume resolution. My Conrad-Johnson MF2500A does an excellent job in that regard, though at 250 watts/ch is more suitable for larger listening area, not my study. The Barber Adagio for Strings actually is not a bad candidate for audition,

For the Bryston and Mac, there are dealers nearby. It will be a challenge for Rogue, as the nearest dealer could be at least a hundred miles away. I have not reearched dealership for SimAudio yet. Ironically, Krell's factory is right in my neighborhood but I don't need all that power and its low-end and lower powered amps are all made in you-know-where so they are not on my shopping list ...

 

I've owned, one 4B amp, two 2B amps and two 0.5 preamps. Accuracy is foremost, at the expense perhaps of a touch of reticence. After a while I felt them to be boringly superb. Think introvert, but no doubt the highest quality. I drove Spica TC-50 and Vandersteen 1's, with Bryston and the speakers I was phase coherent from source to speaker grill. Moved, sold the Bryston, using Adcom, mistakes were made.

 

Bryston and Adcom are in two very different leagues. Adcom competes with NAD, Rotel and Cambridge Audio, etc and personally I will not buy any of them ...

 

I have been listening to my old ARC D240mkII the last several days and I had forgotten how special this thing is. I was going to sell it, but no friggin way.

 

absolutely.

 

I listen to mostly classical music, though I have a small number of Jazz recordings as well. My R&R recordings have been collecting dust since I have not bothered with them for over thirty years ...

 

Has anyone heard the Cary SS amp (SA200.2)?