Who makes the highest quality tube amps?


One scale of 1-10, 10 being best designed and constructed technically, personal sound preferences aside, who are the 8s, 9s, and 10s?

VAC, ARC, Atmasphere would seem like likely candidates I can think of. Are they ?

Where does Decware rank? Rogue? How about others?

SOme technical facts to help support any claims is appreciated please.

Durability and reliability matters to me here as much as anything. I would want my tube gear to continue to work as reliably as designed years down the road as well as up front.

THanks.

Thanks.
128x128mapman
I agree with you tubegroover. A friend of mine still has an Audionics BA-150 designed by David Berning. It works and sounds great.
Put Octave on your list if it is in your budget. They have a protection circuit that even if if a tube decides to show you a lightning show no other parts will be damaged. I'm speaking from experience. I've had 2 tubes that thought it was the forth of July. No problems as a result.
Mapman, You didn’t state the reason behind your post so I don’t know if your question is simply academic or you’re actually shopping for a low maintenance amp. If you’re shopping, another relevant question relating to durability is - how hard is the amp on tubes? Some amps, that are themselves very durable, burn through tubes more quickly than others.