Is SET amplification where we should all end up? I keep reading posts where people tell of their journeys from plenty power to micro power, and how amazing SET amplification is 45 set 211 set 845 set otl, and usually, ....with the right speaker. I have yet to read of anyone who has gone the other direction from SET, to High watt beast class A amps or others. If your speakers can be driven by minimal wattage, is this the most realistic, natural sound we can achieve? versus say, 86db sensitive speakers and a 1000w amp? Is the end result solely based on speaker pairing? circuit? tubes?
I am in the process of changing my direction in my search for realistic sound, just because, and wondering if this really is the best direction to be going. From what I have been reading I think it may be.
I was joking with my tech, why he does not get the Wavac 833 amp, he said something to the effect,,,*I don’t need a heater in my home...** especially with our New Orleans 100+ degree heat 6 months of the year. well looks like I’ll never own a 845. As I say I already have a power amp with the Defy’s 12 tube set up. And surprisingly does not put out much heat. The center trans has been running cool. But thats about to change with dual FR + woofer + tweeter, ohm load about to test Defy’s power. Also need to ck with tech to make sure that ohm load is ok with the 2A3 amp.
This is issue I see today with SET in general, some of these guys run higher plate voltage then output tubes can handle, too many instances of premature tube failure. People too often blaming tube manufacturers. Prior to purchasing any SET, I'd research this aspect of that particular amp, know what your in for.
Its probably also a good idea to get some idea of what the tube is rated for. For example a 300b in class A1 (A2 an even A3 are possible modes of operation as well) will be good for 7 Watts. A type 45 is 0.75 Watts. When you get stories of greater power, how are they doing that? Is it by using a variant (there's a graphite plate version of the 300b called the 6300b for example) or are they running plate current (class A2 or A3)?
How anyone can say they know what the tube sounds like when the design of the output transformer easily trumps the tube is beyond me. All you can really say is how that tube sounds with that output transformer.
845 not for you, heat, weight, and reliability factors in as well. Heat is enemy of reliability, these things run hot, hot, hot, they have no soft start circuit so wear out tubes more quickly. I wouldn't trust just anyone with nearly 1000v running through these things, not sure I'd trust these rather unknown Chinese 845. Line Magnetic is one of better ones, although I've seen propensity to burn out certain boutique power tubes, which tells me they run them hard.
This is issue I see today with SET in general, some of these guys run higher plate voltage then output tubes can handle, too many instances of premature tube failure. People too often blaming tube manufacturers. Prior to purchasing any SET, I'd research this aspect of that particular amp, know what your in for.
845 tube needs ~10KOhm output transformer that has more narrow bandwidth compared to 3.5K transformer for 300B, 5K transformer for 45 or 2.5K transformer for 2A3 tube.
So, if you have high sensitive speakers in a small room I don't see any reason for 845 amplifier. Not just because price.
To say 845 sounds similar to 300b or any other SET is nonsense. 845 plate voltage nearly 1000V vs 350v with 300B means everything. Power supply 845 massive, 300b baby in comparison. Certainly, transformers extremely important, but these two tubes and amps very different animals. Both 845 amps I've been running for many years sound similar and unlike my 300B or 2a3 I ran some years ago. 845 tube has unique requirements, results is unique sound qualities.
tubes are all sounding the same- they have similar linearity. But the output transformers vary dramatically!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I’m SO
glad you posted this Which confirms my exp in PP amplifaction with various tubes. EL34 KT88 KT120. I mean they might be dif in sound, but not by any significant margin,, l
ets just say a miniscule nuance..and this applies also to KT150 KT170 Nuance,, but with the wrong speake, all squashed to zero nunaces. I figured all SET tubes are only going to be variations on a SET theme. = nuance dif. Nada mas.
My frends pure cobalt trans, adds something special. But again, out of production and very expensive,, = not doable/practical.
Back to reality.
Z6/Z11. Not bad. So where does this lead us, if we can’t get the real deal Cobalt Dream Trans??? Speakers. Here’s where we can pick up ,,or lets say,, here is where we can elevate the SET amplifiaction to its magical pure linear Powers. Which is why I hammer non stop about the super high value of a FR (= Full MidRange Speaker) assist system. Why assist? WEll as we all know well, SETs tend to roll off both ends the spectrum,, No big deal.. **whaaaaaa???* you demand to know. WEll yes, No big deal. I am not going to explain why its no big deal as I have already explined no less than a dozen X’s around here,,and I want to get back to my music in the other room. btw I may pass on the Beta.s had you said, a pair of Beta 8 in good condition,,yeah I’d take you up, Those go for $2k a pair in excellent condition.. But I kknow the DLVX8 match if not pass up the Coral Beta 8.
