Incredible sound and versitility. Build quality. Inexpensive tubes.

Does not like some speaker designs. It is worth changing your speakers also.

I love this amp. I did not ever think I would own a 35 watt integrated anything until a freind brought it over to test my system. As soon as he plugged it in I wanted to own it. The sound was incredible and how could it look any cooler. My Von Schweikert VR3s never sounded better. If you have low efficiency speakers this may not be the best match. I was able to trade my Musical Design solid state to my freind because his power hungry little speakers just did not like the Tigris. My Luck!!!

Similar Products Used:

Musical Design 150b and SP-1 combination. Rotel.

Clean, detailed, and transparent sound (top to bottom) and great soundstaging make a very involving and compelling sonic presentation. An aural delight.

No phono stage, bass could be a wee bit "tighter."

My audio quest for the "right sound" lasted 10 years until I found the Tigris. I have owned many fine pieces and experimented with many different system configurations over this ten year time period. For the two years now that I have owned the Tigris I have been rewarded with the "right sound." During the first year that I owned the the Tigris I continued to compare it with other systems yet remained satisfied with the Tigris. Consequently, I have stopped making comparisons and now direct my time to enjoying my music collection and expanding my musical horizons. For the past year I have given no thought to making any more changes in my amplifications or for that matter my entire system. I recommend the Tigris very highly, it is a unit that is probably capable of giving you substantial long-term musical enjoyment.

My Tigris is used primarily with Dynaudio 1.8 Mk 2 speakers and Classe .5 CD player.

Similar Products Used:

VTL 140, VTL 300, McCormack DNA-1, Linn Intek, etc.

Versatility, powerful bass, transparency, soundstage

No phono stage (but I'm splitting hairs)

I have no desire to "upgrade" from this amp! When I first read about it in Stereophile, I thought to myself that it might spare me from some of those awful sounding CD's that, while sonically impaired, had great music on them. Interestingly, I rarely move from full pentode/zero feedback because that setting is so utterly transparent, more so than the megabuck pre/power combos I've heard (with one exception with a total cost of around $24K), and that transparency is so beguiling I can't stand to change it! The headphone amp is superb and drives those tough Sennheiser HD600's easily. The tubes are dead quiet - and very inexpensive to replace. Mesa's customer service is second to none. Finally, this amp is a visual treat as well as an aural one. For $2500, why would anyone buy anything else? My speakers are nominal 8 ohms and drop to a low of 3.7 and have 89 db sensitivity. This amp will drive them louder than my neighbor 4 doors down can stand and the bass will shake the foundation of my house. What else does anyone need? Unequivically recommended for all uses. 1000 stars for sound, 999 stars for value, 1006 stars for customer support, overall 1003 stars!

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Vac Avatar, various tubed pre/power combos

Huge soundstage-mid's-build quality/reliability...uses top-grade parts throughout $3000-$5000 amps DON'T even match in build and sonics!!!!

35wpc...a little low power but if mated with proper speakers the sound is incredible from the 35wpc...

The BEST low-power (35wpc) class A tube amp out there...possibly @ any price point...excellent build and great support from mesa...cheap replacement tubes...look for one on the used market and you cannot beat it!!!

Similar Products Used:

quicksilver's(8417's kt88's gla),arc(classic 30)

Sound quality: sweet, spacious, excellent bass, transparent,
audiophile soundstage, lush midrange, warm tonality, and accurate.

No phono stage.

This intergrated amp is wonderful: it sounds great, Mesa
provides THE BEST service, the build quality is very good
for the price ($2,500), it can be used as a headphone amp
(and works very well with a Grado RS-2), it is very adaptable to various speaker/room combinations with 4 choices of negative feedback and 3 different output modes
(between pentode and triode). The dual-mono Tigris runs pure class "A" and has massive gold-plated Tiff binding posts. I should also mention that all of the tubes used in the Tirgis are very easy to purchase and all reasonably priced. The Tigris is also one of the few tube amps which can do well on the dreaded WAF. For the tweakers, there
is a detachable power cord. Anyone looking for a great sounding moderatly priced amp should consider the Tigris.
It is a sweet sounding modern amp (thanks FI mag) and can easily fit into many locations where there simply is not room for a power amp and pre amp.

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Lazarus Class "A" Amp with Lzarus Classic and Musical Design SP-2b preamps

Follow up: First of all, I apologize for starting a new review instead of adding to what was already done, but I didn't see the others. Lucky for me, I'm blind and not deaf!

