Pre-Decware I had both Pass and Luxman amps, and IMO either would be an excellent choice if you’re #SSCurious. But Decware runs up the score on them.

As a backup I have a DALAudio chip amp that actually sounds very good.

Right now I am testing the amplifier with no tubes in the signal path.  The preamp/source is solid state.  This is a worse case scenario where if you can like it, you know it's good.  'Like' is defined by spending an entire evening in discovery mode without fatigue or boredom.  

I am finding that when you pair it with our more efficient single-driver crossoverless stuff it becomes a bit too much of a good thing.  Probably in this scenario a tube preamp would make a massive difference.  When I pair it with hi-fi speakers in the high 80's / low 90's with crossovers it sounds much closer to right.

For me this is easy to understand but harder to explain.  It's a voicing thing inherent in transistors vs. tubes.  What is interesting is that a Decware tube amp will sound fantastic on either type of speaker, and does.

The solid state amp needs the filter of higher moving mass bass drivers combined with crossover losses to get deep into the musical zone.  

This is just an experiment to see how much of the Decware sound is the point-to-point way we build things.  Would a solid state amp designed and built by us sound like it was built by us?  It has no purpose other than that.  It would take us the same amount of time to build something like this without a circuit board as it does our tube amps so there is no point in offering one unless it was outsourced.

As for power, I already know that is not in the cards.  Paralleled devices to increase power and lower impedance may kill it.  The circuit we have is capable of 120 watts, however that doesn't mean it's going to sound the same at high power as it does at low power.  I gradually adjusted this circuit down to 30 watts where it transformed into something pretty damn nice until it clips.

My only real interest in this is to see what can happen with reasonably efficient speakers, because power hungry speakers are filters, and paralleled output devices are like stacking windows without cleaning the glass.  That world is best left those who have already mastered it.  

Steve  :)

Since purchasing one of the last available First Watt J2 amps from Reno HiFi nearly a year and a half ago, my 300B amp has has seen little action.  The J2 sounds so good fronted by a maxed out ZROCK2 and a CSP3-25th that the 300B spends only a few days at a time in the system before the J2 demands to be put back in for months at a time.  In addition to the two Decware pieces playing so well with the J2, the Lii Song Fast 15 drivers also pair up very nicely with the J2.

Because the J2 was so impressive right out of the box the first week I had it, I wrote a quick note to Mark at Reno Hi Fi to let him know how much I liked it.  He then forwarded my note to Nelson Pass, who then sent a short note to me.  In his note, Nelson said that he always smiles when people compare his amps to single ended triode amps.  He went on to explain that the comparison is fitting because the J2 amp is single ended and emphasizes 2nd order harmonics.  It has very little negative feedback, and is laid out with not much in the signal path except the really great sounding SemiSouth Jfets.  

He also said that the J2 is his most popular First Watt amp and due to high demand he broke his own rule of a maximum production run of 100 units, and he continued to build more until his supply of SemiSouth Jfets ran low.  He did keep enough Jfets on the shelf to handle any repair issues that might arise, although I'm still reading claims that no First Watt product has ever been returned for servicing.

I'm probably way off base, but I'm thinking that a full blown Deckert designed solid state amp would sound very much like a First Watt J2.

I wish I had one of Steve's 300B amps.  Had he been four or five months earlier in announcing his 300B project, I would have been one of the first owners of one. Unfortunately, the 300B itch was more than I could tolerate and I broke down and ordered a Cary 300B integrated, having been without a 300B amp for several years.  It's a very fine amplifier, and one of my all time favorites, but I still wish I had a Decware 300B. I am convinced that a Decware amp would be a perfect fit in my system today. We'll see what the future holds.

Back to the topic of this thread, I've had my First Watt J2 for seventeen months now but never talked about it here. Seeing that this "Solid State Curious" thread popped up, I thought it would be ok to say a little about my experience with it.  To my ears, the J2 is a tremendously musical amp that sounds very much like a well designed SET power amp, and the fact that it is driven so well by the 30-volt-output-capable CSP3 makes me a very happy listener.  

Those that are SS curious, and already own a Decware preamp, can't go too far wrong with a J2.  Prices seem to be fairly steady in the $3,000 range, plus or minus a few hundred dollars, and they do sell quickly.

Well I am really thinking about buying one of these integrated amps.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNnr1MehjCA&t=336s&ab_channel=Angela-GilbertYeun...

As luck would have it, the US importer is only 2 hours south of me so I can go listen to some of Angela-Gilbert Yeung's equipment.

All of their equipment is made by hand by Angela-Gilbert.
They are a somewhat interesting person, a little on the "artsy" side, but from what I can tell, really knows their stuff.

Their website:https://www.angela-gilbert.com/home

Hopefully a trip to the distributor will give me a idea if the equipment is what I've been looking for on the solid state end of the game.

Donnie,

I remember looking into some of the Blue Circle products several years ago. I was intrigued by some of their offerings. Their ideas for products did seem to come from a very different mind-set.  Everything I read about them was very positive.

I’ll be very interested in your opinions, if you end up going this direction.

