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Cary 805, deHavilland or Atma-Sphere? Anyone cares

Over the weekend, I have listened extensively to the following four different amplifiers and I have decided once and for all that the SET 300B, no negative feedback is the way to go.
The four amplifiers are as follows:
Passlabs X150: very neutral, powerful yet the sound almost very sterile.
EAR 834: very musical, tube mid-range yet sound the least like live music.
YBA 2 High current, Double Transformers: very musical, soft and sound very enjoyable; yet again not like live music.
Audio Note kit one: This is a killer and provided the music is limited to vocals and chamber music. Very good mid-range with good attack and the best like live music; but not very much bass.
However, this listening session made me to want more bass with the SET.
Thinking about the Cary 805, deHavilland or Atma-sphere ?
Any comment ?
Please advice
robertwolfee

Showing 1 response by sbank

sbank's avatar
sbank
3,382 posts
 
The Atma-Sphere OTLs will definitely give you a lot of what you find magical about SETs with the dynamic punch and bottom end that you crave. This will be the case if your speakers are an appropriate match, meaning 8ohm load or higher. With 4ohm speakers, you will need an autoformer, such as the Paul Spelz zeros, to get the Atma's to sound anything like they should.

Another type amp that reminds me of 300B, but has a bit more punch is a 211 based pushpull amp, such as the Consonance Cyber 211s that ultravioletaudio imports into the US. I think these are about halfway between the sound of a 300B and a traditional EL34 or KT88 type sound (i.e. big, warm, punchy).

Disclaimer: I own Atma-Sphere amps. Cheers,
Spencer
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