Tekton Double Impacts
David, Knowing what you currently have and seems to me that you are happy with the sound but may want a different flavor. My thoughts are to go with a tube set or sep design such as a Aric audio custom build optimized for the Kt-150 tube only,should have 25 to 30 watts and could be built as mono's. Another choice might be to find a stereo or mono version of a set that uses the 845 tube.No brands that may meet your budget come to mind off hand but if you are willing to buy slightly used there might be more choices. I can't really advise you too much with your front end choices,I'm a ole analog guy and still learning about all this new digital stuff. My Aric audio amp has been shipped and I should get it Friday and should have a better opinion of his gear after a few days of using it. Best of luck to you on your selection, Kenny. |
David, Here is a link to a 845 set mono's that's on audiomart that you might look at.If I didn't already have several amps I would consider them myself. I'm interested in the next new offerings from Nelson Pass in his FW lineup,specifically the Sit3.Plus I'm also pondering a high end music server. http://www.usaudiomart.com/details/649371134-antique-sound-labs-1006845-dt-custom-mono-bloc-amplifie... Kenny. |
That is why I hand picked the location of our new house 3 yrs ago,we have the first house and a corner lot in our neighborhood and we draw the first ac pwr from the incoming lines and I installed my own dedicated 20 amp circuits in both listening rooms using nice hospital grade outlets. Makes the best coffee that I have ever had and the the music seems to sound better too anytime of the day. Disclaimer this is a true story no BS. Kenny. |
grannyring, I'm so glad that you got to hear the DI's for yourself and thank's for your well explained summary of this very unique design. It's always a good thing for all of us to be open minded and open eared and try new things,sometimes we find something new that we like better and sometimes we don't but we have gained the knowledge and experience and that is priceless in our quest for that perfect sound that we as individuals desire. Kenny. |
Gentleman, My take on the difference in Sound between the DI's and Bill's crescendo's equate to the obvious difference in design and the drivers covering the majority of the midrange.I do believe that the crescendo's would'nt have the perception of speed but may offer a touch more bloom in the sound that Bill may prefer and likes better. But Offcourse room size,toe in,distances from wall,and other variables can greatly effect the sound of any speaker as we all know. I personally find my DI's not lacking anything for my tastes and most certainly don't find them fwd or lacking depth.I don't like a too laid back speaker and I greatly enjoy the transparency and speed that this design has.I enjoy zero toe in on my speakers I have tried many positions in my room and I found the best comprise in overall sonics by having them straight ahead. At the end of the day we all should go where are "Individual Ears" lead us.No right or wrong either way. The DI speaker for me bring many great qualities from other speaker topology's to my sonic presentation preferences table without the shortcomings of other designs that I have owned and heard in my 36 yrs in this hobby. Kenny. |
Jccarcopo, You,I and possibly others may be a little crazy for loving our old technology SET and SEP amps but here is my take on this. Eighty years later, vacuum tubes, and especially triodes, continue to be the lowest distortion amplifying elements ever made. No germanium or silicon transistor, JFET, Mosfet or Sit has ever approached the distortion performance of the direct-heated triodes, with indirect-heated triodes following closely behind. In addition to low distortion in the absolute sense, the distortion spectra of triodes is favorable, with a rapid fall-off of the upper harmonics. (This is less true for beam tetrodes, pentodes, or solid-state devices, which are intrinsically less linear and have higher-order distortion curves.) This performance is with a Set amp running in their sweet spot of output which is 20 to 30% of that particular amps output pwr as a general rule for the very best sound. This is were the best purity of sound "May" come from for folks that like these kind of Amps. Even though I enjoy all kinds of different amps,including a Lyngdorf 2170 which I will get in about a week to try,my ears always have lead me back to certain kinds of Set amps.There is just a magical engaging sound that no other topology can quite match. I have recently found that I like the JJ 2a3-40 new production single plate tube vs several brands of nos dual plate 2a3's,even more natural,organic,level of purity. When it comes to solid state amps,my FW sit2 push pull and the F7 are the closet and best sounding SS amps that I have owned or ever heard yet. So in about a week or so I will be able to directly compare my new Aric audio 2a3 set that makes 8 watts vs the 2170 in my system. If I keep the 2170 for my main system I will use all tube gear in my man cave smaller system. Again this is a highly personal and subjective subject and there is no right or wrong just different flavors of that coffee available to us Individually for our enjoyment of music,that we love,playback in our homes. I greatly appreciate the maturity level on this thread and I personally learn and gain knowledge from all the different opinions even though I may not always agree either. Kenny. |
