At some point this year, I am looking to upgrade my ageing Cambridge Azur 651a and treat my Triton Two+ to something a bit nicer.

Not unhappy with the overall sound, but would like a little more headroom/power, nicer build quality and ideally something I enjoy looking at as well as listening to!

(To my ears Solid State amps running within spec all sound similar enough for me not to be too convinced about meaningful differences in sound quality/signature.)

Budget is around NZ$3000-$4500 - currently on the list of musings:

1. Rega Elicit R
2. Musical Fidelity M5si
3. Yamaha A-S2100 (amazing old school looks and VU Meters!)
4. PrimaLuna Dialogue
5. Something from Line Magnetic
6. Peachtree Nova 300

I am really torn on the whole Tube thing - I like the concept, I like the looks and I like what I heard when I briefly listened to some Triton Ones on a PrimaLuna in the store, but the idea of wilfully adding distortion and colour back into the chain when my source is all about faithful reproduction of the material just seems weird! That said, I love the look of the Line Magnetic gear and it reviews really well.

On the Solid state side, I love the look and feel of the Yamaha and I have demoed the Rega with my old speakers and liked it very much, though I have concerns on the reliability/quality of Rega units. Musical Fidelity look to be top notch in spec and quality but just seem a little...dull and safe, if that makes sense?

The Peachtree looks great on paper but seems to be really polarising and doesn't seem to measure all that well in some areas.

Anyone got any thoughts or ideas?

Cheers

Hey PoisonFush,
Everyone will have opinions, here are a few of my musings on the questions you brought up. I am in Thailand so sorta your side of the world, the guys on the other side will probably chime in with their opinions later.
You mention about adding distortion (and you implied tubes will do that). ANY and EVERY piece of equipment will add some distortion, I have never heard a perfect piece of audio gear.
BUT the best, or even the better ones, do not add much distortion, are all about playing the music faithfully, whether tube or solid state. The fact that LOTS of us like tubes in our gear means that to us they are reproducing the music MORE FAITHFULLY than the all solid state gear. Musical means faithful to the source to me.
SO, the best tube gear is not coloring the music as much as poorer solid state gear is. IMHO.
From your list, PrimaLuna and Line Magnetic come to mind.
Definitely some of the Solid State eq is great as well, but to my mind, the best SS gear is WAY expensive, more so that tube, hydrid or Class D gear.
I have Vincent hybrid amps, tubes with solid state. That gives me the best of both worlds, and LOTS of head room/power.
I hope my musings will help in focusing you on what you really want. Just my 2 baht suggestion, I would not include the Yamaha in this discussion, even though it looks retro and cool and has vu meters.
Hope you find what you need, your speakers are certainly worth having really great equipment in front of them.
They will shine.
God Bless,
Wayne

So many choices! I wish each and every one of us had the opportunity to see and hear ALL the Audio Equipment that the world has to offer, but that isn't possible. So we rely on reviews and the thoughts and hands-on experience from others.

You have a Great list of possible canidates! My choice would be the PrimaLuna Dialouge, with its Fantastic build and endless tube rolling capabilities. Also for your consideration, the McIntosh MA252. It looks excellent. A GE forum member here has one and may want to contribute his thoughts.

As for me, I like separates. I have both tube a solid state amps as well as ALL tube and SS Preamps. I prefer an SS Amp paired with an ALL tube Preamp. Currently, I've been using an PrimaLuna Prolouge Premium Preamp for about 4 years, mated with 3 different SS Amps. I like the power the SS amps provides in the bottom end. Tube amps just don't do bass right in some areas.

Whatever you choose, your T2's will give you exactly what you're looking for. Pure Sonic Bliss!

WayneWilmeth wrote: Hey PoisonFush,

I have Vincent hybrid amps, tubes with solid state. That gives me the best of both worlds, and LOTS of head room/power, I would not include the Yamaha in this discussion, even though it looks retro and cool and has vu meters.

Thanks for your input and musings Wayne - appreciated.

Vincent is not a brand I have heard of, but will certainly investigate - sadly range can be limited here in NZ.

Do you have experience with the Yamaha? There seem to be a lot of folks on boards with a very positive impression of the A-S2100 and A-S3000 amps.

Will be definitely auditioning the Primaluna Dialogue HP and the Line Magnetic LM501IA when I have the chance - my dealer for the Triton's has promised to do me a good deal on the former if I decide to go that way.

anthem wrote:
You have a Great list of possible canidates! My choice would be the PrimaLuna Dialouge, with its Fantastic build and endless tube rolling capabilities. Also for your consideration, the McIntosh MA252. It looks excellent. A GE forum member here has one and may want to contribute his thoughts.

As for me, I like separates. I have both tube a solid state amps as well as ALL tube and SS Preamps. I prefer an SS Amp paired with an ALL tube Preamp. Currently, I've been using an PrimaLuna Prolouge Premium Preamp for about 4 years, mated with 3 different SS Amps. I like the power the SS amps provides in the bottom end. Tube amps just don't do bass right in some areas.

I would love to consider the McIntosh - unfortunately, they have a somewhat obscene mark-up at NZ$8000 for the MA252 here in New Zealand and are rarely, if ever discounted - especially compared to the other gear I have mentioned which seems to be much more competitive around the NZ$4.5k mark if you shop around/haggle.

That said, a hybrid approach may well be the way to go which I hadn't considered - I have perhaps been a little blinkered in looking for a one-box solution and forgetting about the existing of hybrid integrateds, so thanks you and Wayne for reminding me.

WayneWilmeth wrote: I have Vincent hybrid amps, tubes with solid state. That gives me the best of both worlds, and LOTS of head room/power.

So some quick research has turned up a dealer for this brand in NZ not too far from me, so will definitely check them out. the SV 237 MK sounds particularly interesting and is in my price range.

Thanks - another one to add to the growing list!