I was refering to general charachertistics f the 845,
. I’ve read good things about the 2A3,, then here we read the 845 is simply gorgeous. Another comment likes the 300 as driver stage tube,whereas my tech says avoid 300B in any part of the design. He has no sympathy for the 300B, and yet some big manufactuers employ the 300 as driver tube. I guess as with all amp designs everyone will have his particular preferences.
@mozartfanYou’re making my point. Its not the tubes, its the transformers. IMO the tubes are all sounding the same- they have similar linearity. But the output transformers vary dramatically!
I have a set of Coral Betas you can have for the cost of shipping. One of the drivers has a damaged voice coil. These are the drivers in Coral cabinets with the passive radiators.
Coral Beta, made in japan, one of the very finest Full Range speakers ever designed,,,looks awefully close to the DavidLouis VX8, which I hold as the wolds finest speaker,, at least in my exp.
No doubt the DLVX8 chinese tech paid very close attention to this Coral Beta 8.
Klangfilm, Telefunken. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I’ve must have posted this YT vid at least 10 x’s here on Audiogon,, why not 1 more. Yes I understand the music is not at all demanding, and recorded with fantastic early 1960’s technology,,however have you ever heard such purity in vocals. The speaker circuit is going full circle,, it will come back to Full Midrange Speaker ye once again, starting in the 1920’s, In china, the FR is ever more popular vs xover/low sens types. 1st up, Coral Beta 10, have you ever heard,,,**FR lack bass**, hahaha well here ya go, have you ever heard such PERFECT bass repsonse in your life?? I have NOT
People often say the tube has a certain sound. But with all the differences in transformers there’s no way they could possibly tell. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The local tech here also pronounces trans quality especially in SET desogns,, **only the best will do..***, His pure Colbalt in the UX250 vs say Z6 or Z11 steel,
are we talking nuances of dif.
I was refering to general charachertistics f the 845,
. I’ve read good things about the 2A3,, then here we read the 845 is simply gorgeous. Another comment likes the 300 as driver stage tube,whereas my tech says avoid 300B in any part of the design. He has no sympathy for the 300B, and yet some big manufactuers employ the 300 as driver tube. I guess as with all amp designs everyone will have his particular preferences. The 2A3 arrives next month, its a intergrated with my fav pre tubes AX and AU. Last note, what keeps me away from considering the 845 amp, is the weight, All offerings are over 70 lbs,, Even though it will not be moved around much,,I just don’t want a amp over 60 lbs, as my ultimate limit as I age. The 2A3 is right at max, 60 lbs. Lower weight = cheaper trans. I get that. But it is what it is. The Defy is 70 , one is enough. 60 lbs I can lift w/o injury.
Compared to other SET and PP tubes, 845 always exciting, fast, immediate, impactful. Can also be refined or relentless, synergy important for last two. I prefer 845 driven by 300B, allows max refinement.
Speakers for SET, usual suspects, Klipsch Heritage, Devore, Omega, I've used Alon (now Nola), also used Merlin VSM-MM, Spatial Audio, Zu, always been curious about Pure Audio Project, Coincident, Audio Note, some claim Tekton, Charney, Coherent, Reference 3a, Avantgarde, of course I'm missing some.
I can't imagine any benefits from class D for high sensitivity speaker.
I can!! Low noise so low its hard to hear even with your head in the mouth of the horn- and greater detail/better 'focus' so images in the rear of the sound stage are easier to hear- and overall every bit as smooth- in fact smoother.
When you combine smoothness and greater detail at the same time that's when you're getting somewhere.
Odd no one here is bringing up speakers for SETs???
Sure this is the amp page,, however with SET's speaker selection is super critcal
THe magic of a SET only opens to the degree a speaker allows that magic to be registered.
Basically we have 2 speaker designs that work with SET's,
,,although my tech just wrote back,,,,He and others who have heard his SET with Gryfx SP 10 ,,double stacked!!! system,, sounds **wonderful*** I said,, **huh??**, well I guess this is a testimony to the oft misunderstood power to a low powered SET amp,. SETs are able to drive even a heavy load.