As I experiment more with the amp, more things come to light. I said the amp wasn't completely neutral and I'm changing my mind a bit. In full pentode with 0 negative feedback, the midrange and treble are as neutral as you could want. Dialing in feedback gives progressively better and tighter bass while sacrificing the extension of the treble. I've found that so-called "audiophile" recordings sound better in full pentode, no feedback. In other words, the better the recording, the less sweetening I need. With lesser recordings, 2/3 pentode with varying levels of feedback is what I like and classical music with 2/3 triode?Man, oh man!

Some may think the power is too light. My speakers are 89 db sensitive, 8 ohms with a dip just under 4 and I have zero problems with headroom. In full pentode and no feedback, I've never turned it past 11:00. In triode, same thing because I don't use it for volume, although others do.

If you're considering this amp, try to listen to it in your system but give it plenty of time. So far, I haven't completely figured it out and I've discovered that I tend to change the settings a lot! Every recording I own has been transformed! I love this amp!

Versatile amp that could be easily adjusted to source, new speakers, or change in listening conditions. Easy on tubes.

none so far

Initially, I got it for my second system as an alternative
to the analytical solid state sound of my main set-up.
I was also planning to use its triode/pentode option as a cure for poor recordings. Finally, I found myself spending more time
listening to Tigris that to solid state amps. This Mesa amp is so musical and emotionally involving that it could literally hypnotize you! I know that some of its technical measurments are far from perfect, but I do not listen
to tech specs after all. This Tigris amp has a heart and soul of fine musical instrument!
I use it with Meadowlark Shearwater Hot Rods, and Monarchy Audio digital front end.

The Mesa tigris is one of those products that you will keep forever. It has ALL the musical enjoyment of the best of tube designs with versatility of setup. Many recordings with various mixing and miking techniques sound different and NO one design in playback will ever capture everything consistantly. This integrated amplifier with built in preamp will do this very thing, capture the recorded music with all the details plus flexibility of pentode to triode operation in sound. The build quality is excellent, gold posts, headphone output that is superb and gues what minimal tube noise and harmonic interference. The use of the 12AX7's, EL-84's and the 6V6's are tried and true in the field and widely used, very low tube cost replacement. Mesa is an excellent company to deal with and very helpful. I highly recommend this product for the purest of tube sound, musicality and a company known for knowing live music-Mesa.

i honestly don't have the backround to put what i heard into words. i was completly and totally envelpoed in sound. the bass had the punch of any solid state amp i've heard. it could literally make the whole room rumble without distorting. it's incredibly flexable - you can change those pentodes settings... 1/3 2/3 all pentode, you can adjust the negative feed back from none up to 4. none had the most open soundstage. i was listenening with a $300 marantz cd player and a pair of psb stratus silvers. i'm going back tomorow with my energy c-8s to see if i should replace them with the psb silvers. i'll post how it goes. $2500 seems like a ton of cash to me but by comparing to what i was planning on spending ($1500) i just can't justify spending an extra grand and getting such better music. the 2 hour demo i had was all it took to completly convert me to tubes. know all i need to do is save save save and it will soon enough be mine. as for my rating, i know there is better sound out there - but at what price? i think this is the best sound you can get short of blowing a LOT more money - 5 stars.

Ah, I always liked being first! This amp is absolutely outstanding! To start with, the headphone amp is reference quality. My Sennheisers fell in love with it right away. The amp itself, as Stereophile Magazine said, has a point of view, in fact, several. By dialing in negative feedback and switching between shades of triode and pentode, the sound changes to fit your mood or the sources idiosyncracies. If I'm playing a less than stellar recording, many times 2/3 triode, 1/3 pentode will warm it up without sacrificing resolution. If it's a stellar recording, usually 2/3 pentode, 1/3 triode is the most accurate sounding. And for rock or heavy blues or just plain volume, all pentode. Wattage is 20, 28, 35 respectively.

The sound is glorious! It isn't the most neutral amp in the world but it is certainly one of the most musical I've encountered. It can sound very nearly like Single Ended Triode or Megapound solid state and can be switched on the fly! Bass slam is fantastic, if not the best I've heard but the midrange and the treble approach the very best. Coupled sith speakers of at least 88 spl @1watt/1 meter, and you'll get as much volume as your wife or landlord can tolerate and more. It does the human voice, saxophone, violin superbly. I can't say enough good things about this amp. If anyone has specific questions, email me. Gotta go now, too many LP's and CD's in line to play!

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Sonic Frontiers