Good Solid State Integrated Amp.

[Rock789]

Moon i-3 SE

very nice!

[Bingo]

Hi Bingo,

There are typically two vastly over-generalized descriptors used when analyzing the sound of amps:
1) Tubey
2) Solid State

The former connotes a sweetness in the treble that is extended and airy, but not shimmery or sibilant. There is a certain "bloom" (to borrow your term) in the mids and bass is full, but not necessarily quick or exhibiting slam. "Warm" is a term often used to describe tubey sounding gear.

The latter many times will refer to cold, clinical presentations with extended, albeit silvery and sibilent highs, smooth mids, and slamming, deep bass with a lot of grip and speed. Naturally, gear that exhibits too much of this is considered "cool" sounding.

Now, understand that I'm not describing the topology of the gear, only the generalizations used to describe the sound characteristics. There is plenty of tube gear that sound clinical as well as ss gear that sounds tubey.

Make sense? Now, to make life even more interesting, we have the new generation of switching/digital amps. These utilize either B&O's ICEpower topology or TI's Tripath design. Either way, they operate much differently than either ss or tubes and, when done correctly, offer an intriguing blend of tube's sweet mids and highs with solid state's bass slam and transient response. All this with practically no heat, no heatsinks, and 3 to 5 times the efficiency of Class A or Class A/B designs.

Based on your description of the sound you like, it appears you're looking for neutrality through the mid-band with a touch of sweetness up top and a strong mid-bass. I'm unsure what "gurgling" means, I usually encounter that sound only on compressed MP3's, but perhaps you are referring to sibilance? I think you'd be best served by tubes or a switching amp if you don't want to screw around with tube rolling, biasing, etc. Stay away from tube designs that are designed around the "classic" tube sound of something like the Marantz 8b as the highs will be rolled off and the bass will be boomy and flabby.

A note on the PSA GCC-100; it will provide everything you are looking for (bloom, exceptional depth and slam, wicked transients, clarity in spades) except for the sweetness. The amp is neutral to a fault in this respect. If you want sweetness, your Cary is going to have to provide it, which it very well may if it's voiced like their tube gear. Remember, the GCC's design goal was "straightwire with gain." Therefore, it will not add or subtract anything to the signal. If you want to add sweetness, which is something a lot of us do, consider the Trio C-100 which is voiced with a bit more warmth. As a bonus, it's less expensive .

Topspeed: Thank you for the most comprehensive response I got on the description of sound using 'words' of course. But it is not 'sibiliance' I refer to when I mention 'gurgle' but an anomaly that Bill Bailey and I believe to be defective recording. Feanor and I think that all we can do is try to minimize the flaw and not eradicate it with a good amp. Anyway I wanted to thank you for the entire response you gave because it 'educates' me on the subject of good stereo sound. When it comes to sibilance, we old timers refer to that as a 'comb and tissue paper sound' which may be an expression foreign to younger people. When you take a piece of tissue paper and place it over a hair comb, place your lips on the paper and hum you get the 'comb and tissue paper' sound, which is sibilance...or the hissing sound which is not a predominant problem on my NAD C370....it does happen sometimes especially when listening to operatic tenors, but not much. By the way (BTW I don't like) did you know that the most dominant sound in the English language is the sibilant sound..?? Say any sentence and emphazise the 'hiss' and you will prove the ponit....especially when you say, 'say any sentence'...but no matter what you say, the 'hiss' will dominate...so much for an old man's thoughts on sound...HA! Bless you!

Nolan

[AmpNow]

You have a pretty nice setup.

________________________
McIntosh MA6500 Integrated Amplifier - Get the MA6500 Integrated Amplifier Catalog by McIntosh Laboratory, Inc.

[Bingo]

You have a pretty nice setup.

________________________
McIntosh MA6500 Integrated Amplifier - Get the MA6500 Integrated Amplifier Catalog by McIntosh Laboratory, Inc.

AmpNow - You gave me the shortest response of all...I had a few more very short ones like 'NIce set up' and so I wanted to say that even if you didn't say very much, you were kind enough to respond....and I appreciate that. But your brief comment made me wonder what you might have meant by 'pretty nice set up'...perhaps you could expand your comments a little when you have time. Thanks again for your interest.
Bingo alias Nolan, the 83 year old nin-com-poop!

[Bingo]

Moon i-3 SE

very nice!

I made a mistake...I told the guy who said "You have a pretty nice set up" that he made the shortest response to my thread...but that is not true..your own response is the shortest since you only used two words VERY NICE....so I must thank you too as I did the other guy and ask if you might want to say a little more...and thanks for your participatioin..

Bingo alias Nolan

[Rock789]

I made a mistake...I told the guy who said "You have a pretty nice set up" that he made the shortest response to my thread...but that is not true..your own response is the shortest since you only used two words VERY NICE....so I must thank you too as I did the other guy and ask if you might want to say a little more...and thanks for your participatioin..

Bingo alias Nolan

Sorry for the confusion, I was refering to the Moon i-3 SE since I recently auditioned a pair of Electra Be bookshelves with that along with the Moon Equinox CD player.

Although your system does seem to be very nice itself...

SVS subs are very good, and if I were in your area, I wouldn't mind check out your speakers ;o)