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Tube Integrated Amp - Help Please

Recently sold my hybrid Rogue Integrated and am now looking for a used tube integrated. I'm using Verity Audio Tamino X2 speakers - 89db (and told by Verity that these speakers are easy to drive and do well with Tube amplification). I listen to different genres but I love the soulful sound of a female jazz singer and classical music featuring the cello (looking for a warm midrange I suppose). I have a small room 15x14 (ugh) and listen at fairly moderate levels. Other gear includes a Hegel HD25dac and a Clearaudio Concept TT (Dynavector 10x5 cartridge). I'll probably buy a separate phono stage so the new Integrated amp does not have to include phono. 

My ear gravitates toward a lush warm sound, nice extended highs and tight bass. Any help would be greatly appreciated. My budget is $4000 and under. Thanks

Considering Rogers EHF-100 MK2 (no local dealers) or Line Magnetic (dealer is about an hour away). If keeping things a little cheaper on the budget, I thought the Sound Antique  AQ1001 Mark II DT or the Rogue Cronus Magnum may fit the bill. 
chaseyourdream

Showing 2 responses by sonicbeauty

sonicbeauty
324 posts
 
Forgot, for what it may be worth here are other some good and not-so-good amplifier pairings I experienced with Verity:

Electrocompaniet EC 5-  warm but not detailed
Audiomat Preluge - a detail-retrieving machine, but overall thin
Simaudio - Artificial bass, dry sound flat soundstage, way too dark too
Musical Fidelity - pretty good actually but uninvolving
Sonic Frontiers Power 2 - Line 2 - Very nice
Yamaha AS 2000 - a real bargain, sound nice
Anthem 225 - Big, brawny, entertaining sound, a nice unit
Bel Canto REF1000 monos (class D) probably the worst of the bunch
Pathos Logos MkI - Pretty much faultless, just beautiful.
McIntosh 6450 integrated - second worst of the buch, sorry, old sound.

I am stopping here before I start getting knives thrown at me ;)

Everything is SOOO subjective here of course.

sonicbeauty
324 posts
 
I know the Verity sound quite well. Also, I wrote my first-ever Audiogon review back around 2002 and it is still available, to my suprise.

https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/review-verity-audio-parsifal-encore-speaker

I went through a truckload of amplifiers of all types over my almost 30 years in this crazy hobby (it all started with the diminutive Naim Nait original amp) all of 18 watts but sounded like 100 !

I sold the Parsifals many years ago with that stupid way we have of finding "flaws" when we should just appreciate the sound.

After a merry-go-round of speakers, I went back to Verity with a pair of Fidelio Encores. It was like finding an old friend.

Back to your question. My absolute best sound ever was with a pair of Cary 572 monoblocks and Cary preamp. But they were unfortunately very, very unreliable, a real pain. And that 572 tube is rare and expensive. Cary wanted an unreasonable price for transforming my monos so that they could take a more accessible tube, no way, I felt stuck, so I sold them.

The second best ever sound I ever got with Verity is my current integrated, a Pathos Logos. It comes very close to the Carys in soundstaging and transparency, and is absurdly more powerfull  (110 a side) with an authoritative bass presence the Carys could never match.  And no offence, but this a much better match than the Rogue, which I briefly owned but could never get it to make my Veritys come alive.

In fact I feel that Pathos is the only manufacturer that "gets it" right as far as getting the best from SS and tubes in a hybrid design.

You should look in to it. And know I am tempted to go up in the food chain and maybe putting my Pathos up for sale, but it may not be worth it after all.

Good luck in finding what you need !
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