My tech wrote,,**you realize a 2A3 has 5 % 2nd harmonic distortion,,and is only 3.5 wtts..**
I knows he loves the KT120's in his beautifuol Webster Organ 90 mono blocks. ...so I looked up 2nd HD on the 120's,, ~~~15%~~ Lets see how he wiggles out that one,,
OK 5%,, that leaves me ~~95%~~~ gorgeous pure linear high fidelity magic....
The 3.5 watts, no problem for my music requirements.
More is not better.
My Defy's 100 watts, is not going to deliver the magic of a 3 watt SET.
Big PP power is losing to the new SET amps popularity.
absolutely I need to confirm the GaN Fet AGD uses for the Audion, Vivace, and Tempo (either in the AGDGaNTubeKT88MKii or in the new GaN power module for the Tempo) were optimized specifically for Class-D application hence for Audio.
The article of Rick Backer is therefore perfectly correct.
I cannot disclose the name nor the products of the 2 very large customers these chips were originally intended for (customers of International Rectifier), but I can confirm these were 100% audio applications. The current GaN-Fets available today from many suppliers are indeed designed and specified for Adapters and Battery charger (pc/tablet/phone) applications, and they have therefore different characteristics (very different) than the one we are using. To use them in Class-D is possible of course, but several additional layers of circuit design optimization are necessary.
I wonder if his nose grew while making that statement?
Currently Audio is a minuscule portion of the GaN market, even at the voltages/currents of GaNFETs that would be used in audio.
Most of the ones in this range are used for high volume high performance POL DC-DC and sync-FETs in DC-DC and AC-DC. Total volume in audio for GaN is puny right now. It is primarily a marketing tool at this point.
Then again, there is the simple fact that a Class-D amp is effectively really quite the same as a DC-DC. What makes a GaN good for a DC-DC would make it good for audio and vice versa with rare exception, more so on the silicon side actually than GaN.
The quote above w.r.t. complexity just sounds like talking points from the GaN systems white paper on their ref design and using their parts in a Class-D amp versus their competitor. Their parts due have advantages against some other parts in Class-D, dependent on how used, but the claims made would be relevant to any half-bridge DC-DC as well, not just Class-D. I expect GaN is chasing this market as the GaN market is still immature and they need to drive sales to ensure continued investment. By far the most important market for them will be electric Vehicles and those devices are much higher voltage.
Note the topic My Long list of amps,, posted years ago, has 1M views, runs on to hundreds of pages,., Its all about BIG POWER amps, massive PP amps, massive SS amps,
I have no interest whatsoever in either. as I have shown with convincing proff in my posts on this topic, that SET is **set apart** from the rest.
SET's are esoteric, = XXP amplifiers.
Hardly a mention of SET in tghat entire topic.
In 20 years , it will be all about SET, SS and PP will be a rare mention.
quality of SET and my horns. I don’t hear my tubes as tubes, rather I hear them as what the Brits call them, valves. These valves breathe as flesh and blood beings. no SS device can match this special ability. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ What SET tube are you running?? Well yes your extentiatial experience of SET’s as *life giving energy to the musical notations** paraphrase mine,,, is just another way of saying what others have taged as **psycha-delic* (greek psyche = soul breath) PP amplification though sweet, is not the same as SET valves. You know SET;’s have had their share of critics over the past decades *the cold ice bucket splash** for the following reason. , some of these criticisms are the result of the evident fact of slim choises in speakers that would pair up successfully with a SET amp. Fostex has come some ways with new designs,
Tang Band also has given some good sound, then AER, Cube, Voxativ all in the past 10 years have made superior Full Midrange Speakesr avaliable. Meanwhile Stereophile and other online stereo reviews have focused primarily, if not exclusively on covering box xover.low senstivity type designs to the complete neglect of higher Sensitive Full Midrange Speaker designs, aka Full Midraange w assist. I for one have no idea how all this shoving SET designs ina corner and worse the clear fact that Full Midrange Speakers have not gotten shoved ina corner,, but **thrown under the bus**.
Full Wide Band Midrange speakers are the most grand **revelation** in my entire audio hobby history.
