2. amps-preamps
  3. 1244870415

SET vs ICE vs GAINCLONE vs HYBRID vs other?

I'm looking for amp recommendations. Here's my situation:
I just gave up a nice JAS Array 2.1 int amp using 805's and 300B's. That amp was rated at 45W. I traded it in toward a Wyred 4 Sound ST-500. This amp is very nice.
I have no real complaints although I do notice the slight loss of intimacy and "wetness of sound" compared to the JAS and I feel the Wyred's top end to be slightly soft overall. Still, I'm quite satisfied with the sound and thrilled at not having the expense of tube replacement nor the insane amound of heat 805's put out.

The rest of my system unfolds like this: I run a Consonance Droplet directly into the amp (balanced) using Sunny Cables D1000X. The CDP and an a PS Audio P-600
get connected with Sunny Cables P600 power cords and the amp gets a 6Sons Audio Windigo. I have Porter Ports in the conditioner and the wall outlet. Speakers are custom-
jobbies similar to Legacy Focus using Eton drivers and I just had fellow Audiogonner M VanSloten upgrade the crossovers (thanks to another thread-good call!). I run Anti-cables directly into the speakers and connect them to the crossovers without binding posts. The soundstage is huge but very well focused and resolution is excellent.
Tone is colorful but not quite as rich as with the JAS.

So, my question to you ever-so-wise audio sages is how do I get the best of both amps without adding a preamp and not spending much more money than I can generate selling the Wyred ST-500? I absolutely need to maintain a high level of detail AND I must get excellent (almost) pinpoint imaging. I would also appreciate an extended top end but not too bright. My speakers are quite efficient. The 45W JAS almost was enough (efficiency in the mid 90db/1w).

I was considering gainclones such as the Patek or Audio Zone AMP1 or hybrids such as Pathos' Classic One MK II/III
or Valve Audio's Predator. I would greatly appreciate comments on the above listed amps especially if you can compare them to the Wyred amps. Thanks so much!
lcherepkai
plato
1,543 posts
 
Lcherepkai,

If you can find something wrong, then something is definitely wrong, because normally, even when you can't find anything wrong you can always substitute some piece of gear here or there that will make an improvement and probably improve on if not fix the defficiency entirely.

I don't know how to advise you because I don't know how large your room is or how loud you like to listen. I too have some interest in the Valve Audio Predator, and the Pathos may also be a good choice.

In my own system, the best amp I've heard lately with my Magnepan 1.6QR speakers is the discontinued QuickSilver GLA tube amp, which narrowly bested my PrimaLuna Dialogue Two, which sounds very similar. But my feeling is that I need more power with the Maggies, so I'm searching for a more powerful amp too. I have an order in for a pair of the TAD Hibachi mono amps, but won't know how they fare until I try them out in a few weeks.

If the Hibachi's don't work out then I may stay with the GLA and just watch the volume. I have EH KT88's in it presently and it sounds quite impressive. The 4 KT88's are spaced fairly wide apart and the amp runs warm, but on the cool side of warm for a tube amp.
magnumpi205
504 posts
 
Guido,
Do you use class d amps?
Thanks again,
Don
guidocorona
4,298 posts
 
Hi Don, yes I use a class D amp. More specifically my reference amp is the Jeff Rowland 312 stereo amplifier. See:
http://jeffrowland.com/M300.htm
I have published a brief article on the 312 on issue 188 of The Absolute Sound. You will find it as a sidebar of my review of the Vienna Mahler V1.5 speakers
It is an absolutely marvellously musical amplifier with great authority and control. . . and it runs as cool as a proverbial cucumber. I use it to drive the very Mahler speakers I have reviewed in the article. I discovered it almost 3 years ago at the Rocky Mountain Audio Fest in Denver. . . I was very disappointed about almost everything I was hearing at the show. . . until I popped into the Soundings HiFi room, where they had the 312 driving the Mahlers. . . jaw dropping experience. I went back 4 times during the show. . . every time I had the same emotional reaction to the system.
This does not mean of course that class-D is inherently superior to any other technology. Rather, to me it means that class-D is now mature enough to yield some designs that compete with the most musically sophisticated devices out there.
lcherepkai OP
277 posts
 
Just wanted to comment on the necessity of having ICE amps (the Wyred ST-500 in particular) powered continuously:
I ran the ST-500 for a couple of weeks directly from the wall using both the Sunny Cables and later, the Windigo (about a week each) continuously VS using the PS Audio P-600 and turning off the amp daily. NO CONTEST---I consider the P-600 essential. It brings a level of detail and focus that, even cold, sounds better than the ST-500 into the wall direct left on continuously for 1 week. I certainly hear an improvement when the amp has been powered up for a few hours but, I can't say I would be willing to eat the increased electric bill generated by leaving the PS-Audio power plant on all the time. Interesting experiment--thanks for the advice.
lcherepkai OP
277 posts
 
Can anyone comment on the Valve Audio Predator's resolution and transparency? I briefly had a SIM Audio I-5
LE in my system several months back and was quite dismayed at the opaque sound I was getting. I'd heard this was a transparent amp and, in my system, it was not. The resolution was very good though but NOT a keeper.

Comments outside of this thread lead me to believe that a good ICE amp sounds similar to a good chip amp. Anyone care to disagree? I'd love to hear some comments. Thanks.
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