Mosfet amps A true compromise betw. tubes and SS?

Interesting question - from my own listening (and there are a lot more experienced listeners in this forum), very bad MOSFET designs have similarities to very bad tube designs ("mist") and very good MOSFET designs can sound remotely similar in character to pretty good tube designs as can some other SS approaches. Understand that I am definitely a tube fan, so my response is biased by that perspective.

When combined with a tube input stage (one of the possibilities for "hybrids"), MOSFETs often sound better (to a tube enthusiast like me). As support, I would point to the LAMM M1.1, though I have heard some of the Counterpoint gear sound great in synergistic systems.

That having been said, I have spent a great deal of time lately looking for SS amplification that could make a tube fan like me content to listen... I have yet to find a completely satisfying compromise, though a recent thread gave me a number of good leads (the suggestions I've followed so far have been among the most musical SS I have heard).

Overall, I have to agree with everyone else here that, while I understand where the reputation arises, there is no clean correlation in my experience between "tube-like" and "MOSFET" so you've unfortunately just got to listen in your system.

Good luck in your search. Incidentally, I have not heard the Fusion 700, so can't comment directly. Hope my rambling somehow helps...

Jacob

Isee now that the Brinkman offers a optional onboard DAC. So its not a hybrid. It's like a amp-dac??? But i do like the fact they don't try to hide anything. The unit comes with a glass top!! Thats cool.

Of course Tweeterman will take exception with me on this, but I don't believe that anyone can look at a web page, see what type of technology is employed in a piece of gear, and think they have even an inkling of what it will sound like - either in an absolute sense (if that even exists), or particularly in their system (the only place that it ultimately matters). By all means, audition some MOSFET gear if you are curious, but don't expect any more uniformity of sound between different amplifiers of this type than there is between amplifiers of the tube type. If that sort of thing were actually the case, then there would only be a handful of distinguishable amplifier "sounds" - one for each type of active device employed in amp circuits, and we all know that is not true. That's because everything matters, not just one thing, and the way the overall circuit is designed and implemented is generally regarded as being even more important than what type of active devices are used. If I were interested in trying out something new based on an idea about its technology, I sure wouldn't make it a "sound-unheard" purchase, off of a website, of foreign gear that no one in my country sells or services, much less has even heard of. Sure, the stuff *might* be great, but what would I be able to do with it if I wound up not liking it so well? (FWIW, the MOSFET amp I used to own sounded nothing like [and not as good as] my present tube amp.)

P.S. BTW Tekunda, mightn't you be jumping the gun just a little bit, plotting your next amplifier change before you even know if, in your words, your "recently" bought amps will "work satisfactorily"? Why not give 'em a chance - they certainly weren't cheap! You have my sympathy if Audiophilia Nervousa is really that advanced!

Hey Zaikes, very good..no great answer. You've answered my question from your many years of experience. I'm for tubes all the way. I own a "100" watt ss Rotel amp which i can not listen to for more than ..oh like say 10...no 5 minutes and then fatigue sets in. Now with my "40" watt tube amp i can listen to for hours happily. And the 40 watter is their entry level model so future upgrades will make the speakers sparkle even more. So as you say there is "tube sound" and there is "ss sound" , and in both categories not all labs are equal..more so when it comes to tube design.

Zaikesman, thank you for caring. You are absolutely right. Its kind of crazy to worry about new amps without even having auditioned the new ones I have bought.
The reason is not an advanced stage of Audiophilia Nervousa though.
I am in Germany right now for a short visit and the guy who makes the Mosfet amps, tries to convince me that his amps are really worth taking a shot. The only problem with this is, that my system is in Florida. Before I go through the trouble and ship the German made amps over to the US for an audition, I hoped to find out what people in general have to say about such a design.
If most people would have agreed that a Mosfet is nothing I should look into, I wouldn't have bothered even thinking about having these amps shipped. But from what I read here, I planned my startegy now, which is to audition the Wolcott first and only if I am absolutely not happy, have the German amps shipped for a further audition.