What's the best EL84 amp?


My speakers have loved the two I’ve tried, both vintage. I would love to spend some money and get a great EL84 amp. Any suggestions? Not interested in an integrated. 

dhcod

Hey again on this topic, directed to owners of the Music Reference RM-10 MKII amplifiers?  Roger Modjeski chose to engrave into the top plate of the amplifier the actual value next to the 2 plastic screw positions "160mA Slow."  In reading the threads above, it appears that some amps came back to Roger due to aftermarket fuses creating damage.  

I've been considering upgrading the fuses in my RM-10, staying, of course, with the "160mA Slow" blow value recommended by Roger.  I would welcome anyone who has had any experience with a fuse upgrade for this amp?  Blowing up aftermarket fuses could be extremely costly, and I certainly don't want to risk damage to the amp.  

Thank you for any feedback, Pin              (bold print for old eyes)

@pinthrift: For Roger’s thoughts, advice, and warnings about "hi-fi" fuses, make sure to read what he posted about that subject on his AudioCircle Forum. In fact, do NOT install any in your RM-10 until you have done so. Roger is not around to repair your amp if you don’t.

@pinthrift We're around to fix the Music Reference amps but will no longer touch them if they have been modified or have had unauthorized parts used in them. The latter would include after market "boutique" fuses.

For the record Roger updated the fuse specs to 250 mA ceramic (not glass) fuses from the original 160 mA spec. We have them here or you can get them from reputable sources online such as Mouser or DigiKey. Roger's preferred fuses were made by the Littelfuse company.

@bdp24 Well, my best friend has a personally upgraded RM-9 and I have EAR 890s (with an SR purple fuse sitting on SR MiGSx footers) and our systems maintain a very similar in sound character-resolution, tonal balance, dynamics, bass, rhythm (despite the very different speakers VS35 Export vs Legacy Focus, respectively).  Apparently both RM and EAR products have design as their primary features with sales as an adjunct (Paravacini was primarily a pro-audio guy who happened to build a big home audio business).