[rpfef]

I am selling my excellent Plinius SA-100. It is originally a MkII, factory upgraded to MkIII, which means it is operationally identical to the regular MkIII. It has, most importantly, two big transformers in place of the noise-prone original one huge transformer. This amp is dead quiet. No hum, no buzz, no, problems. Cosmetically, it is almost perfect, showing very little in the way of wear-- no dents, no scratches, a scuff or two, perfect faceplate. This amp provides well over its rated 100 watts per side in either class A or AB, easily switchable, and accepts either RCA or balanced inputs. It is one of the sweetest ss amps you'll ever hear. Fantastic dynamics, double huge soundstage. This will be shipped in a very heavy, double-walled box weighing, by itself, twenty pounds.

[rpfef]

I might do a trade. What have you got?

[fredorama]

By any chance, is your SA100 still for sale? Thanks.

[rpfef]

I have not sold it yet. What I did was get a second SA100MkIII so I can biamp.
I don't think I will ever get rid of these amps, after all.

[fredorama]

Thanks for the reply. I will offer you $1750 for one of your amps. I have been looking for one for a few weeks now and I would be very happy to end my search. What do you say?

[rpfef]

Thank you for the offer, which is a fair one. But I do not see how I can part with these amps. I have come to believe they are the best amps I am likely ever to be able to afford, and now that I have them I want to hold onto them.
One thing: If, as I seem to recall, you are familiar with the sound of the 9200, then I believe the 100MKiii may be a substantial improvement. I went from a P8 (I think that is the right model #) to these SA100's. The P-8 uses the same amplification circuit as the 9200, so I presume their sounds are similar. The P8 sounded, to my ears, overly electronic, slightly stripped down, very lively and crisp but non-organic, with a slight unnatural zing in the treble which showed up badly on strings and brass.
The SA100MKIII cured at least 90% of what I disliked about the P8 while maintaining its liveliness, liquidity, and superb dynamics, and showing extreme bass control and finesse on my tricky Shahinian Hawks.
Good luck.
By the way, the owner's manual for the SA100, downloadable from the Plinius website, details all the differences between the SA100MKI, II, and III.

[fredorama]

Hey thanks so much for that reply! You answered a lot of my questions, and I think that I will be happiest if I wait for the right SA-100 or SA-102 to come along. I was about to pull the trigger on a pair of Odyssey Stratos Mono Extremes (upgraded by Klaus to be even better than the Extremes he says, approaching the Kismets). I have to let him know by today what my intentions are. These monos are supposed to be amazing and they do come with a 20 year warranty so I was tempted... Any thoughts on this?  My belief is that the Plinius is a superior amp, but I am not sold on that assessment, based on some of the things I have read about the Stratos Extreme Monos. Thanks!

[rpfef]

Sorry, I know nothing about Odyssey amps.

[dkalsi]

I know this is a old post - but I wanted to add that I have not been able to find a single tube or solid state amplifier that sounds better than the Plinius SA-100 MKIII that I own. I can easily see myself living with it for the rest of my life.