Anyone recommend a neutral tube amp?

"...no warmer, cooler, lighter, darker, or sweeter than the music it transmitted." Atma-Sphere amps and preamps are by far the most neutrally transparent electronics I've heard in my system.

Albeit an 87dB sensitivity, specs on the Opera Callas monitors show an 8-Ohm nominal impedance. I'd give the Atma-Sphere M60s a try.

With regard to Audio Research ... historically I've never thought of ARC gear as quite as neutral as Neil suggests. For a long time they were the yang to CJ's yin. Their turn-of-the-century sound leaned toward a somewhat 'aluminized' flavor. *However* (imo) the latest batch of ARC Reference gear (Ref 3, 210, 610) along with their PH7 phono stage demonstrates vastly improved tonality, as near to neutral as I've heard from ARC. If anything, it is now reveals the barest hint of warmth - not entirely a bad thing.

I think of 'tonal neutrality' as relative - as Mrtennis suggests - you can hear differences in coloration between two pieces of gear, just as you can hear a difference in coloration between two concert halls. Its rare for two different amps to sound the same. 'Tonal transparency', if you will, can be truth relative to the source. How close to the sound of Grumiaux's "Rose" Guarneri does the gear render? Live music is a tune-up for the ears.

Tim

The CJ 140 is one of, if not the, most neutral CJ amp I've heard, though by direct comparison it still hints at their house sound, the CJ golden/caramel tonality. My sense is that CJ began moving more toward neutral starting w/ the likes of their 16LS preamp and then further with the ACT2 and Premier 140. I suspect some of this comes from their adoption of the Soviet 6H30. The LP amps are back to the 6922 and my sense is that, in response to customer input they've swung back, or at least not gone even more toward the yang. The 140 should also be a great match with the Callas monitors.