What amps should I audition?

looking for amps or anything else is not as simple as it appears. ordinarily.

settling the electrical mating of amp and speakers is top priority. that part seems settled 

given the chosen speakers have great eff.

I’ve found thru the years amps like other gear are separated into teirs or levels, by price, usually.  $500 to $1500; $2K to $4K; $5K to $9K; $10K to $16K; and above 16Kt he diffs as with each level become slighter. Depending on topology. naturally, comparisons       in the various  groups  has to be with likewise topologies. tubes vs tubes, SS v SS, etc. 

hearing someone considering either a tube or SS or Digi power source seems to indicate that someone is not entirely settled on the ‘type’ of sound they really want. . , or could be happy either way, this is of course, OK too. but at some point a choice must be made between the type of sound, and IMHO, then the type of amp one desires. gets easier.

subs can bolster tube amp bottom ends. but that means mo’ money! personally I adore tubes though I would miss SS attributes now and then if a desire to kick out some AC DC overwhelms me. and it does now and then.

no one has said anything about weight.  in past years the dry weight of an amp or amps carried some uh, weight of its own, allying better builds with heavier amps, all else being equal.

I know what some Pass Labs XA amps weigh, and two of ‘em weigh more. then there’s the amp stands too. and power cords double if you go with monos.

 I think most audio nuts should have two setups. an all tube affair, and an all SS or digi arrangement. 

one of the best rigs I put together was a top quality tube pre, and a mid level $6K SS amp. it worked well with any sort of music IMO. then I went all in on tubes. whoa. I allowed for its short comings with aC DC and was very, very happy.      even with big band jazz. but that’s just me.

some wisdom has already been dropped here in doing the ‘audiogon shuffle’. buy, try, flip, and possibly, repeat.

it could well beat plunking down a ton on something and being even a wee bit remorseful later.

doing the ‘shuffle’ gives ya some perspective on the house sound of various makers gear.  that experience may conme in handy. later, or may not if you choose to mix houses in the power train, ala one brand  pre, another brand amp.

very good luck on your quest, whatever you decide.

So how long will this hardware last? It is our experience that, barring abuse or the odd failure of a component, the first things to go will be the power supply capacitors, and from experience, they will last 15 to 30 years.  Fortunately they die gracefully and are easily replaced by a good technician.


After that, the longevity will depend upon the number of operating thermal cycles, but we can say that we have had amplifiers operating in the field in excess of 20 years with no particular mortality, and we don’t have good information beyond that.


More to the point, you should not worry about it. This is a conservatively built industrial design, not a frail tube circuit run on the brink of catastrophic failure. If it breaks, we will simply get it fixed, so sleep well.

I can say in day to day use any electronics that run hot get annoying for that reason soon enough. A hot Summer day, Air conditioning going full blast and you want to listen to some music. but DON'T because the amps or whatever are blazing hot to run??? Then the folks who own a second amp for Summer use? Because the favorite is a furnace? Reason enough to avoid Class A amplifiers and big tube amps.