AMC tube gear... any good?


Looking for some lower cost components and I've run across AMC tube amps and preamps. Is this gear any good? Is the company still selling it? Or would I be safer and happier going the Adcom route? I've had tube gear in the past, and always liked it.... just not sure if this is good stuff or not. thx....
pjr300

Showing 1 response by hoopster

AMC tube equipment, amps at least (never had one of their pres), is good for the money IMHO. Yes, the company is still selling it. Brent at Retodaze Audio is a distributor and has offerings here sometimes and on Ebay and is a good guy to deal with. I have a 2030 amp which is I like fine. Only problem it is an EL34 based tube amp which has great highs and mids but is bass shy. This keeps it out of my main rig which I run a McCormack DNA-125 amp. Just seemingly a common problem with EL34s and not AMC. You are comparing apples and oranges between AMC tubed equipment or any tube equipment and Adcom or any SS equipment. AMC tube stuff is entry level into tubes, but it sounds like tubes. Sure there is better tube gear available but it is certainly more costly. Other decent tube brands for the money to look at are Jolida and Onix. Adcom gear IMHO again is entry level into SS. You can find tons of used Adcom stuff for sale at decent prices. But depending on your budget if I were looking SS I would look at used Forte or older Classe equipment which once again IMHO offer excellent value in used SS and will blow Adcom equipment out of the water and will hold value in the used market much better than Adcom. Another thought is some of the older PS Audio or Superphon gear which can be had cheaper than Classe or Forte, not as good as Classe or Forte, but still beats Adcom. Another consideration is your speakers and listening tastes when deciding between tubes and SS. If you like a warm mellow sounds and don't miss the bass tightness and extension and have efficient speakers tubes might be the route for you. But if you like tight controlled and extended bass and more focused sound with alot of punch you should go SS.