Amp alternatives at £2k?

Happy to. It would be a cheap alternative if you're interested.

 

Apparently the X150.5 at consumes 200watts...at idle
So maybe not for me after all.
Have never done a back to back between CJ and Pass gear. The only CJ amps I have heard (and they were pretty old) failed absolutely to float my boat.
Personal preference etc.

 

The 'X' and Alpha series are different guys'
The sudgen stuff, is well constructed and thought out, again an old design refined over time, IT doesn't have the serious slam some desire, or bottom end control, however it's a good all round Quality piece of kit, that excells at the 'valve amp' cross/over ground, those that want to get Solid but are too afraid to ask Certainy is sweet in the middle, lacking in grunt for 90% of people NO, I feel it's an over looked Marque, that needs a decent audition when considering.
It's main aim is to produce Tube like sounds with a little more power/control and subtliness. Wm

 

Have you listened to any good tube stuff since the sixties?

 

Steve,Yes a fair bit (unfortunately most of the Time, they just give merely ok factor), and not much really does it for me, The proper stuff doesn't sound like tubes anyway, it sounds good, however it costs a fortune, and now on here save 3 guys could or want to afford it, I Feel The B/P & Manley/ & A/R, oh and a certain class'd' valve amp, else not a chance
Now want would suggest that guys listen to in that Price bracket? B/P But then you've going to need to very effecient speakers, maybe ol Russ Andrews 97Db specials prehaps
Your Soul speacials are £9K a shot + per and those, great amps you listened to last week are what £25K?, They have preform the dance of the seven vails & do topless waitress service for that
Remeber, the best valve amp is no valve amp (or aleast one that doesn't give it self away), they are out there Wm

 

Remeber, the best valve amp is no valve amp (or aleast one that doesn't give it self away), they are out there Wm

WM u missed out IMHO !!



Chris
nb dont worry we forgive ya

NB
the best valve amp is a big fat juicy one (IMHO! )

 

The X series certainly made all the right noises during the short listen I had, but I don't want an extra room heater especially in summer, and the leccie bills in Japan are ridiculous enough as it is (although at least we didn't have any blackouts over the summer ).
I also got a very quick listen to the PS audio amp recently. Seemed OK through JBL monitors, although that is the first time I've heard the JBLs "image" :banana: These consume something like 20 watts at idle, which is much more like it.

 

Linn speakers can be made active without the use of Linn amps. The Linn amps have space inside for the active crossovers, but the same crossovers can be used without the amps. For owners of amps other than Linn, Linn supplies a case to house the Aktiv cards. It matches Linn's other gear. Of course, if you don't like the Linn sound, forget everything I just said! I'd imagine that other active crossovers would work fine with Kabers.

 

Maybe the Steinharts come close (100W/channel). I rate them anyway.

I'm going tomorrow to listen to the Wavacs - £50k for the biggies, £35k for the medium and topless waitress service thrown in. Where do you get off with your £25k cheap sh*t. Must be the price per channel.

I remember. Of course the same can be said for solid state.

You'll never convince an old bottle-head like me that you sand-heads have all the answers.

 

You just want to hear my 120 watt valve monoblock's don't you.

They certainly don't lack power, maybe not the incisiveness of a good SS, but they have other attributes.

 

Lee's Lumleys are very nice indeed.

If you like Naim a 250 seems like a reasonable option.

ATC's integrated would be worth a listen, but it's a bit pricey new IIRC.

Another possibility is the newish AVI Lab Integrated (£1500 I think). Haven't heard it, but it seems well liked. Plenty of power. Cornflake stock both ATC and AVI.

-- Ian

 

Kabers are not conventional three way speakers, both big drivers do the bass, the upper one also the midrange. So a conventional three way active crossover isn't going to be right. Naim can supply custom SNAXOs, or the mod is well withing DIY capability. There are Linn standalone Kaber Aktiv boxes available from the early 90s, or you need the Kaber Aktiv cards and a Tunebox (as Tones says).

I still think that if Mr Sukebe wants more of what he has then a bigger Naim amp is the way to go, and the only sensible choice is a NAP250. If he wants something else altogether then he should try everyones favourite system....

What's all this about valve amps? A hugely more expensive way of reaching the same goal, and it seems that you have to buy a very very expensive tube amp before it starts sounding like a good transistor job.... It is of course possible that radio transmitter tubes and Class D might go quite well together.

Paul

 

Hi Paul

A tube lover could never agree with what you've said.

If you love the sound that valve amps make, its probable you will prefer it all the way up and down the pricing scale to a solid state alternative.

Thats certainly the case for me - I'd chose a £250 kit build over an arcam, musical fidelity etc - and the best valve alternative is the one that I'd prefer at every given price point.

Id disagree that you have to spend a lot of money to get a good sound from valves - the bake off that showed what a £200 WAD kit can achieve was an eye opener (ear opener? for many.

I know some people wont like what valve amps can do, I'm always going to reccomend them though because I fundementally believe in them, and all I'd really ask people to do is include them in their auditioning, and make their own minds up.

viva tubes!

Chris

 

A couple of thoughts. A former Naimer chucked out 52/135s for a Densen DM10 (s/h about 600 quid) with very little loss, if any. Lavardin is worth checking out. Back to tubes: the Canary Integrated is fab but you'd need something like Living Voice speakers.

 

Interesting replies.

Mike likes the Naim sound it appears, he likes timing, nimbleness and all things Prat. So we go off recommending big class A amps and valves

From what I understand, Mike has listened to these presentations in the past and not been impressed. So I would suggest listening to the Naim kit mentioned, along with Denson pre power, Dynavector 200/75, the Moon I-5, and possibly a Lavardin, all ex dem of course.

My money would be on the I-5, but then you'd expect that as I own some of their kit! But for the money talked about, you could have an I-5 and a Trichord power conditioner, and those that heard it at the Heathrow show will tell you just how much fun it is.

And if you want the sound of valves for the occasional plinque sess, you could always stick a Thermionic Culture Vulture in the tape loop

 

If you want the Naim sound done by somebody other than Naim then try the Densen Beat 200/B300 pre/power combination. It is just under 2k, gives you all the pitch, rhythm and timing with more transparency to boot.

For an extra 500 quid you could go up to the B300XS - more balls at the bottom end.

The only downside of Densen is that they are very fussy about interconnects. Naim clones in the form of Chord Chrysalis at 40 quid a pair just won't do.