SST Ampzilla 2000 v2 vs Son of Ampzilla II

I was an assembler for a certain speaker brand; the CEO of that speaker company was one of Bongo’s biggest industry supporters. Bongo premiered his new SST/Ampzilla 2000 V1 mono at THE Show with this speaker company, IIRC in the year 2000.

I owned two SST Ampzilla 2000 V1 mono. (AFAIK I never heard V2 but IIRC everyone who expressed familiarity with V1 and V2 unanimously preferred the latter.)

Bongo released SST Son of Ampzilla stereo 2001 or 2002. This is worth what you paid for it: IMO Son stereo was considerably more refined and musical than 2000 V1 mono, whose only advantage was more thump and horsepower. (Note Bongo rated Son 400W @ 2-ohm w/2k VA transformer and 100k uF PS capacitance, extraordinary or beyond in this price class.)

Being the loudmouth I am, I voiced the above opinion often to my boss the speaker company CEO. The following is a little foggy after so many years, but IIRC either the speaker CEO or Bongo himself said that Son stereo’s circuit is more refined and musical than 2000 mono V1. Someone (just can’t recall who) later said mono V2 incorporates Son’s refinements. (To further confuse the nomenclature, SST Son II is a superb but completely different amp designed by the brilliant EJ Sarmento of Wyred 4 Sound, who studied under Bongo.)

At some point later, the speaker company CEO purchased a 2nd Son Stereo, one channel from each Son driving each speaker channel.

Around this time Dick Olsher reviewed and raved about SST Ambrosia V1 preamp and SST Son of Ampzilla stereo. Just prior to publishing, the speaker CEO convinced Dick to audition two Sons as described above, using 1 channel from each amp p/c. Dick posted that the speaker CEO estimated that using Son in this fashion (rather than both channels simultaneously) increased output by 6 dB. (That point too is worth the admission price.)

Read Dick’s review, but IIRC he purchased Ambrosia and two Sons. Dick is positively a self-described tube fanatic.

Please continue with your regular programming...

Laginz: thanks for your comment. If possible, please list a brief note comparing your Son II to any other amp readers may find interesting. Did you ever AB test Son/Bongo vs. your Son II/Sarmento? If anyone has done that, please post your thoughts.

Srajan Ebaen directly ABd Son II vs. Pass Labs XA25 or XA35 and found Son II remarkably, underscore remarkably competitive. I suspect I’d absolutely love either of the above Pass amps except for their 235W+ idle current. My room is dual use (4k projector > perforated retractable screen;) the 4k projector alone runs warm. Another 235+ W seems a bridge too far.

I purchased the Son 11 after a direct comparison with the Van Alstine SET500. I’ve also had a Krell 250a and a Forte 1a (Pass deigned) in my home. I found the Son to have the most holographic 3d images of the bunch, deep real(not artificially tight sounding) bass, and an ease to the sound. It had a more immediate sound, but also very good depth, which is sometimes hard to get at the same time. It is not, however, for those who prefer a middle or back of the auditorium seat. On a gut level the old 50w Forte punched way above what some people might expect. It was liquid, with a good soundstage and decent bass for its rating, but the images didn’t have enough meat on the bone for me. It’s possible that the SET 500 had slightly more pristine highs than the Son, but not by much.

Thanks, laginz.  Those are powerful comments Re. Son II.  

For those familiar with SST Son/Bongiorno: how long do you estimate it takes (playing music) for a very cold Son to achieve about 80% of its best potential sound quality?

It is mind-boggling how long Van Alstine has been designing amplifiers.  I recall my then-roommate Mark (RIP) close to a half-C ago raving about his Van Alstine power ampflier.  Years before the advent of high powered audiophile car power amps, Mark used a huge power convertor in his car to drive big home power amps and home-style towers with dual 12s p/c.      

FWIW a GAS Son of Ampzilla was just listed in the classifieds.