Vote

Solid state for reliable, quick turn ons; tubes for sensuous sounds.

I am just thankful for my basic reciever, without which this po boy would be jamboxin.

Digital. I've only auditioned one digital amp, the Bel Canto, but that has convinced me that this is the best amplifier technology available.

SET is great in the midrange, but has its problems. Some solid state sound great at times, especially some of the lower distortion models with good power supplies. I do tend to get listener-fatigue faster from solid state. To my ears, nothing sounds more like music than a well-designed tube amp.

Tube amps are like Italian/British cars; they always needs maintenance. Give me a good solid-state amp. It'll always sound the same, good or bad.

Any antiques in my listening room play the role of furniture, not equipment.

For amps, I like hybrid combinations using smaller tubes with Mosfet output transistors for plenty of power, but not as ear bleeding

Audio Nirvana is tubes (any kind will do for me) for the midrange and highs and solid state for the bass. Practical considerations, such as being able to afford three meals a day and paying the mortgage, tend to make me end up with all solid state. If I hit the lottery or become a reviewer for Stereophile, I would no longer need to make such a painful compromise.

Tube, OTL

Solid state amp / Tubed pre-amp.

I listen to a push-pull tube amplifier (EL34s), and I prefer a smoother, liquid, non-fatiguing sound. I guess I also like the architecture of tubes, the glowing glass bottles, but I guess that takes me back to my youth, covers off the radios, soldering iron at the ready. I love my tube amplifier. Dying to build a single-ended one, though right now, push-pull is coming on.

Digital

I'm all for good amplifiers

Best for the human voice, jazz & classical. Single instruments and orchastras sound "more live"

Beautifull, musical, affordable, Antique Sound Lab tube power amp.35 watt per ch. EL34 based ultralinier.Audio Electronic Supply AE-3 pre amp, again great bang for the buck. Ive spent too much money replacing gear, now I'm in love with reproduced music in my home again!

it works, reliably. And amps, if competently designed, sound pretty similar.

Tubes for high/midrange (like Audio Research) mated with solid state (like Krell) to carry the bottom end. Sheer musical and visceral ecstacy if proper speakers are employed, that is. May I recommend the Pipedreams? No. I do not work for, nor am I in any way connected with the above mentioned companies; I just own their wonderful gear.

solid state all the way. who needs to worry about maintenance? amplifier manufacturers, if your reading this, how about more emphasis on cosmetics & heatsinks. an amplifier(espcially an expensive one) must please its owner even when turned off-- it all contributes to pride of ownership.

I still think the best ever that I ever had the plesure to listen to was audio note and Bruce Moore, IAM BLOWN away by the sound of the MUSICAL fidelity a3cr amp.Ihaven't heard the other ac3 stuff but it changed my mind about the ability of solid state to fool you

I read Sam's article and went out and bought an Audio Electronics 300B SE amp, then upgraded to Cary 300B. Love the sound so much went out and bought Carys 805 monoblocks, no going back to push-pull for me.

Nothing else sing beautifully like SET amp, simple and pure. In the world of mega watt amps, I'm using a pair of Welborne Labs Apollo I with 15Wpc of pure SET power driving Magnepan 1.5. Sound like I'm way under powered right? NO! Not for me. They sound great with great extension on both ends. People still laugh at me when I tell them about my 15Wpc and Maggie but they stop after they have listened to the system. Isn't it amazing how far we came since the first Triode?

Actually, I prefer whatever that imposes nothing but amplitude on the music. How about a Swiss amp, but more neutral?

the new digital amps --spectron, Bel canto

I believe valves sound better however an SET at 8 watts cant give me 110db from 18hz to 22khz therefore I choose to buy solid state, the answer is to buy solid state amplifiers that still sound musical and emotionally involving and of course pure class A, I wont start a religious war by naming brands but I do feel its time stereophile reviewed a gryphon antilleon :)

Tact's PWM technology is superior to any SS or tube technology acc. to various reviews. This also counts for vinyl if a very high quality ADC is emplyoyed.

active amplifier as a part of speaker

Don't like the thought of my amp sounding gradually poorer without my noticing it. Tubes are for the nostalgics!

must be bipolar

High Speed, wide bandwith with high quality components designed and built by people who know about music. (that means none of the currently available amps)

I HAVE NO TIME TO WAST FOR WARM-UP- JUST MUSIC-