@craigl59 Great that you have been able to connect with @teajay Hopefully Alfred will be able to help you as well.
The Valvet E2 is not a common amp and it is relatively new so I doubt you will be able to get direct owner feedback with it paired to the DIs. As you know, a leap of faith is probably in order. : )
I have not explored the Lyngdorf 2170 to the full extent that I would like to. At some point, if I can get a unit to demo, I'd love to. As for my amp adventures:
The SEs made me realize that investing more in my system was justifiable and would be rewarded (and it has in major ways), so I changed my budget for amplification.
I brought the Lyric Audio Ti140 Mk II (Push-Pull KT150) in for testing out whether I wanted to move to tubes (vs solid state as represented by my Pass separates at the time). I chose to go with integrated options to get more value for what I was planning and applying the savings from one less power cord, interconnect, and isolation platform and a set of footers into upping the budget for the integrated.
The few tubed options I had in system repeated a pattern (for me) - terrific and hard to beat for vocals and acoustics, with glorious mid-range performance; but they fell short vs solid state options (again, for me ONLY) on low midrange to low bass frequency performance and in not offering a balanced, even and consistent 'spotlight' across the entire frequency range of music.
I tried the following in my own system: a tubed integrated (Mastersound and Lyric), a solid state integrated (T+A), a hybrid integrated (Ypsilon); all vs my Pass Labs separates. Other integrated options were Vitus, Gryphon, and Grandinote, all which I was unable to audition as my trip to do so (to NYC/NJ) fell through. All of the products I had in system are great performers and I can see someone choosing one over the other for any number of reasons.
I ended up going forward with the T+A integrated which ships from Germany next week.
On another note, and a surprisingly good development for me, the SR signal cabling I am using has nudged system sound towards being more 'tubelike' than my Audience cabling (in this system configuration).
The Valvet E2 is not a common amp and it is relatively new so I doubt you will be able to get direct owner feedback with it paired to the DIs. As you know, a leap of faith is probably in order. : )
I have not explored the Lyngdorf 2170 to the full extent that I would like to. At some point, if I can get a unit to demo, I'd love to. As for my amp adventures:
The SEs made me realize that investing more in my system was justifiable and would be rewarded (and it has in major ways), so I changed my budget for amplification.
I brought the Lyric Audio Ti140 Mk II (Push-Pull KT150) in for testing out whether I wanted to move to tubes (vs solid state as represented by my Pass separates at the time). I chose to go with integrated options to get more value for what I was planning and applying the savings from one less power cord, interconnect, and isolation platform and a set of footers into upping the budget for the integrated.
The few tubed options I had in system repeated a pattern (for me) - terrific and hard to beat for vocals and acoustics, with glorious mid-range performance; but they fell short vs solid state options (again, for me ONLY) on low midrange to low bass frequency performance and in not offering a balanced, even and consistent 'spotlight' across the entire frequency range of music.
I tried the following in my own system: a tubed integrated (Mastersound and Lyric), a solid state integrated (T+A), a hybrid integrated (Ypsilon); all vs my Pass Labs separates. Other integrated options were Vitus, Gryphon, and Grandinote, all which I was unable to audition as my trip to do so (to NYC/NJ) fell through. All of the products I had in system are great performers and I can see someone choosing one over the other for any number of reasons.
I ended up going forward with the T+A integrated which ships from Germany next week.
On another note, and a surprisingly good development for me, the SR signal cabling I am using has nudged system sound towards being more 'tubelike' than my Audience cabling (in this system configuration).