I need to have lightweight amplifiers as I relocate a lot (air travel / every 4 years) . The only possible option would be the dennis had inspire amp but as far as I know one need to buy a Berning ZH230 (expensive / rare) to have that 3d tube staging and imaging AND PRAT, dynamics + bass control. All other high performance tube amps are pretty heavy and expensive. I have french single drivers (davis acoustics 20de8 - nominal 8 ohm, 7 ohm average, 4 ohm in the bass region, 92db, alnico, and I put them in open baffles - wherever I am) and they love some juice, so 2 Watts would be too little. If a used inspire amp comes up for sale in europe I would buy it.
For now I am looking into Clones audio 25ir and Benchmark AHB2 amps on the used market. But that "in front of speaker" staging capability is my goal no.1 According to the forum talk the TBI MG3 amps can do that, but they are rare on the european used market and I think there are more sophisticated designs on the market.
The question is if there are big differences between the SS / Class D offerings in that regard or if I have to go tubes anyway. A lot of people migrate from tubes to SS nowadays - so I suppose that they can't be that great (and most of them have big problems with stability / demanding music)
sonorsnoopy,
If you're looking for a nice "travel" system, I would probably go solid state unless the tube amp is really well built (Decware, Ideal, Vaughn Carina (used market only), Dennis Had. Chassis mounted tubes and point to point wiring are a must if subjected to the punishment of shippers.
If I were having to pull up roots on a regular basis I would look for the maximum performance package in the most compact format. You already have the Hugo, so you're covered for a front end if your choice of amp and speakers can overcome the Hugo's low output voltage (someone please correct me on this output voltage if I'm wrong - I hate misinformation). For the money, along with it's small size, the Bantam Gold is going to be hard to beat (the new Bantam 1 is about to be released, with twice the power may be a better choice for your Hugo. If you plan to run a fast musical sub I would go with the Super 3i. No sub, the Super 3XRS (tiny tower), Super 3U Monitor (no longer on the site, but Louis will still build them), or Super 7 Monitor, or maybe one of his compact OutLaw speakers.
You say your speakers are 92dB but power hungry. That doesn't add up. I run 93dB Omega Alnicos on a 1.5w/ch SET with plenty of power, PRAT, and nice tuneful tight bass, not to mention an insane soundstage.
I am unaware of any statistics regarding people migrating from tubes to solid state, in fact if you haunt the Omega forum the leaning is toward tubes. A well designed, well built tube amp is stable and great sounding, and will last as long as any solid state amp. Decware puts a lifetime warranty on theirs. Bryston solid state amps have the next best that I know of at 20 years. The first Decware SE84 from about 20 years ago is upgradable to current status for a pretty modest cost.
