PX25 SET amps-Art Audio, Audion, Wavelength???

Ron - thanks for your post reply. I didn't come across any asian SET amps that caught my eye or that I found here to audition, so no I didn't hear any for comparison purposes.

Yes it's been a month already and the amp still sounds as wonderful as it did from day 1 . . . Now I'm experimenting with the 4 and 6 ohm taps on the amp and also the Sophia 274B.

Are you interested in SET amps? Any Art Audio specific questions or anything else I can address?

Thanks all for your comments. I know of one Audiogon member that had terrible luck with an Audion product and worse luck trying to get the distributor and manufacturer to resolve it (but I guess every company has one skeletan in the closet) so I'm a bit leary but on the other hand Gliderguider does speak hightly of his Ottawa dealer. Tron is almost non-existent here so reselling would be difficult. Which leaves Art Audio and Wavelength. Given the stellar reputation of Gords designs I'm surprised that there aren't and reviews of his PX25 amps . . .

Paul - by the way, I did speak with Gord at Wavelength the other day and he suggested that for our FAB Model 1 speakers that his Cardinal X2 amp would be better for it than his Triton Blue amp (but he didn't elaborate as to why). Just something I thought you'd find interesting . . .

Anyone else have PX25 experience or recommendations?

Thanks, Kevin

Boa2 - thanks again for sharing your experience. Certainly a case of buyer beware . . .

Gliderguider - I wasn't aware of your extended waiting period (memories of the Blowtorch preamp, eed gad) followed by the dissapointing realization that it now needed some repair work - man, you must have been mad as hell. Thanks for sharing the 'war' story.

I spoke with Joe of Art Audio today - what a nice guy. He talked about the differences between the PX25 tube in his PX25 amp and the 300B in the Symphany II amp saying that the extra power of his 300B amp would produce more dynamics but that the PX25 was better in pretty much all other areas including frequency extremes, noise level, resolution and maybe 1 or 2 more metrics I've missed. We also discuss what he saw as the differences between his PX25 amp and Gordon's at Wavelength. The guy's a real gentleman and had nothing but praise for his competitor's (Wavelength) product and designer. A class act . . . unlike what Boa2 experienced from Audion . . .

Tomorrow I hope to have a fireside chat with Gordon of Wavelength.

After speaking with Gordon at Wavelength today it seems like its now down to his Cardinal amp (US$7.5K) vs Art Audio PX25 (US$6.5K) which is a 300B vs PX25 choice. Gordon's Saturn PX25 amp is good for 8-16 ohm speakers and mine are a nominal 6 ohms dropping to 4 ohms so he advises against the PX25 and recommends the Cardinal instead which can accommodate 4, 8 ohms. He said that the 4 ohm load of my speakers is in the bass and that takes lots of current which I guess a 6 watt PX25 can't provide. I now need to double check with Joe @ Art Audio that his PX25 will perform with my speaker ohm load. Also, Gordon opinion of the KR Audio PX25 tube is that it has a tipped-up frequency extremes and sounds like a 300B and therefore isn't a genuine PX25 tube so he uses a TJ Mesh tube instead. But this is all water under the bridge if the Saturn amp won't work with my speakers . . .

Audion is now off the short list due to too many "war stories."

Gliderguider - how does your Audion Silver Night PX25 amp work with the 4 ohm load of our speakers? Does the amp have a 4 ohm tap or do you not worry about it and use the subwoofer to augment any shortcomings the amp may have in the low bass?

Hi all,
After discussions with key Audiogon members above, and a few others, in addition to Joe at Art Audio and Gordon at Wavelength, I've made the decision to purchase an Art Audio PX25 amp! I expect that it may be shipped out late this week and arrive sometime next week.

Will keep members posted of my thoughts on it.

Thanks to each person who took the time to write thoughtful responses to this thread - I greatly appreciate your insights and experiences.

Kevin

Well, the PX25 arrived today . . .
In a nut shell, it was worth the wait. Joe at Art Audio has been excellent to deal with - very customer focused and a man of his word.

In short, here are my initial thoughts based only on one night of listening (thats my caveat):
* very, very detailed - Track 3 on Jacintha's "Here to Ben" CD has an odd clicking sound at the 9 second mark just as she begins to sing which I've never heard before!?
* great soundstaging - Brian Bromberg's "Jaco" tribute CD has an amazing solo on track 9 in which you can clearly place 2 different sounding basses just inside the right and left speakers trading licks back and forth.
* very good bass control and deep too - take Bela Felck's track 4 from the "Flight of the Cosmic Hippo" in which Victor Wooton plays some kind of a double-down device alowing him to play an octave lower which gets down in the 30'ish hertz I'd guess. Or track 3 from Michael Wolff's CD of the same name ("Michael Wolf") in which a synth bass is one of the lowest basses in music I've heard.
* for 6 watts, very good dynamics - Jacintha's voice builds to a double forte on the "Here's To Ben" CD, especialy on Danny Boy and Somewhere Over the Rainbow tracks.

And it plays plenty loud for 6 watts . . . my First Sound preamp isn't much above 4 on the volume dial . . . probably more to do with the preamp's high gain. . .

Thanks to all who helped me find this very fine product and company.