Is there a Solid State amp that can satisfy a SET guy?

Well, I have put down a deposit for my M 60 demo. It should be ready next week. And I should have it week after. Surely, I am excited to get it. One of the poetic comments in a post that gave me real insight into the SET sound was, I paraphrase: “SET sound is like a sonic screwdriver loosening the tone”. Metaphoric but clear, certainly when compared to SS tone, SET tone kind of has a looser tone relative to a SS exact tone. Another clear phrase is that, in SET tone, those who love it call it warm and those who don’t call it distortion. I do love that warm distortion but do look forward to maintaining much of the rich, organic SET nature while gaining SS clarity. Thus with the Atma-spheres. I was asked about my preamp and speakers. Audible Illusions M3B with John Curl gold phono boards and Tetra 606 speakers. Interesting is that I imagine the AI pre, being single ended and triode, may have a similar nature to the M 60 Atma-Sphere. Very neutral and clear without imposing much of its’ own sound signature. It is not particularly warm but also not particularly cold. Maybe also the Tetras. Very natural not imposing any sound of their own. And I do have a safeguard in mind. Am seriously considering a Zesto phono stage that definitely has a delicious classic tube sound. So, for music playback, I should be able to combine that tube sound with the more neutral signature of the Atma-Sphere. And for my HT evenings, enjoy the clarity, focus and accuracy of the M 60!

Another vote for Luxman or Accuphase. I'm biased towards Japanese SS though, as my experience (and ear/taste) prefers the ultra -clean, dead neutral, nothing between you and the music**, yet smooth and silky sound. And I roll with horns, Klipsch Cornwall IV's. Not a hint of brightness, harshness, or "shouty" horn.

I demoed about 10 amps available in my area, Parasound, Pass, Levinson, McIntosh, most of the usual names, and finally chose the Luxman L509X. The others were all nice amps, no bones about it, excepting the Parasound Hint 6 which required volume of 75% to get moderate listening level. Klipsch are extremely sensitive so this puzzled me. The dealer thought it was normal, I thought the amp was faulty though everything appears to work otherwise. The Luxman I bought here and it's just a wonderful, beautiful sounding amp.

** The Klipsch are already unapologetic in exposing the flaws of subpar recordings, and coupled with the Luxman, the effect can be ruthless. Something like Hazards of Love by the Decemberists though? Spectacular...

... the Parasound Hint 6 which required volume of 75% to get moderate listening level. Klipsch are extremely sensitive so this puzzled me. The dealer thought it was normal, I thought the amp was faulty though everything appears to work otherwise.

@jet88,  I suspect you were right, unless the issue was only occurring while using a low output moving coil cartridge into the Hint 6's phono stage

For all of its other inputs the gains provided by the Hint 6 are pretty typical, spec'd as 10 db line stage, 28 db amplifier stage, 41 db MM phono stage.  But the gain of the LOMC phono stage is only 54 db, significantly below average.

Regards,
-- Al
 

Yeah, something wasn't right with the parasound. If I recall it had plenty of rated power. I wasn't using phono , btw. I've been purely digital for years now, CD and streaming only. I grew up with vinyl but physical space and convenience pushed me over the edge. It also freed up money for better equipment. :-)

Bricasti makes very nice amplifiers that to my ear come very close. A deHavilland Mercury 3 would add to the spaciousness and I hear no electronic noise.