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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.
128x128Ag insider logo xs@2xmapman
thankful
181 posts
 
I have great results with the Bob Carver 180's. They are outstanding performers.
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mapman OP
15,679 posts
 
Thanks for all the responses.

One thing I gotta ask is how much does looks/appearance factor into your tube gear buying decision?

Gotta admit that I love the distinctive industrial/laboratory/retro look of a lot of tube gear so the appearance is something that I think matters for me as much as all the rest. Meters that serve a useful purpose are also a plus for me in terms of aesthetics.
wolf_garcia
4,650 posts
 
I LOVE meters...I often keep my Squeezebox Touch in its "meter mode" because it looks so cool. I think all amps should have glowing little needle meters...Pass does it...Cary, McIntosh, D'Agostino...I was looking at 2 new Rogers amps in a shop the other day...they look like 1956 Buicks...great stuff.
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mapman OP
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Another tube amp feature that is of interest to me is tube biasing. I am interested in doing this as simply but effectively as possible. Maybe a meter is part of the solution. Which amps fit the ease of biasing requirement best?

Thanks.
salectric
683 posts
 
Mapman, you just described my Emotive Audio Vita amps. Tiger maple bases and a retro-looking meter for adjusting each tube's bias. See the photo on my system page.
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