Thoughts on the First Watt SIT Amps

Brawny,

would you agree with Phil and say the SIT is over damped? Does the SIT have any magic or is it more SS and a little devoid of the life a great SET would have?

Charles1dad,

when I say noise, I don't mean the old school noise from bad circuits. When I talk about noise here, i mean when compared with that tomb like silence one can get from SS or class D efforts.

Ok my speakers are very revealing due to their sensitivity, but I don't mean I hear hiss or hum from the yammy. Just a kind of glow around instruments.

Let's face it if that SS amp turns up that's capable of the magic we would all jump ship. Apart from the hair shirt brigade of course...

Hi charles1dad,

If the recording has a tomb like silence then surely the playback of the recording should too? In other words if there is nothing there, there should be nothing, & if there is something there should be something.

I have had amplifiers like the Halcro where the recording leaps out at you from nowhere.

Even the Tom Evans Linear A (which is tubed) did this. I'm not sure the SET, for all it's positives, can do this. Even though the linear A is a kind of SET! But you understand what I'm getting at? Anything else is masking detail.

Srajanebaen,

I read the SIT review and felt you were claiming that the SIT could possibly replace a DHT SET in most areas. I am interested in the SIT but suspect its the same old SS compromise.

I have been chasing the ultimate amplifier for many years. Probably like many here.

I surprised myself when I settled for a Yamamoto A08s. I installed it with EML mesh 45 and EML mesh 80, then with modified power caps (mundorf tube & silver gold in oil) and the coupling caps replaced (DuelundVSF copper). These mods & tubes I believe have taken the A08s as far as it can go.

The A08s is as you know it, but with more width,depth, slightly cleaner,less grain and a striking organicness. I believe this very adictive organic sound is helped by the duelunds coupling caps, & the extra detail is down to the mundorfs forcing more info to these coupling caps, but the duelunds remove any etching the mundorf can add. I tried many allternates before settling here.

Many amps (Tom Evans Linear/Halcro DM/ Yamamoto A011/Audio note conq/etc etc) have come to drive my AGs, and some do somethings things better. I.e lower noise floor.improved bass control, image size and so on. But within hours I'm bored by these amps. Whether they are tube or SS.

There is a harmonic beauty in the 45 tube especially with the mesh plated EML which helps music speak. Upon reading your review of the SIT I suspect this harmonic magic is not available to the SIT. Although you gain the usual SS attributes. Would you agree?

I think the Tom Evans is a excellent amp on my Trios though possibly a little forward. Would you say the SIT is more in the Tom Evans vain?I.e clean, fast with harmonic texture, but not as beautiful as a DHT SET.

I just wish for an amp that would remove the need for tubes.

Charles1dad,

I want to avoid tubes for a few reasons.

1 they are inconvenient.
2 they are inefficient.
3 they are expensive to replace.
4 they are noisey.

But some tube amps & tubes do sound excellent. I am with you regarding the SET organic & holistic sound. I cannot seem to be able to beat my 2w amp for sonic bliss.

The systems that have lasted the longest & provided the most joy for me have been with tube power amplification. With all the new technologies and ideas that have come in the many years since the tube was invented, I find it hard to believe tubes have not been superseded in all areas.

As for luck finding an SS amp that's capable of such virtues? I have found absolutely none...yet.

Can the SIT be the start of this road? By the sound of it probably not (pardon the pun).

Why has no one got an SET a logarithm that comes on a chip? You plug it into a highly efficient amp stage with earth shattering spec and job done. You decide if you want a 45 mesh sound or a 300b or whatever to drive any speaker?

Come on its the 21st century. Do I really have to continue with this 100 year old glassware from an age of steam engines?

Hi Brawny,

thank you.

I will try not to divert this thread, but in answer to your question I do not have the bass horns, but obviously have their active subs which work very well & cut in around 90hz.

There is alway an element of set up to get the best out of any speaker. But once you get a feel for what they do it's ok. There was a period of break in & understanding what sounded best.

I have not tried the audiopax but have read good things about it. I've also heard about problems with them too.

I have been lucky enough to have tried many great amps on the AG. Many I could have lived with including the Tom Evans. I was told that the 45 would not power the Trio due to the xover. But I have had no problems in my room which is an average size. Maybe in a bigger room i would have problems.

To get back on topic if I had a concern it would be about the usual tube issues.

The bass on the Trio with SS is mind blowing. It's so present. But the 45 had such wonderful texture that I don't mind losing some crispness. This is why I had high hopes for the SIT.

My feeling is amps should sound similar as they should just amplify. But unfortunately this is not true. Hense the long journey