first let me say i had the pleasure of owning close to 1000 or so amps , yes i am one of those who buys and sells and trade my audio in 35 years i had some really good amps, i bought the forte 3 with the ideal of selling it to buy a tube amp, i got it a mc preamp and a nak deck for $700, upon hooking up the amp i really did not think anything special, after about 1 hour of warming up this amp sounds super,it is as good a sounding solid state amp as i have heard, t has it all good bass extended highs but best of all a good sounding amp period!!! yes better than all macs i have owned in the ss line better than a couple of the krell amps i have owned ,i put this unit on audiogon and ebay for $400 but no one bought it , thanks goodness as i love it!!!and yes it is a keeper

A wonderful solid-state amp with very open soundstage. The Model 3 is an A/B design with a high bias towards Class A amplification, and thus it generates a good deal of heat. It uses a huge toroidal transformer and dual-mono power supplies to drive the most difficult speakers, including electrostatic. The Model 3 is physically identical to the Model A, which delivers 50 wpc of Pure Class A amplification. I pair my Model 3 to a Parasound P/LD line-drive preamp, and the combination is wonderfull. The Forte is SILENT, producing no hums or other electronic noise even at full volume. A good challenge for solid-state amplifiers is piano reproduction, and the Forte 3 does an amazing job for an amplifier in this price range. A true Nelson Pass design, the sound quality is a product of a very simple design implementing quality parts. An absolute bargain if you can find one on the used market.