I received my Aric Audio custom built 2a3 Set amp last Friday and I've been able to listen too it in my main system with the MZ2S and DI speakers for a couple of days. Aric built this amp with a oversized pwr supply and I wanted the low Imd single secondary 15 watt Electra Print output transformers. I also wanted one 6sn7 a side as the driver for one 2a3 tube but when I got the amp I quickly realized that a 6sl7 was going to be a better match. This amp was built in a standard Hammond case with a cage covering the tubes and the case was painted sapphire blue with a black case.Looking in the inside I could tell instantly of the quality in parts that were used and the very neat,tidy and attention to every detail workmanship that Aric put into this all point to point hand wired amplifier. Most 2a3 amps generally make only 3.5 watts and Aric made this amp to be able to switch between regular 2a3 tubes and also use the new production JJ 2a3-40 tube which is capable of 8 watts a channel. I beat you are wandering how this amp sounds by now so here you go. I've been a big fan of 2a3 tube amps for a long time and I have owned a few when I had speakers that would match up. This amp has just a incredible engaging sound that to my ears is just so natural in Tone,Texture,Harmonics,Liquidity,Meat on the bones midrange with outstanding clarity that gives me all the details I could ever want but they are presented in such a nature way with the ebb and flow of the music. With 8 watts a channel I'm able to play 95% of the music that I listen too,Acoustic Jazz,Vocal Jazz,Pop,Classic Rock,to the low 90 db range at my listening position 10 ft away and still be in the "Sweet Spot" of output with this amp with no signs of strain or soft clipping. I generally listen in the mid 80 Db range and I have found this amp to have plenty of headroom at these kind of volume levels. This amp puts out a very satisfying bass response that would amaze most people,I'm not a big bass hound anyway and with most recordings I'm quite satisfied.If I play classic rock and want some extra slam I have 2 subs dialed in that I can turn on. Now remember my woofers are'nt stock and I changed to different Eminence woofers several months ago. All in all this amp represents a tremendous value for the high quality of sound that it gives me and if someone is looking for a tube preamp or tube amp I would definitely recommend that you give Aric Audio a call or Email. This amp really shines with my "Benchmark" recordings of piano music of several types and acoustic guitar but other instruments and vocals sound mighty good also.😃 Kenny. |
I would never use a preamp with 35db of overall gain that's just throwing away signal IMO. I generally like a preamp with about 10db of gain to make a better match with most pwr amps Tube or SS.My valvet soulshine has 18db and I found that to be too much,especially with higher sensitivity speakers. I'm not really into posting system pics,the Hammond case is blue with the tube cage black. The stock "Woofers" in the DI's are made by Eminence,I changed mine to a different model Eminence Woofer. This has been posted several times before and I really don't want to repeat. Kenny. |
Charles, I would say I definitely find the 2a3 amp more musically engaging and satisfying with the majority of the music I listen too then any other amp that I currently own.Zotl 40,Fw Sit 2 push pull,and the little consonance cyber 30 2a3,even though none of these are bad by any means. It will be quite a interesting comparison between the Lyngdorf 2170 and the 2a3.That's about 80 yrs difference in technology's and It will most certainly come down to the amp that's the most musical in my system. To do justice to this test I'm going to need to change up my digital front end so I have a short USB connection to input into the 2170 and experience it as the true one box solution as it's intended to be used. I also will experiment with the room perfect correction and utilize this feature on and off. This 2170 may have the ability to replace several components in my main system or It may find it's way back to the dealer. Only one true way too find out. Kenny. |
Thank's to all that gave detailed info about preamp gain and VC tapers and overall matching component details. In this Aric audio amp the higher gain 6sl7 tube draws less current from the amps pwr supply and lightens it's overall load vs a 6sn7. When you have a set amp that has low pwr every little detail helps IMO. Kenny. |
greg22lz, It's just wonderful to read your post that is just oozing with excitement over enjoying your new speakers. rockytophigh, Congrats on your new speakers also and I hope you really enjoy them. mac48025, What can I say I think you need to go see a doctor and If you find a good one that helps you be sure and let me have their #,because I probably need it too. You have bought some fabulous gear and I hope you get many yrs of musical bliss with them. Kenny. |
Michael, Welcome to audiogon and you are most certainly welcome on this thread or others.You and I may not agree on every piece of gear but I personally enjoy other people's opinions because I may get some good actual user feedback that a professional review may miss or it might be a piece of gear that I never have heard of with little info online. I hope you enjoy your Zotl 40 when you get one,I like mine. Kenny. |
Gentleman, I will be doing some serious bench measurements on proper calibrated test equipment that belongs to a local friend of mine and also doing a listening test on some vintage modded Klipsch Cornwalls in a small 12x16x9 ft room feeding a digital coax signal to the Lyngdorf 2170 from a vintage Marantz CD player. I always judge any component by the sound but It’s sometimes very interesting to me to back up what I hear with some factual measurements of my own. I did buy the 2170 and sent payment to the dealer on Monday and I’m still scratching my head with the highly pleasing sonics that I hear. I will write a full review on this completely different technology in time. Kenny. |
jccarcopo, From these pics that were posted it’s obvious to me that no Scanspeak,Seas or peerless drivers were utilized and only the dome tweeters are flush mounted. Maybe the good news is they retain the same 95db efficiency instead of being 92db with other drivers that were rumored to have been incorporated into the double the cost SE version. https://systems.audiogon.com/systems/6739 Kenny. |
Hello All, ”Sometimes we forget it should be about the music!!” It’s all about the music for me,that is why this will be my last post on these Audiogon threads,absolutely no time for this stuff and I will be enjoying my system and listening more than ever. Best of luck too all and enjoy that music, Kenny. |
Hello All, Not to take away from Corelli’s thread,but if interested in a Lyngdorf 2170,you may want to check out this one.Ton of info to follow. https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/who-has-luv-for-the-lyngdorf-2170-and-is-thinking-about-the-3... Kenny. |
