Warm, Smooth yet Transparent Amp

I don't like harsh, shrill highs, but rather a fuller, sweet sounding, yet transparent. Is this possible without spending several thousands of dollars?
Bruce
Denon53

No, it's not possible to go east and west at the same time, no matter how much money you spend....sorry. You can look for a sound which is fuller and sweeter sounding OR you can look for a sound which is more transparent, but you cannot have it all, no matter how many dollars you throw at it. The Conrad Johnson amps that you speak of would fall into the fuller, sweeter sounding camp, not the transparent camp.

If I were looking in your price range, I'd take a long, hard look at these Forte Model 7 monoblocks. I don't think you will be disappointed. I have no relationship with the seller.

Cheers,
John

Hi John,
I respectfully(I enjoy reading your posts on this site) disagree with your
assertion that warmth and transparency are mutually exclusive. Perhaps
our definition of transparent may differ, mine is clarity and lack of a veil or
perceptional "blanket". In terms of warmth I'm referring to the
natural warmth, body and full tonality of instruments (not an added
gratuitous warm coloration). I'd argue that true transparency allows the
unmasking of artifacts and reveals more honestly the natural tonal color
and character of individual instruments. I don't equate transparency to the
thinner and lean sound that some others may do (lean and thin is an
aberration/ coloration itself).

I've found that the high quality SET amplifiers provide these desirable
attributes, they're exceptionally pure, clear and transparent. I've experience
this with various 300b, 2A3 and 845 tubed versions. The key is you must
have a compatible speaker match to realize this full potential. No amplifier
can do 'everything' at the highest level but tonal warmth and transparency,
yes.

Give the Emotiva XPA-1l monoblock amps a try.

On sale for $599 ea, 30 return, free shipping.

They run class A up to 35 watts and A/B up to 250wpc/500wpc into 8 Ohms/4 Oms.

I bought a set here just a few weeks ago and am very pleased. They are significantly better than Emotiva's XPA series 1 amplifiers which sounded pleasant but were quite limited in the upper mids and highs.

YMMV

Tim

Hi Charles, I also enjoy reading your contributions on these forums. I guess it all depends on how one uses the terminology. I know that many here misuse the word neutral, and feel that neutral and transparency are interchangeable words, this bothers me. I feel that neutral means natural, with there being no added warmth nor added treble emphasis.

I understand that you don't equate transparency to thinner and lean sound, however, you must realize that the majority of folks on this forum do interpret transparency this way. When asked for reco's for transparent cables, Nordost will always come up. When asked for reco's for transparent electronics, ARC will always come up. You get the idea? Many manufacturers will try to pursue the word transparent by highlighting the treble region artificially, thereby bringing more apparent detail to the music. While we may have a different understanding for an audiophile term than the majority of users here, when I try to answer questions, I assume the term is being used in the most common way as understood by the majority.

I'm not saying that you can't have your own definitions for these terms, and therefore feel that both yin and yang can be accomplished simultaneously. However, by using the most common conceptions of the words transparent, and warm and smooth, I still feel that these sonic qualities will lead you in opposite directions tonally.

That said, I'd love to get my hands on some high quality SET amp(s) like your Coincident's. Cheers!

"warmth" i believe is something to do with distortions and colorations and it's not part of precise signal delivery.
transparency is explicively part of precision and performance.
i believe that by gaining warmth the transparency is jeopardised.
i own sunfire 300 mk2 amp that i've purchased for very low price for more than 10 years and every time i was thinking of upgrade, i was thinking again to keep my amp and it's never got upgraded ever since. with tube SETs you may not achieve the desired performance simply because you don't have efficient enough speakers. the most transparent and precise tube amp i've ever heard and not only for your budget, but overall was quicksilver M60 90's model. it's extremely hard to find, but if you get lucky snatch it quick.