The WOW factor was off the chart when this discovery was established as *the truth*. I realize Audiogon has always beem always will be about xover.low(er) (makes you happy?) design styles as Front and Center (I get THAT = marketing sells, I wish to say propaganda works,, but this will only call up sour energy from the xover fan-atics and the mods may steop in to cancel my post),, Back in the 1970’s 1980’s the audio retail showrooms were packed full with all sorts of over /inefficient speaker designs. WE were sold in with no thoughts of a **Full MidRange Speaker** The new Full Midrange Speakers now have been around some 10 years, and still not much attention among audiophile discussion. With new SET’s now making their debut with very affordable prices,,, its posssible the new Full Midrange Speakers also may grab some of this new interest as they ride the tail of *The New SET Revolution**. PP amplification sun is lowering in the west, while the SET Star is arising in the east. Side note to all of this Jadis has a new KT170 design tube.. I took a close look at the tube,, Looks like nothing more than a huge KT88. = I’ll pass.
Give me the magic of a SET.
Last note, glad you brought up the issue with the 845 SET, the heat factor. I passed over the 845 for other reasons, went with the 2A3 which my tech wrote back,, **has high distortion at a whopping 5 %, and flea watt power..** I told him, neither spec concens me, I have a speaker design that can deal very effectively with both *flaws**. **are SETs the best amplifiaction??* If we are considering musical magic /midrange, then yes SET’s are the finest musical amplifier.
absolutely I need to confirm the GaN Fet AGD uses for the Audion, Vivace, and Tempo (either in the AGDGaNTubeKT88MKii or in the new GaN power module for the Tempo) were optimized specifically for Class-D application hence for Audio.
The article of Rick Backer is therefore perfectly correct.
I cannot disclose the name nor the products of the 2 very large customers these chips were originally intended for (customers of International Rectifier), but I can confirm these were 100% audio applications. The current GaN-Fets available today from many suppliers are indeed designed and specified for Adapters and Battery charger (pc/tablet/phone) applications, and they have therefore different characteristics (very different) than the one we are using. To use them in Class-D is possible of course, but several additional layers of circuit design optimization are necessary.
Hope this closes the case about the truthfulness of what Rick Becker reported.
A couple years ago considering class D for summer amp replacement for my 845 space heater. Did much research looking for any and all comparisons to SET. While some were positive about class D, the ones that caught my attention were those with high efficiency speakers. The one commonality I observed in those cases claimed there was some loss of texture with the class D. Now, I'm not sure if they're talking about timbre or micro dynamics, perhaps some combo of both, but either way, I find this is special quality of SET and my horns. I don't hear my tubes as tubes, rather I hear them as what the Brits call them, valves. These valves breathe as flesh and blood beings. no SS device can match this special ability.
amplifier - but because dynamics, texture, transparency advantage over mainstream low sensitive speakers. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Yep Box xover types had their day in the sunshine, Clouds are forming, Ck out the xover box used speaker listings,, likea grave yard,, where in 2 yrs you will see lots on unsold Zu and Tektons just sitting, day after day, week ,,month.... sad, thats suffering. My FMS aint going no where, A 2A3 dual tube amp is on the way. My Dual FMS is going to get a nice match. $550+$350 35 lb speaker.
But all of them digital and PWM are very different from SET.
For example, most of SET fans use high sensitive speakers like: horns or full range drivers. And they like these speakers not just because they don't need huge power amplifier - but because dynamics, texture, transparency advantage over mainstream low sensitive speakers.
I can't imagine any benefits from class D for high sensitivity speaker.
About analogue chips for audio. Any small production parts "for audio" will cost crazy expensive. Look, for example , at prices for AN Kaisei electrolytic capacitors precising vs regular electrolytic capacitors.
well I have not heave your amp, nor any other Class D.
Only several PP amps.
EL34, KT88,Kt120, all were excellent in dynamics and musicality.
But have you read anything suxch as **wow this xyz PP amp is magical..**Maybe Jadis' new KT170 has some magic,, but that tube along with the KT150, to me looks just like a bigger KT88 style tube..and so??? More power? More bass/highs..?? OK, Big deal.
But how often have we read, **WOW sets are magical, pure lineraity..*
My tech who built his UX250 amp, had 1 cap not soldered, well solder broke off after so many years,,, we reapired it,, brought it back,, NOW I was hearing SET magic for the 1st time. Once you heard SET sound,, there is no possible way the audiophile will turn his back ona SET. Maybe as a 2nd system, which I am sure many of us here have bother PP and SETs.
But once struck with SET magic, one could never forget the magic (in certain recordings/music styles).
SRTs the best??
Lets rephrase.
Which amp design offers the magic **something SET -like**?
There is a big difference between an ASIC, and a FET. You should know this being you design ASIC's. You should also know most class D amps are not digital so what's your point of all your mis-information??
