Is there a Solid State amp that can satisfy a SET guy?

... the Parasound Hint 6 which required volume of 75% to get moderate listening level. Klipsch are extremely sensitive so this puzzled me. The dealer thought it was normal, I thought the amp was faulty though everything appears to work otherwise.

@jet88,  I suspect you were right, unless the issue was only occurring while using a low output moving coil cartridge into the Hint 6's phono stage

For all of its other inputs the gains provided by the Hint 6 are pretty typical, spec'd as 10 db line stage, 28 db amplifier stage, 41 db MM phono stage.  But the gain of the LOMC phono stage is only 54 db, significantly below average.

Regards,
-- Al
 

@lewinskih01, I can’t comment on the sonic differences between the XA25 and SIT3 (I’m a very happy owner of an XA25, but I haven’t heard the SIT3). However a non-sonic difference that may be important in many applications is that the gain of the SIT3 is **very** low for a power amp (spec’d as 11.5 db; measured by Stereophile as 11.3 db). That would make it a non-starter for use in my system, for example, since the DEQX HDP-5 I use as my preamp provides little gain. In fact the 20 db gain of the XA25 (which is about 6 or 7 db less than typical for a power amp) approaches (but does not quite reach) the point of being marginal in my system when I'm playing LPs.

Best regards,
-- Al

Re the Bakoon 13R, be aware that the input impedance of its RCA input is only 10K, which will not be a good match for many and perhaps most tube-based components.

I believe the other input choice provided by the 13R, a "Satri Link," would only be usable if driven by a Bakoon component providing that kind of output.

Regards,
-- Al

I'm also curious about the comments on Parallel builds of the 211 /845 being superior to single tube 211/845 based amplification?

I can't shed any light on that, David.  Best,
-- Al

Hi again, David. I would add that it follows from what I said about output transformer quality (and various other factors as well) that generally speaking I would expect a 211 or 845 amp to cost a great deal more than a 300B amp providing comparable sonic quality.

Good luck in your search! Best,
-- Al

@david_ten 

Yes, David, that is a correct interpretation.  Assuming, of course, that the effect Ralph has described is not overshadowed by other variables in the designs of the specific amps being compared.  For example, differences in the quality of the output transformers, since the high voltages at which 211s and 845s operate makes it harder (and more expensive) to produce transformers providing comparable performance to those used in 300B amps. 

Best,
-- Al
 

@david_ten

I have no experience with 211 or 845 amps, but I would speculate that in **some** cases an explanation of why **some** of those amps may sound "slow and boring" compared to 300B amps derives from something Ralph ( @atmasphere ) has pointed out in the past.

What he has pointed out (and it makes perfect sense to me) is that since the distortion produced by a 300B (or other low powered SET amp) rises dramatically as output power becomes a significant fraction of its capability, while also becoming vanishingly small at low power levels, and since our hearing mechanisms use certain harmonic distortion components as loudness cues, from a subjective standpoint such amps will tend to have a greater perceived contrast between high volume peaks and softer notes.

In other words, dynamics will seem to be enhanced relative to the presentation of many other kinds of amps.

While if everything else is equal (including speaker efficiency and listening volume) that effect will occur to a much smaller degree, if at all, with a more powerful 211 or 845 SET amp, since the amp will be operating at a relatively small fraction of its power capability even on high volume peaks.

Best,
-- Al