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SET amplifier recommendation

 I have been listening push-pull tube amp for a long time. Finally I'd like to try SET. Seems a lot of people moving from push-pull to SET. My budget is <$3000. Looking at Coincident Dynamo MK III 300B. As there is no dealer for Coincident, i can not try it/hear it. Anyone has this? I'd like to hear your comments. i also looked at Decware, Bottlehead, etc. It seems Dynamo is better. Line Magnetic has some interesting ones. But i am not sure the quality can match Canadian made one. 
    My main speaker is B&W 805. Listening space is less than 400 sq ft. My current push-pull setup is CJ premier 15+CJ premier 17ls2+ Audio Research VT100 MKI. Thank you.
cygnus_859

Showing 3 responses by shkong78

shkong78's avatar
shkong78
1,463 posts
 
Although your listening space is not very large, I am not sure whether 300B SET amp can drive B&W 805 with enough authority.

I recommend Line Magnetic 508 or 805 SET amp 48 watt to drive it.


New one is over your budget.

Thus you may want to wait until good used one come out or save some more money.
shkong78's avatar
shkong78
1,463 posts
 
I agree with other people’s opinion that B&W805 is not a good match with SET amp.

About 20 years ago I had driven B&W Nautilus 801(15 inch woofer) with Jadis 500 (350 tube watts) with explosive dynamics and deep bass.


I recommend OP to sell B&W 805 and get the SET friendly speaker with high efficiency above 94 db.

After driving it with ARC PP for a while, OP can try to get SET amp suitable for the speaker as a next step.

I am happy to drive Lansche 4.1 (99db/w spec) with either Line Magnetic 508 and Silbatone 300B SET in open space of 25ft wide, 20 feet deep, 15ft high loft.

The nice thing of SET sound is vocal music.

Both Elvis and Eva Cassidy sounds natural with spooky presence.
shkong78's avatar
shkong78
1,463 posts
 
https://www.audiogon.com/listings/lis9g44j-zu-audio-soul-superfly-full-range

I would rather recommend Zu Audio speaker with small footprint.

Height: 38” [96.5cm]
Footprint: 12-9/64”square [30.8cm square]
Weight: 54 pounds [24kg]
Bandwidth: 30 – 25kHz
Efficiency: 101 dB-SPL 1W, 1m
Impedance: 16 ohm
Power Amp Range: 2 – 300 watt

You can drive above with 300B SET to enough volume.

But you may get nice sound with your current PP amp.
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