Okay, Classe CA 2200 or and Ayre V -5xe amps


......if you had a choice for my Avalon Eclipse speakers, Jeff Rowland Synergy IIi pre-amp, Esoteric P-5 and D-05 front end with Purist Audio 20th Anniversary power cords and interconnects with PAD Proteus Provectus speaker cables.....music ranges from jazz, blues...from the Allman Brothers, to Frank Zappa ...to Bach to Allison Krause ...you get the picture. Looking for a good ss amp from an established, reputible, American company....no Krell's, no Levinson's...
garebear

Showing 1 response by jax2

I've listened at length to the V5Xe, in my own system for a week, and then in Peter_S's system, as well as in one other system. I was very taken with the sound and would also never have thought it to be on the aggressive side. Very well balanced and effortless, with a silky midrange and good soundstaging. I'd agree with Peter that it's not the last word in low end, and that's the only weakness it may have, but it does everything else pretty damn well. If you're sticking to American-made SS I'd also include the Modwright KWA 150 on your short list (disclaimer: Dan is a client of mine). That is the SS amp that caused me to give up an 8 year run of tube-amps only. I think it's a great SS amp with qualities I've seldom heard coming from an SS power amp. It renders some serious strong-arming in the bottom end without breaking a sweat, and yet presents a natural sounding midrange and soaring highs that really do combine the best of two worlds. It really kind of creates a category of its own, in my estimation, as I would not call it "tube-like" nor would I say that it sounded solid state (though it may be difficult to mistake the low-end authority for anything with tubes) I recently have been having the opportunity to bi-amp with KWA-150's in my system and the improvement of having two is addictive (bigger soundstage with greater detail and specificity, which is saying a whole lot as those are all qualities that a single KWA has in spades) and has me trying to figure out how to fit that second one somewhere in my small rack. There's a review by Srajan on 6moons that does a nice job of putting some of the best qualities into words. Peter is going to borrow the extra amp I have here to try out with his Indras so perhaps he (we, if I can make it over to his place) can comment on synergy there. My listening room is highly compromised (a work in progress, juggling the flaming WAF swords) while Peter's room is dedicated, purpose-designed, and is superb!