To Tube or not to Tube, that is the question

@evank Funny I bought a pair of Brimars from Upscale but they were noisy and they gave me all kinds of static about replacing them, so I went back to the JJ's. I think they give a more defined sound which I like, the Brimars sounded more muted to my ears. That is really interesting using the Gan Fet as the power stage on the Sphinx. Since I have one in the form of the MiniGan 5 I may try that one day, but I never thought the hypex units in the Sphinx were lacking. I love its overall sound!

The main speakers I see using with tubes are the two Lii audio full range, open baffles which both have efficiencies in the mid 90spl. Also the Klipsch RP-160s are rated at 96. These Lii speakers in the Caintuck inspired barrel shapes with no crossovers are magnificent, particularly for the money. I do supplement all my speakers in the main system with a trio of Syzygy subs to take care of the deep end.

The Rogue CM is a fine suggestion, if I wasn't focused so much on building my own I would definitely give them a listen. May do so anyway. Same for the Williston and other Chi-Fi. Thanks!

My own research has me looking at Dynakit ST-35,

And this Decware Zentriode kit, https://www.decware.com/newsite/SE84CDIY.htm

I did some parts pricing yesterday and the ST-35 would come in at $875 with tubes and the Decware Zen Triode would be a bout $500

I might add I am leaning towards the Dynakit ST-35 for 3 reasons. It has more power, 17w vs 2w, it's a NJ company and i could drive to get it, no shipping risk, AND it was favorably mention by @atmasphere , which carries a lot of weight with me :-)

However, the ST70 uses a pentode for this task, where the ST70 uses a much more linear triode.

@atmasphere  This seems to be a typo, did you mean theST35 is a linear triode?

BTW I read your article on amp design paradigms this morning. Good Stuff! I think your thoughts are along the similar lines as Nelson Pass's on this subject, no? Meaning that his Firswatt designs are an exercise in creating tube sound with solid state components. 

I really respect when creator's like yourself willingly and openly share thoughts on design and function. It helps keep this hobby from being a total marketing exercise.

@dekay 

Thanks but the ST35 is also available from Dynakit directly. I learned this when I gave him a call. Seems the business has been paired back to a one man operation from home and he prefers to take orders by phone. Apparently he has not updated the web site, but the owner seems like a very nice fellow. He had one available for me but I was not quite ready to order yet.

@russ69 Thanks for that comment. It kind of helped bring into focus the fact that for me the desire to build something new is at least as much of a driving factor in this as any new sound I will experience. I notice that very frequently the momentum at Audiogon is for buying something new regardless.