There are so few threads focused on SET amps....Is it too much to ask that the AGD and GAN and Class D discussions be moved to their own thread or one of many already in existence?
@david_tenThere are also a good number of SET threads. The comments are relevant due directly to the question asked in the OP. It appears that if the answer were 'yes' at one time that SETs are rapidly being eclipsed, even by class D amps let alone other tube topologies.
As ASIC chip designer I can add. For any chip production you need to produce millions of chips of this particular model. Otherwise you will lose a lot of money.
For example, companies like Chord who made FPGA based DACs use FPGA for their custom DSP algorithms. Thay do it not because FPGA is better than ASIC. It is opposite in ASIC is possible to get in many times higher performance.
But they do it because ASIC production need to produce millions ASIC chip.
Therefore nobody does produce a special chip for audio!
For me looks very weird that someone who was SET fan suddenly became digital amplifier fan. I can't say that SET are better or worth than digital amplifiers. But they are so different. These amplifiers topologies work best for completely different music, completely different speakers and completely different people.
It is like after be sport car fan become big SUV cars fan.
@mglik@atmasphere There are so few threads focused on SET amps....Is it too much to ask that the AGD and GAN and Class D discussions be moved to their own thread or one of many already in existence?
I realize this is a 'resurrected' thread, but I for one am glad @mozartfan did so.
It pointed out that “all” other current GaN based amps use existing modules with chips that are currently used in non Audio devises like power chargers.
@mglikIf he's getting semiconductor devices made for him I can see that happening. Usually you have to buy quite a lot of such devices to get any semiconductor manufacturer to pay attention to your order! But he might have an in with one of his former employers. But FWIW the chips used in switch mode power supplies have a lot in common with the requirements you face in building a class D amplifier.
Excuse the misuse of the word chip. Guess module is accurate.
And I am not saying that GaN technology is necessarily the best Class D.
Only that it currently seems to be a method that is quite popular.
My comment about Alberto’s module being specifically designed for Audio comes from the early review, believe it was Enjoy the Music. It pointed out that “all” other current GaN based amps use existing modules with chips that are currently used in non Audio devises like power chargers. Alberto’s design was focused on the use in his amps. This is my understanding.
The GaN module used is the only such chip developed specifically for Audio.
AGD has just come out with a stereo amp called the Tempo. It uses a aluminum chassis cut from a solid billet. It is a more conventional design without the “tube” but utilizing the same technology. I believe the price is $5400.
Thus it differs from any other GaN based amps. I believe my explanation is accurate.
@mglikIts not. The first sentence in the post above isn’t right. A ’GaN module’ isn’t a chip. Its a circuit board, likely with chips on it. And none of them are specifically designed for audio, although the module is, but its not the only module designed for audio.
The statement that it ’differs from any other GaN based amps’ is tricky. All GaN based amps are different, so technically the statement is true. But installing a GaN based module in an aluminum chassis is commonplace.
This is not to denigrate Alberto’s designs- far from it. He was involved with GaNFET manufacturing and knows how to use them very well. But no GaNFET is built specifically for audio.
The “tube” in the AGD Audions contains the proprietary GaN output stage.
The glass envelope facilities heat disbursement and can be easily replaced with future improvement.
The GaN module used is the only such chip developed specifically for Audio.
AGD has just come out with a stereo amp called the Tempo. It uses a aluminum chassis cut from a solid billet. It is a more conventional design without the “tube” but utilizing the same technology. I believe the price is $5400.
Thus it differs from any other GaN based amps. I believe my explanation is accurate.
As with all amps, power supplies are critical to best performance. My custom built 300B monoblocks each use power supply one generally sees in stereo amp. Larger, better ps equals more filtering-resolving powers, reserves of power-transient, micro and macro dynamics. Add in some silver internal wiring, hand output transformers, no soft romantic old fashioned 300B sound. Actually nearly the equal of my 845 in most of impact related sound qualities. Hard to believe when you compare 845, 300B power supplies. 300B power supply looks silly small in comparison to either of my 845's. Again, power tubes make large difference in SET, some romantic or old fashion sound, others modern sound, more linear.
I agree, SET will never be objectively best topology, just as any topology isn't. Each person has their own values as to what sounds best. Certainly, speaker choice is more limited vs higher power amps, although continually seeing introduction of more high efficiency speakers over time.
Over the years I have owned many Tube amps. (Anthem Integrated One, Amp One, VTL MB-450's, Zesto Eros 300's, and Prima Luna.) The best sounding one was the Zesto Mono-blocks. Push Pull pure Class A. However, they are very expensive and being Class A plus Tube. They run very, very hot.
