In Reply to: Amplifier feedback - post here posted by thylantyr on August 06, 2002 at 15:57:04:
I have recently heard a NAD c270 amp. very musical and I wouldnt say it has your tipical SS qualities. for the midline stuff I chose a Denon. not the greatest but I found it much better than my older sony es. I use it for home theater and for that purpose I cant complain and probably wont upgrade it for some time. Tube are cool! they have there own sound and I like it for dedicated small room listening. For most things I do like the crispness of the SS amps. Most tube guys would call that sound brittle (amoung other colorful metaphors)
the pro stuff is a different story. Ive had in my system, Carver, Peavey, QSC, Hafler, ART, Crown, and finally now using Mackie.
Crown is clean but I just couldnt strike the right combination, that was my problem though. Hafler was the most musical and I loved the sound, just too noisy to deal with (bummer). The Mackie's I have are very quiet and and a pleasure to have. The sound might not be for everyone. I'm going to say they have a very dry sound, studio type of sound. If its not on the recording, you arnt going to hear it. you get whats there and thats it. So I use two mackies for the low and mid, tubes for the highs, plate amps for sub cabinets under 80hz.
so with all this iron my next move is for smaller tube amps of a little better quality, and a NAD C270 to play with. If you get pro audio, the fans Suck! try and get something with no fan, or disconnect the one inside. chances are in your living room you'll never heat the thing up. (many disclaimers for modding gear.....)
That's my take. find a few places in your area that will let you try stuff out at home. home is different than the showroom.Bill
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