BEL 1001 amps. Specs and ordering

One additional argument for the Ayre is you are very likely to find a 5 series used on Audiogon - the BEL and Pass I mentioned not as likely.

I used BEL 1001 monoblocks with my VSM-MX's for quite awhile and was very happy with them. They are much better as mono's than single stereo, with better bass articulation. I also have Odyssey Stratos Mono SE's and this is a nice combo too, though slightly less transparent/detailed and not quite the clean bass definition of the BEL's. The best I've heard on my VSM's other than the Joule VZN100's is a Bella Extreme 3205 Platinum tube amp from Response Audio. Amazingly, it's only about $1k. Something about the little 40wpc PP tube amps that just works very well with them. Lovely combination.

Tom

I second the low power PP comment. My Ars Sonum is a little 30 watt integrated and it indeed works very well with my Merlins; that in the context of CAT JL2s and Music Reference RM 9 Special Edition. The Merlins don't need a lot of TUBE power to sound superb.

Thanks to all. Fwiw, I have been happy with my Cayin EL34 monoblocs with around 40 watts triode, 80 watts ultralinear. Consulted with Sonicraft for major parts upgrades and they are really sweet.

Just considering the SS simplicity.

Thanks,
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You may be hard pressed to find a SS amp that will satisfy you like the sweet (in a good way) sound of EL34s if you like their sound, not sure any SS will give you that very easily.