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Which Solid State Amplifier is Making you Happy?

I'm trying to find a new amplifier to replace a Musical Fidelity A3CR. There are lots of candidates: Rowland 501s, Pass Labs 350.5, Levinson 431/432, H2O, etc. What are people using and what has been a good sonic investment? I'm currently driving B&W N803s, so it's a pretty normal load. My MF amp does not offer enough punch or bass control. It flattens out at higher volumes. I'll spend what it takes, new or used. Less than $8K would be nice. All comments welcome.
Peter
pscialli
nsgarch's avatar
nsgarch
2,517 posts
 
Remember the old Toyota jingle by Van Dyke Parks -- "get your hands on a Toyota, and you'll never let go!" ?? Well, get your hands on a Mark Levinson 23.5, and you'll never let go!
oregonpapa's avatar
oregonpapa
2,850 posts
 
Solid state amps aren't my bag at all. However, I HAVE heard the little 125 WPC Goldmund mono-blocks over an extended period of time in a friend's system. They're little killers.
extremephono
123 posts
 
NuForce Ref 8 driving Quad ESL57 modified.
tfl303's avatar
tfl303
74 posts
 
Dartzeel dont comment unless you've listened to one
jsaah's avatar
jsaah
66 posts
 
I'm really enjoying my McIntosh 501 Monoblocs (and the Mac 402 which preceded them was sweet as well).Plenty of bass control at all volumes--uncolored, clean sounding amps. They're currently driving my Meadowlark Blue Heron 2's effortlessly, playing all kinds of music.
Joe
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