Zu Soul Superfly

Regarding the Blessing of the Wineclone, the amp is simply a battery-powered Tripath amp. There's no patent on that - very simple idea - and no need for anyone's blessing.

Zanon, if you can't tell the different between a Tripath and an ICE amp, you probably can't tell the difference between an EL34 and KT88 or a 2A3 and 300B either.

Zanon,

The thing is that "Class D" is just a general classification and in fact various "class D" amps have almost nothing in common. In the implementation, that is. In terms of sound, there is probably some general overlap. But to me a (say) Red Wine tripath amp sound quite a bit different from a gainclone or a Bel Canto ICE amp. I am no golden ear and think these differences are pretty easily audible.

Gopher - FYI, I have one of these Wineclones, and it is a good amp. In fact it is very good for the money.

Gopher,

Yes, the WC is a copy of the concept - probably Vinnie deserves the credit for that (almost certainly). It is an amp that gives a large portion of the same performance at around 15% of the price. For some, that is very appealing.

Hey Bill,

Don't you think the AA PX-25 would rock the Souls? I have a hard time believing not. As everyone knows that is one ballsy amp that can respectfully drive ~90 dB/6-ohm nominal speakers.

That said, talk of amp "requirements" are next to meaningless without establishing room size & volume requirements. It is surprising that so many such discussions go on here without giving those critical parameters their due. Everyone knows that the guy who wants 95 dB needs 10x the power of the guy who is quite happy at 85 dB!

IME a beefy 2A3 amp drove the Druid quite well.

Gopher,

Thanks for your (further) feedback. I may be in the market for a toddler-friendly HE speaker in the near-mid future and at a bargain price as I've drastically reduced my audio budget (and suffered little in doing so).

As I think I mentioned to you previously my favorite amp now is my FW F3. So close to the best SET and better in important ways too (bandwidth, noise floor). I am sure it would be a good match for the Soul (which has caught my eye).

[I really, really like my Cardersound Tybones but they are just begging to be knocked over by the 1 year-old. A couple close calls already. I figure they might be better off in the bedroom. Like some others here, I refuse to have a "man-cave", insisting that our main system be in the living room as a family centerpiece.]

I had a pair of Druids 4-5 years ago that I enjoyed very much. In the shop powered by a 2A3 SET, they helped me complete 25% of an airplane.

The Soul is undoubtedly superior, reasonably priced, and obviously toddler-proof with a high driver and fat bass resistant to disturbance.

I would suggest you try a FW F3. By all accounts it is much closer to the SET sound than the F1. When I had AN/Es (which I might return to if not for the same kid-friendly issues), the F3 and a Korneff 45 were a toss-up for me. That is saying something.