Sonus Faber Guarneri Homage and Single Ended Triod

Daveyf,
I haven't used my 300b (Art Audio Symphony II) on the GH's in awhile. Been using either a Pass XA30.5 or Marantz 8b.

I hope you can get a nice 300b when you do try the pairing. As Poorguy alluded to, not all 300b's are created equal.

I own a pair of the GH's and have driven them with a couple 300b SET's. It is not my usual pairing but it works for me because I enjoy low and medium volume levels.

I think you should try it, assuming you are not a headbanger. I love the 300b and the single ended sound is something I think everyone in our hobby should at least try once in their lifetime. It may not be for everyone and it requires a compatable speaker but once I heard it I was hooked.

BTW, I have a lot of respect for Cary amps. I own their Rocket 88 and V12i that I use on my Maggies. They are push pull but have a triode switch so I'm half way there (triode but not single ended). In that case I need the extra horsepower.

Daveyf,
I only used one amp at a time, never biamped. The best one was the Art Audio Symphony II. It puts out 10 wpc, has a great power supply and transformers which all help contribute to the sound. I have not heard any clipping.

Food for thought: Average convesation is around 65 db. Averarge factory levels are 75 db. You get 86 db with "1" watt from the GH's at 1 meter. Even accounting for some variables, if you listen at "factory level" you may only be using a tenth of a watt.

Daveyf,
Yes, no doubt those bass transients are going to want some power. I read once that transients can take up to 200 times the rms power to reproduce them. 200 times a 1/10 of a watt = 20 watts, beyond the scope of most 300b SET's. One rms "bell" louder and you'll need 200 watts, so you can run out of power real quick if you like to crank it. Transients are of such short duration that an amp with a strong power supply might pull it off to some degree.

When ss clips it's usually not pretty, pp tube is better but triodes clip pretty easy on the ears.

I'm experiencing that with my Cary V12i's and Maggie combo. This Cary is 100 wpc ultralinear and 50 triode. Triode sounds more powerful. Go figure. BTW, the Cary has el34's which are not triodes. There is a UL/Triode switch that changes the operation.