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What is a good tube amp or integrated amp for under 2K?


pythagore

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I'm currently using a Classe CA-400 (400W/ch into 8 Ohm, 800W/CH into 4 Ohm) to drive my Khorns, that's too much power taking into account the high sensitivity of the Khorns.

The Classe is a sweet sounding amp, but 400W/ch is a waste.

I'm putting the Classe for sale so I can buy a very good sounding tube amp.

I saw a couple of Chinese brand tube audio product on the market. Among them is the Shangling STP80 35W/ch, is that good?

A local seller offered me the followings:

Bat VK 3i Tube Preamp ($1,500) , Sonic
Frontiers Power 2 . 110 watts per channel ($2,500)

Cary integrated Tube Amp
SL-30 . 34w/c $1,000

Any comments on these units?

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Any component from BAT has the capability to be excellent. Cary never impressed me; but I have heard some pretty good tube stuff.

I have never heard Sonic Frontiers.

There is a used pair of VRDs on Audiogon for $ 1650.

Are you in need of phono capability?

No, no need for phono capabilty. The source will be my PC with 2Tera bytes of FLAC audio files. The sound Card in the PC is a Lynx 2B, the analog out of this sound card is as good as it can get. I compare the anolog out of this card to my Arcam AVP9, and the difference is barely noticeable.

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I have a Rouge Audio Atlas Magnum edition with kt90's, that really really is one heck of a sweet amp, had it for about 6 months now and I have to say it has out preformed most amps I have had/heard in my system, many costing 3X as much........very good bang for the buck, tight, fast SS-ish bass, and very accurate clear mids and highs...

I think it runs $1899 with the magnum package and kt90's......

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I'd recommend a Manley Stingray integrated. Run in triode for 20W which is more than enough power for your Khorns. This is one sweet sounding amp, cool looking and you can find the latest version with triode/ultralinear switch and sub out for well under $2K used (dealer demo just sold for $1650 at Audiogon).

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I have a Sonic Frontiers Power 1, 55wpc and it is very good. I have no need to upgrade in the forseable future.

I had it powering a pair of Khorns at a get together at Andys house a couple of years ago and Jim had his new VRDs there. I think that they compaired quite well. There were some minor differences, not better or worse imho but most there did prefer the VRDs (They were brand new amps on the market at that time and my personal feelings were that it was an uphill road for my Power 1 before we walked into the room due to the NEWNESS factor of the VRDs at the time.) The power1 is a stereo amp where as the VRDs are monoblocks but in anycase, they compaired very well to each other.

Any comments Jim or others that were at Andys??

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I have to agree with Kent. The Manley Stingray is a great sounding amp and matches very well with the Khons. You can see what is in my current system, and all I can say is that it is a toss up between tthe two setups. The 2A3's have their own thing, but when I really want to rock out, I go down stair and pull the Stingray out of the pool room system and put it in the main system.

Rich

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Have you considered adding a tube preamp to the Classe? Many on this forum use tube pre and s/s amp. I do not think 400wpc is overkill or ridiculous to the point of selling such a nice amp to experiment with equipment you have not ever heard. You might end up going backwards. Most of the tube sound comes from the preamp. Something to consider.

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I agree with Mark. There are quite a few forum members using high-power amps with their speakers and having all that power in reserve gives lots of headroom for musical peaks, even if the power is not being used all the time.

If the high-power amp sounds good even at lower output and has low noise, and you're happy with it, why bother switching to something unknown?

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Have you considered adding a tube preamp to the Classe? Many on this forum use tube pre and s/s amp. I do not think 400wpc is overkill or ridiculous to the point of selling such a nice amp to experiment with equipment you have not ever heard. You might end up going backwards. Most of the tube sound comes from the preamp. Something to consider.

Mark, very interesting point. The Classe amp is a sweet sounding amp, I love the amp. It is currently matched with my Arcam FMJ AVP9, to drive my second zone audio.

Ok, I'll buy a tube preamp for my second Zone and keep the amp.

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Hpower, I read alot of rave reviews regarding the Juicy music peach II. The one on Audiogon is sold.

I have a fellow here in Ottawa selling a BAT VK 3i for $1400, I think I'll take it and pair it with my Classe amp.

I read some good reviews about this unit too.

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