Vote

Yep! Bought a 1960 Harmony (!?) amp (pp 6AQ5's) with yech! transformers in Ebay for all of $25. Put in some new Hammond trannies, modified it to get a free center channel output (just by rewiring the ground terminal to the 4 Ohm tap)and connected a subwoofer there. It rocks, dude!

I have a multichannel amplifier, because I have to drive lots of channels. It's sold-state, of course. I'm way too old for the romance of tubes. I hated tubes when they were all we had, and I certainly am not going back to them now!

sounds more realistic and natural

I listen throught a pair of Quicksilver V4 tubed monoblock amps. Nothing's perfect, of course, but these sound best to me in my system.

Simple to use.

None of the above in fact. I have a hybrid integrated, tubes in the preamp, solid-state in the power amp section. Seems to work well. Best of both worlds. Copeland CSA 28. Sam should review one, I think he will be impressed.

Jeff Rowland Model 8, an older model with the choke power supply. Very stable and built like a tank. Great on low efficiency speakers.

Linn Classik CD, Linn Katan speakers, Transparent cable, Loewe Planus. Love the Katan's. This is an awesome way to jump into high end audio and not mortgage the house.

My choice after many amplifier comparasions is: Bryston 4B ST, which is an excellent power amplifier, making my Nautilus 802 loudspeakers really sing and shine ( in combination with the TacT room correction pre-amplifier ( rcs 2.0 ) and Sony SCD 777 ES as digital drive. The Bryston 4B ST is very powerful, very clean and effortless at all SPL levels, while the warranty and service is the best in industry.

My speakers demand a solid state amp. They are very inefficient and require the "grab" that solid state offers. Tubes can do it too, but the cost of a tube amp that can do it is a huge set back to me.

Best thing I could find at the price.

I use a 2W SET tube amp with horn speakers for immediacy, clarity and musical enjoyment (to my ears). Other approaches to music reproduction I've heard (so far) just don't do it for me. I hear some of these systems and think, that sounds good but so what? Pleasure is a personal thing.

I have yet to hear a solid state amp provide the soul of music as well as tubes - regardless of price. JCS

conrad-johnson Premier 4. Need you ask why?

I have a Sony CD Player that sends the signal straight into a crossover. The low signal frequency signal has its listening level adjusted at the crossover. This signal is then fed into two active subwoofers. The high frequency signal come out of the crossover and is fed into a solid state stereo amp that has a left and right volume controls, eliminating the need for a passive preamp. This signal drives left and right speakers.

Pass Aleph 2 SE-Mono solid state amps,> For me, the best of both worlds!

Tubed amps just sound more like the real thing. Granted, solid-state is stronger in the bass. BUT not better! They're too fast, and let's face it, bass isn't fast. At least, not in my opinion. And tubes definitely image better. They're 3D, compared to solid-state's cardboard cut-outs.

I tried twice to go the tube route but high-maintenance, unreliability, and, most of all, NOISE made me go back to solid state. It may not have the proper panache but it sounds good from turn on, always works, and it's dead quiet. Ahhhhh.

Two ADCOM GFA-555II's vertically bi-amping my Magnepans brings them to life quite nicely thank you very much.

Since we are allowed only one choice, I selected "Tube Stereo," but I run a pair of ULD-12's (which have their own SS amps) in tandem with the tube amp & speakers. The tube amp and the subwoofers are on different outputs (some preamps offer more than one), so the tube amp runs full range, allowing me to turn on the subs when they're actually needed.

Two solid-state stereo amps vertically biamped

I've been using an MCS 3830 integrated solid-state, which sounds better than it has any natural right to. However, it lacks enough inputs, so I'll soon go back to my $3K worth of high-end pre/ power amplification...

tube has ability to provide lush sound, why stereo? it's cheaper than monoblocks - I will buy monoblocks if I becoming a millionaire

ARC tubes... the richness of tubes, the power and frequency of solid state.

Solid-state stereo, and a very nice 60 wpc it is! With my 6 Ohm speakers, it sounds more like 90 wpc. Music without worry; detail without pain.

California Audio Labs MCA 2500, BASSSSSSSS! And it's extremely dynamic and transparent. Best amp I've ever owned and I've owned quite a few.

Spectral DMA-80s, bridged to mono. The cleanest, best midrange and most extended deep, tight, and punchy bass, with lifelike high register and overall most musical and and best sound I've heard. (I'll buy the Spectral 360 monoblocks the day after I win the Big Game Lottery.) I'm sure the Spectral DMC-20 preamp and MIT cables, line conditioning and power cords help. The three dedicated 20 amp circuits with hospital grade outlets help some, too.

I currently run a BATVK200 into a pair of B&W Nautilus 804s. I run this amp for the low-end speed and punch it affords me. But for that smooth/warm high/mid path I use a tube output stage preamp. I feel this combination gives me the best of both worlds. I run a good a/c coupler on this amp and I must say it is highly underated according to it's specs. I listened to this amp and coupler driving 803's and 804's and decided the $1500 more for the 803s could be spent on a new tube phono stage because the difference in bass response in the two speakers were 95% unrecognizable. The BATVK200 is one gutsy little amp!

C-J MV-52. I have a small room, fairly efficient speakers, and I like EL-34s. It's really all I need.

Thinking of maybe upgrading to surround and/or bi-amping. Gothenburg, Sweden