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Who makes the highest quality tube amps?

One scale of 1-10, 10 being best designed and constructed technically, personal sound preferences aside, who are the 8s, 9s, and 10s?

VAC, ARC, Atmasphere would seem like likely candidates I can think of. Are they ?

Where does Decware rank? Rogue? How about others?

SOme technical facts to help support any claims is appreciated please.

Durability and reliability matters to me here as much as anything. I would want my tube gear to continue to work as reliably as designed years down the road as well as up front.

THanks.

Thanks.
mapman
ozzy's avatar
ozzy
3,650 posts
 
clearthink,

No, but they’re "smokin' hot"!

ozzy
dracule1
1,043 posts
 
@clearthink

"ozzy"The newest Carver amps are really quite special."

Does that mean that your's haven't caught on fire yet? "

Clearthink, you're not thinking clearly.  If you're referring to 40+ year old SS Phaselinear amps that people over drove and claimed they "caught on fire" and extrapolating that to his modern tube amps, then your logic defies logic.  The new Carver tube amps are the the most reliable tube amp I've ever owned.  Quiet as SS amp, no tube hiss, no output tube failure in 7 years of use, no bias drifting, and bass extension and power of some of the best SS amps I know with all the good qualities tubes are known for.
belvedere2
31 posts
 
I've had two pairs of VTL monos. Deluxe 300s and my new Compact 100s. I really like both of them. No lack of power and pair well with a CJ PV10a. Getting nice instrument separation and detail out of my old pair of AR90s.
bdp24's avatar
bdp24
4,908 posts
 
Since no one else has, I'll nominate any amp designed and hand-made by Roger Modjeski at Music Reference. Not that his RM-9, RM-10, RM-200, and his new low-power single-ended and OTL amps are THE best (IS there such a thing?), but they are well designed and built, last a long time with no cases of bursting into flames as some even much more highly priced tube amps have, and sound great. Ask anyone who has one!
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