$4000 to spend on a SS power amp - help me choose


Audiomeca Mephisto II CD Player
Emotive Audio Sira preamp
VMPS Super Tower R / SRE (ribbon tweets; ribbon mid panel)
Acoustic Zen cables everywhere

I own a Graaf GM 200 OTL as my first amp; the SS will be
a back-up or possibly drive the bass in a bi-amp situation w/
the Graaf & a VMPS active crossover.
sjhall

Showing 2 responses by bigtee

The Ayre V5x sounds as much like tubes without tube colorations as you will get. Extremely smooth and holographic. The Belles 350a or 150a reference amps are a logical choice also. I hate to say this but the JC1 is behind these amps sonic league. Yes, I owned a pair and they are powewrful indeed but no soundstage depth and too hifi sounding for my tastes.
Every system is different and only YOU can decide what meets your needs. A thread like this is like telling my wife what perfume to buy.
Brian, I'm glad you have had success with the amps you sell. However, I feel after over 35 years of stereo, I'm entitled to my opinion about the Jc-1's and that is exactly what I have given. I just don't think that, with breakin or not, they will catch up with the Ayre V5x's standard of soundstage depth. It really wasn't that close.
I broke them in 24/7 for 2 months and the Ayre had better depth out of the box new!
I do think the JC-1's are well built, etc. and a bargain at their price, just not the last word in depth as I'm sure the Ayre isn't either.