How do I beat my Antique Sound Labs AV25?

It looks like they're still in production. Retail is $375.
WAVE AV-25 DT

If they are still in production, then anyone looking
to try out tube amps should buy a pair and upgrade
the tubes to Electro Harmonix. Amazing bargain.

For the money the ASL Wave DT25 mono's are difficult to beat. They have a good circuit and the tube complement sounds very nice. I own a pair of AV25's that I purchased new back in early 2007, and use them to drive a pair of Linn Kan I's.

My system is comprised of quite a bit of vintage gear, including several FM tuners such as a Marantz 125, Revox B261 and McIntosh MR-65B.

My turntable is an old Systemdek IIX with a Grado Reference Platinum MM cartridge.

My preamps range from a Naim Audio NAC 42 and an NAC 62 (both Hicap driven) to an Electrocompaniet Preampliwire IIA.

And my CD collection has been converted to MP3, so I use my Dell Netbook as a music source. I also have Apple Itunes which gives me many different Internet radio stations ranging from classical to jazz to rock.

The computer as a front end music source for your home hi-fi sounds surprisingly good, and is very convenient to use.

The ASL Wave 25's sound great with all of this gear. I also own a pair of Quicksilver 25 watt mini monoblocks, which are really fantastic little amplifiers.

I purchased them new just a month before the ASL 25's and decided to purchase the 25's to give the Quickies a break now and then.

I was originally going to purchase a vintage tube amp like a Leak Stereo 20 or 50, or something from Radford like their STA25 stereo or monoblocks.

However, these amps are approaching or exceeding 50 years of age, and some were considerably more costly than both the Quicksilver 25 and ASL 25's combined.

So I decided to purchase the aforesaid instead, since once a 50 year old power or output transformer gives up the ghost, you must look for another amp of that vintage, whose transformers are also the same age.

I have noticed though, that some Radford enthusiasts have gotten a hold of the original schematics regarding Arthur Radford's amplifier designs of the 1960's, and are building brand new versions of these amplifiers; winding the transformers themselves, based on Radford's design.

The amp's are not inexpensive. However, if you want a brand new Radford STA-15, STA 25, or the monoblock versions of these classic tube amplifiers, they can be had starting at about $3000.

And they are very nicely made.

I'll stick with low powered tube amps like the Quickies and ASL's, which sound great and for the most part are very reliable.

The Quicksilver 25's in particular are not only self biasing, but also allow for seven different types of output tubes; making tube rolling a joy.