Posted by Art Tedeschi on September 03, 2003 at 16:25:25:
In Reply to: M1: Amplifiers posted by Mariano on September 01, 2003 at 19:36:46:
Mariano,
Just caught up to your query and thought I'd throw in my two cents worth. I guess you can consider me the contrarian opinion in this group -- I love firebottles on many systems, but I believe that you need high-quality solid state power to make the SoundLabs truly sing. My biases: I love the sound of strings, both plucked and bowed (I own some very nice acoustic guitars and know their sound quite well) -- nothing can match the transient snap of a fine steel-stringed acoustic guitar being reproduced by SoundLabs (A-1, M-1, U-1, etc) driven by a clean, quiet, solid state amp (if you can find it, try "Banjo Express" - Pierre Verany vinyl or "The Strayaway Child" hammer dulcimer music LP - they'll knock your socks off) -- my amps are manufactured by Jeff Rowland, and almost any of his models will do the trick (Jeff's original designs were voiced over the A-1s back in the early 80's).
In all fairness, I have not extensively auditioned the SoundLabs over the tube amps of choice (Wolcott, Atmasphere, etc), but in all cases, I've noticed a softening of transients relative to the JRs (and other great SS amps).
I think it comes down to this -- both technologies, tube and SS, offer their own strengths and weaknesses, so it comes down to satisfying your personal tastes -- either way, you can't go too far wrong if you picked SoundLabs.
Art