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Because I couldn't afford something better! Actually I'm very happy with my Musical Fidelity A308 integrated amp! Combined with a kW CD player and a VPI turntable ,I'm in dreamland anytime I play it!
It's been several decades now since the tube <I>vs</I> solid-state debate began, with no end in site. Now we have some digital (PWM or class-D) contenders. What technology is your main amplifier? What brand and model is it and why did you choose it?
I use the Flying Mole DAD-M310 180 watt monoblocks amplifiers. Great sound! The DAD-M310s compete favorably (except in horsepower) with the $6495 Spectron Musician Signature Edition. Eco-friendly Class D amps are more efficient than other designs as are SWPSs (Switch-Mode Power Supply). Flying Mole has a Bi-Phase technology that integrates these two technologies, which results in 85% efficiency. Bi-Phase technology also results in the amplifier having a very 'valve like' sound. This efficiency also means almost no heat and no fans—ever! They have no RFI or EMI, which interferes with FM reception, as with many SMPSs. My experience with NuForce amps, which use a SMPS, was that you couldn’t receive FM stations.
I have PS Audio 200C amplifier. It's a pretty good amp, although not state of the art by any measure. I got it from a friend of mine mainly because it was cheap and it was really good for the money. I am not really married to a technology. I don't care if an amplifier is tube, solid state, hybrid, etc. All I care about is that an amplifier sound good in my system. How it gets there is irrelevant to me.
Unfortunately, I like rock, heavy metal, and listening at fairly high levels, so as good as a SE 300B amp does sound (and they do sound good), they just don't have that oomph that I like given my choice of speakers. But I have tamed it (and everything else) with a tubed pre which I love absolutely adore.
My primary amps are two McIntosh MC30s, refurbed to spec, and lovingly tubed with SEDs and Telefunkens. I chose them because they're built like tanks (they're over 47 years old and will probably outlast me), have the classic black enamel and chrome look, and sound absolutely magical.
McCormack DNA0.5 deluxe custom modified by SMC Audio to meet the needs of my speakers and tastes (and budget). Tubes are fine with me for small-signal applications, but for me the compromises are too great with a tubed power amp and a difficult speaker load—heat, power consumption, moderate power output, expensive tubes, warmup time, placement limitations. I've compared this amp with tube power amps in my system and I don't lose sleep over the minor differences.
I own a Spectron Musician III SE Class D amplifier. I was first interested in some powerful amplifier could drive my maggies 3.6 with authority. I also wanted that the amp be fast, to sound like live music sounds like, lots of detail and absolute control of the speaker drivers. Oh yes, I also wanted a quality hard to achive for amps under $20K: finesse. The Spectron achieves all of the above and then some more.
mbl 7008 integrated (ss). Don't know class/biasing arrangments, etc. Bought for space-saving, looks, mbl reputation, headphone jack included. Also use to play DVDs through speakers (no HT). Since it gets a lot of use, between music and movies, I didn't think tubes would be a good choice.
Single-ended triode mono-blocks using 2A3 tubes and hand built by me. There is nothing quite like SET and the 2A3 tube is the sweet spot in my book. It's nominally a Paramour as sold by Bottlehead, but as with all their stuff there are many modifications and upgrades in that quest for better sound. With efficient speakers this works well for most music, but I do have other systems set up, a couple with big hulking transistor amps to blow out the windows when the mood calls for such excess. They lack refinement, but when turned up to 11, I guess that is happening anyway.