Top Ten Tube Amps of All Time?

Lamapp You have a fine piece in the McIntosh 240 and I'm sure with the upgrades it does hold its own with many. I have a pair of MC-60s which I have owned for 10 years. They have been extensively modified and I'll still take them (got rid of a Threshold in favor of them) over ANY solid state amp I have heard to date. There is something in the midrange that is so compelling with tube amps, that presence that I never hear with solid statem, even a classic design like yours. My ARC amp certainly has better highs, better defined bass and a more dimensional soundstage than the MC-60s but I doubt if it has a better midrange. And of course there is the art in those power transformers from MAC. They don't make them like that anymore.

ALL THE ABOVE AMPS ARE VERY FINE MY FAVORITE AND I TOO WILL GIVE UP MY AGE ON THIS ONE WILL ALWAYS BE THE MCINTOSH MC-225

ARC D-79, VTL Ichiban, Atmasphere MA-2 MkII, Wavac HE-833. Interstingly the D-79's midrange has only recently been equaled, and bettered by the Wavac which takes the same life-like qualities and extends them out to the frequncy extremes.

I guess "all time" includes now. There's one amp that I believe stands head and shoulders above the crowd...the Art Audio Diavolo. This is the one that sounds like music. Single-ended, yes. Dynamic, extended, coherent, palpable, resolving, true, the whole schmagoo. And the price is reasonable for an amp that will truly take you into the high end. artaudio.com