Good luck!

Geno

Well in eight to ten weeks my curiosity for a solid state amp will be satiated.
Money has changed hands and the process has begun.  

Congrats Donnie!

Exciting stuff. Please keep us posted on your experience with this component.

That is pretty cool. Well done Donnie Red...

Ha! That video cracked me up while drinking my morning coffee and sweeping the cobwebs out of my eyes. Reminded me of this one: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=THNPmhBl-8I&pp=ygUSc25sIHJvY2tldCBzY2llbmNl

Congrats. That’s pretty cool to see your amp being built. Can’t wait to hear your impressions.

Here is a interesting video discussing measurements of audio equipment.
Angela-Gilbert has a somewhat different view of what is measured.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07gtbKzfxPU&ab_channel=Angela-GilbertYeung

There is now a full length video about the soon to be mine solid state amplifier.  
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bA2tvOFLDE&t=12s&ab_channel=Angela-GilbertYeung...

Hopefully it can keep up with my Decware Torii.
I have a thing for handbuilt amplifiers!

I'm sure that you are all getting tired of hearing about my almost ready to be delivered SS amp, but there is a new unboxing video from the dealer I am buying it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rCXA3GEGOLY&t=54s&ab_channel=QUARKAudio

The audio of the video is a bit messed up until the last 10 minutes or so, but the last part of it is the best part anyway. His review makes me salivate at the idea that this is going to be my new amp.
Just another week until it is delivered.

Well I've stepped off into the "Dark Side".

Yeah, it totally looks like it is from the future.

Congratulations—Looking forward to your impressions, Donnie!

Here are my initial impressions of my Angela-Gilbert Yeung i807 integrated amplifier.

First, it has a remote control! It is the size of a car key fob and only controls volume up and down. I'm good with that, plus it is RF so you don't need to point it at the amp. Little things like that are nice.

It has 80 WPC and I have a feeling that is a very low number compared to what it is really putting out. So it has plenty of oomph to control my speakers.

I have ran 3 different speakers with it, one 83 db, another 90 ish db and one pair that are 97 db. It pushes them all well and is black hole quiet even with the 97 db pair.

The quietness probably comes from the absolute insane amount of capacitance in the power supply.
Angela had said that there was something extra in my "Red Edition" version of this amp. I got the information today of what the extra was.
My amp has 1,220,000 uf capacitance on the input stage and 880,000 uf on the output stage. A touch more than stock!

If you unplug my amp it continues to play for over a minute just from the the capacitor's charge, crazy!

So yes it is quiet. I really notice how quiet between tracks, in that second between songs things go dark, really dark. It is noticeable.

So how does it sound?
Well no complaints yet.
The imaging is phenomenal, width, depth all there.
Bass control is better than I've ever heard in my room. I've lost the bit of boominess that I have had since I turned my room around. I guess that comes from controlling the woofers better?

I guess I should say what I am using equipment wise with the amp.
Dell laptop playing JRiver/ Wyred 4 Sound USB cable/ Denafrips  Ares II DAC/ Blue Jeans Cable LC1 RCA/ Angela-Gilbert i807/ Blue Jeans Cable Canare  4S11 speaker wires/ Troels Gravesen SBA-761 speakers

Now you want the downsides of this amp.

Well it sure isn't cheap. All in is almost $10K .
I kind of look at it this way, I raced motorcycles at a fairly high level for 30 years.  10K ain't squat racing. You spend that kind of money in just transportation getting to the races.

The amp isn't as fat sounding as my Torii, we shall see if I like that kind of voicing, and perhaps things will change as burn in continues.

So there you go, that is what I think after 1 full day of listening to my Angela-Gilbert i807.

Will it replace my Decware Torii, hell no.
It will be used to compare and contrast.

Dang, that's a lot of farads. My 100W Pass monos had like 1/8th of a farad of capacitance and I thought that was a lot.

What do you know about the preamp section, I can't find any info online? For most of my audio life I thought a tube preamp and a class A SS power amp were the answer to all my problems...until I discovered Decware.

Donnie, how are you and the new amp getting along?  Are you ready to make additional comments about its performance?  

Your amp--well, I think it's your amp--made itself known on YouTube way before it reached you home.  I have to say........that is one impressive amplifier.

I do have one last question, and I'm not being weird or judgmental. On the maker's website two individuals are mentioned--Angela Yeung and Gilbert Yeung; are they one and the same person?

Anxious to hear how the amp is sounding!  Doug

Hi Donnie, Just like to hear how your AGY amp is breaking in?

I’ve ordered a C310 Preamp custom w dual resistor ladder attenuator volume knobs and a SP capacitor pack 36. Including the external power supply should give me nearly 4 million capacitance.

It’s going to drive my Torii V and some Jeff Rowland monoblocks.

I’d love to hear you describe the sound of your AGY amp as there really isn’t much written or reviews on the sound of the new AGY line.

Hey Donnie, Now I see why it's called Red edition. Looks like meaty amp for sure.

I heard AGY's stuff has long break in, is the sound changing much?

How long was your wait time, VS what he estimated?