I've owned about 7 solid state amps and I've demo'ed and heard quite a few more SS and tube amps.
I'm aware that there's a few out there, but I've never heard any amp even come close to the sonics of a McCormack DNA-2 Revision A amp. These Revision amps are off-the-shelf amps and are essentially gutted by McCormack and then he installs the finest aftermarket parts and tweaks.
Some amps may be fast(many are slow), some may be rich, full, and warm (many are cold, sterile, lifeless), some may be detailed (many are veiled), a few may even exhibit tremendous control over the woofers providing a tremendous life-like bass that few have ever heard or even imagined (good luck finding any amp with this attribute), but none that I've heard have it all in one chassis.
That is except for the DNA-2 Revision A. There is no substitution for having such an amp as this.
But even with outstanding amplification, the complete immersion into the music (or as you say goosebumps, chills, tears, PR&T, etc) still won't quite get you there without shoring up the other shortcomings in a given system. ie proper line conditioning, cabling, vibration control, speaker placement, dedicated circuits/lines, etc..
In my experience, proper amplification will get you closer to that emotional experience than any other single component or tweak or any other combination thereof. And once you've found such amplification the controversy over tube v. solid state suddenly goes to the North Pole.
Along that same note, I've been hearing some fascinating rumors about the new NuForce digital amps and I may even have the opportunity to hear them shortly.
-IMO
I'm aware that there's a few out there, but I've never heard any amp even come close to the sonics of a McCormack DNA-2 Revision A amp. These Revision amps are off-the-shelf amps and are essentially gutted by McCormack and then he installs the finest aftermarket parts and tweaks.
Some amps may be fast(many are slow), some may be rich, full, and warm (many are cold, sterile, lifeless), some may be detailed (many are veiled), a few may even exhibit tremendous control over the woofers providing a tremendous life-like bass that few have ever heard or even imagined (good luck finding any amp with this attribute), but none that I've heard have it all in one chassis.
That is except for the DNA-2 Revision A. There is no substitution for having such an amp as this.
But even with outstanding amplification, the complete immersion into the music (or as you say goosebumps, chills, tears, PR&T, etc) still won't quite get you there without shoring up the other shortcomings in a given system. ie proper line conditioning, cabling, vibration control, speaker placement, dedicated circuits/lines, etc..
In my experience, proper amplification will get you closer to that emotional experience than any other single component or tweak or any other combination thereof. And once you've found such amplification the controversy over tube v. solid state suddenly goes to the North Pole.
Along that same note, I've been hearing some fascinating rumors about the new NuForce digital amps and I may even have the opportunity to hear them shortly.
-IMO