I agree with Sugarbrie's philosophy and use a Sonic Frontiers Line 2 pre-amp (6 tubes) and a SS McCormack DNA2DX Rev. A amp. The tube pre is not much of a hassle (BTW, it's in for up-grade to SE as I write:>) and I even look forward to some "tube rolling", and the Rev. A McCormack has a very smooth "tube like" character to it.
I tried a SF Power 2 tube amp for 30 days and liked it's somewhat warm relaxed sound on "mellow" music, but when I put the McCormack back in my system, I realized it was no contest-- the DNA amp was much faster, more dynamic, had much better PRT, excelled at bass control, and is not fatiguing. For any fast tempo music I much preferred the McCormack.
I've now got Van. 5 speakers that have built in subwoofers and 400 watt amps to drive them from 125 HZ down, so I'd like to try a tube amp with the V5s, but my expectation is that a tube amp would still lack in the PRT department, and rhythm is very important to me. Cheers. Craig
I tried a SF Power 2 tube amp for 30 days and liked it's somewhat warm relaxed sound on "mellow" music, but when I put the McCormack back in my system, I realized it was no contest-- the DNA amp was much faster, more dynamic, had much better PRT, excelled at bass control, and is not fatiguing. For any fast tempo music I much preferred the McCormack.
I've now got Van. 5 speakers that have built in subwoofers and 400 watt amps to drive them from 125 HZ down, so I'd like to try a tube amp with the V5s, but my expectation is that a tube amp would still lack in the PRT department, and rhythm is very important to me. Cheers. Craig