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Highest BUILD quality tube amps?

Not so much with sound...lots of ways to fine tune thru tube rolling, etc. I'm just curious which tube amps are built to last for many years with the least amount of repairs. I know Mcintosh comes to mind for longevity. I was snooping around on the web and Air Tight seems to be built like a tank and I've never read any poor repair histories. Luxman same thing. Any others come to mind?
aberyclark

Showing 2 responses by sbank

sbank's avatar
sbank
3,378 posts
 
There's a number of them that are very high quality and low maintenance.
VAC, Atma-Sphere, BAT, Lamm, Music Reference, Herron, VTL, Rogue all qualify IMHO. Audio Research is one of the biggest brands, but while they certainly have a large number of fans, I have heard plenty of stories and had one personal experience where they are a step down in reliability (and repair cost) vs. those mentioned above. 
The Air Tight I once owned was also trouble free, but my read is that there aren't too many sold so it's hard to get a meaningful sample. Cheers,
Spencer
sbank's avatar
sbank
3,378 posts
 
Haven't seen a similar thread where a category has so many enthusiast responses for so many brands. Is that telling us something about tube amps? Cheers,
Spencer
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