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Effective recommendations to add warmth & smoothness while keeping bass control

What are the most effective ways to add warmth or smoothness to the system while keeping bass punch and control? You could rank them as well and please provide examples?

1) Hybrid SS with tube buffer

2) Hybrid tube preamp stage with SS output stage

3) Tube preamp + SS amp

4) Tube amp

5) Class A SS amp with zero/low feedback

6) High bias Class A/AB with zero/low feedback

lanx0003
yyzsantabarbara
5,566 posts
 

Class A. I just bought a CODA #11 amp just for this reason. The amp is 100 watts Class A.

ghdprentice's avatar
ghdprentice
9,487 posts
 

Tube preamp and amp, 

if you mean warm with max slam the tube preamp + Pass XA amp (there are fare others)..

 

lanx0003 OP
1,961 posts
 

Thank you, @yyzsantabarbara.  Couple of questions.

1. Will the CODA 11 run hot?  I’ve heard that with CODA’s heatsink fluid technology, many of their Class-A amplifiers run only moderately hot — around 100–105°F. Is this true for the CODA 11?

2. I noticed its damping factor is still as high as 100 despite having no global feedback.  Based on that, I assume it should still offer good bass control. Is that correct?

3. What is a reasonable asking price for a CODA 11? I’ve seen used prices range anywhere from $1,800 to $3,500.

audphile1's avatar
audphile1
8,032 posts
 

Warmth and bass control are tightly coupled in most cases. Amplifiers that don’t properly drive speakers (woofers is where the challenge is) will sound brittle and thin. Match your speakers with high current class A or A/B amplifiers based on impedance, required power and the desired sound signature. 
Coda is a great choice but again depends on speakers. Keep in mind Coda amps are not warm sounding. They’re very clear and transparent. I’d say they are slightly on a cooler side sonically but with great bass control given proper speaker matching. Coda no.8 is offered in 3 versions and you can have Coda change your amp to whatever version you prefer out of available 3 choices. 
The no.8 does not run very hot. Much cooler than Pass. 
 

lanx0003 OP
1,961 posts
 

Thank you, @ghdprentice. 

I tend to agree that a tube preamp + solid-state amp will be the most effective approach. But since the Pass XA series runs in pure Class A, would that combination end up sounding too warm?

I don’t want to trouble you with specific preamp recommendations, but I’d like your general impression of Audio Research versus Conrad-Johnson. In general, are AR tube preamps more neutral than CJ? If so, would using an AR tube preamp with my current solid-state amp still be effective in adding warmth to the system?

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