My experience has been SET does not always equal the best sound. It depends on your speakers, room, and program material you like. Both the VTL and Prima Luna designs offer switchable SET functions.
What you gain when in SET mode, is more sweetness. The upper mid-range and treble have more emphasis lending a more realistic, natural sound to vocals. Mighty good stuff if your music library consists of Singer-Songwriter, Bluegrass, and vocal centered Jazz.
The down side is, the lower end is not as well defined, tight, and punchy. If you listen Rap, Hip-Hop, large scale Symphonic, Rock, or EDM, you may find the bass lacking or too mushy.
The other consideration is the efficiency of the speaker you like. A lot of the 300b designs like the Decware Zen are a very low 2 to 6 watts. Depending on the model. So you will want to mate them with something from Klipcsh or Tekton. Anything that very efficient with stable impedance should work. Nonetheless these flea powers variants are probably not the best choice for a Maggie LRS.
Whatever you get into you will want audition and make sure it fits your tastes, speaker choice, and you find that SET sound is to your liking.
The amps I currently use, I hardly ever put them in triode. The music I listen to is very bass heavy. Thus the CDs and Albums I play soud their best when I have my amps set to push-pull. When I put on Diana Krall or Alison Krauss then I switch my amps into Triode, for a more palpable presentation of their performance.
The AGDs are like a great SET
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Just looked at the ADG page , 7 lbs, wow thats amazing, 170 watts.
Just curious, $7500 each mono, so a pair $14K , yes?
I'd like to seea close up of this tube.
Looks amazing. But only 7 lbs??.
huh?
There can be tradeoffs with SET. With 845 I can run speakers as low as 90db sensitivity, gives me lots of choices. With my extreme modded Klipschorns, 845 and 300B give different but both entirely satisfying presentations. Previously ran 2a3, limited speaker choices. I've been contemplating 2a3 or 45 for Klipschorns (104db) but have seen a few negative comments for the pairing. Klipshcorns do have a decently severe impedance curve in lower mids.
Anyway, 845 most exciting SET I've owned, 300B sweethearts, 2A3 inner luminescence. Topologies matter, implementation matters, partnering speaker matters, get it right, wonderful, wrong, less than wonderful.
mglik614 posts
12-01-2021 5:32pm
I was a die hard SET guy for decades.
And 45s are the best. The lower the power, the more the magic.
However, I now have my destination amps-AGD Audion mono blocks.
I do not miss SETs at all. The AGDs are like a great SET combined with a great SS. They give an “open window” into the sound and make even the best SET dull.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Well its now beena few more days of listening to various recordings,,, now moved into big symphonic works,,, hummm, , well initially I was captivated completely by the magic of the UX250 SET amplifier ina dual Full-Midrange-Speaker system...
Got to rethink this before I click BUY NOW on the 845 amplifer I am looking at.
1st i need to get some new KT88's in the Defy.
Its possible I may be missing some of the dynamics and power of the Defy in symphonic works.
Just waiting on my tech to get back with me, before I make any final decisions.
Although it would not be til July when I had the cash for the 845,,I just like to know if the plan is scraped or still on the planning table...
**lower the power , more the magic.**
'No you see I need MORE power to deliver symphonic works with dynamnics and more weight in bass, better extrention in highs.
Got to think this through and proceed with caution.
Actually I have no issues with the Defy, other than, with the excessive power, limits the abibilty to empoy more gain on the linestage vol pot.
My room is 10x15,,, 60 db SPL is where I am confortable.
This is the issue, I want more freedom on the vol pot, which the UX250 allows, But the more gain, does not deliver more dynamics.
Seems a SET and PP amplifier operates under dif parimeters of power/gain from linestage.
New tubes janurary, I will let you know how the speaker respond with new tubes on my new dual Full-Midrange-speaker system.
The older tubes had 4k+ hours So some of the upper sheen had worn off.
If the new tubes add some sparkles, I may pass on adding a 2nd amplifier.
And 45s are the best. The lower the power, the more the magic.
However, I now have my destination amps-AGD Audion mono blocks.
I do not miss SETs at all. The AGDs are like a great SET combined with a great SS. They give an “open window” into the sound and make even the best SET dull.
You must have a verified phone number and physical address in order to post in the Audiogon Forums. Please return to Audiogon.com and complete this step. If you have any questions please contact Support.
