If you already have 3, what’s one more?You guys talking about the Aegis here has been really helpful - on the dedicated threads it's more praise and less insight into the sound signature. When folks like @Monsterzero say that if he could pull a Marty McFly he'd just go with an Aegis, it piques my interest but I am also chasing the tubiest of tube sounds. I have what I consider 3 end-game, TOTL tube amps and I sometimes sit (bask?) in front of them and admit I have way too many. But I can't imagine who I'd vote off the island between the Glenn OTL, HA-300B, or DNA Stratus. When I see @Wes S leave his HA-300B for the Aegis, I notice. Plus, I have great tubes already on hand for it, so now as I bask in my amps, I wonder who should go to make room (the fact that the ZMF version allows 5U4Gs is really appealing to me, particularly).
I heard the Aegis at Canjam last year and the word that stuck in my head was "diffuse". Massive sound stage, but without the thump of the HA-300b or the mid-range clarity/focus/elevation of the Stratus, but those were show conditions and I discounted them. Let alone the magic of the Glenn, the layering is holographic and three dimensional and the impact is near 300b level with my current tubes.
The recent descriptions above remind me of the SW-51, but with massive stage. Dryer, more solid state, fast, less reverb or decay. For those recent posters, is that how you hear it, or have you experienced the SW-51 to compare it, in terms of soundstage. The only SS amp I have is a Piety and that's more tubey than the SW-51 was, and in my tube chase the latest effort is a custom-built PCM63 tube DAC with 6SN7 and EZ80 tubes... tubes upon tubes. I don't own any planars and don't plan to (I prefer electrostats to planars, particularly classic, easy to drive estats).
So to those who have spent extensive time with the Aegis, in non-show conditions, can I stop being obsessed with the Aegis if I'm chasing that warm, wet sound on dynamic cans?
(This also seems to apply to cats. Ask me how I know?)
Rather than spending time considering which amp to lose, you could be looking at shelving solutions that will fit 5 or 6 big amps. (Always plan ahead for future growth.)