As some may have seen, I recently was fortunate enough to become the US distributor for MastersounD. If you are unaware of their products, they specialize in SET and Parallel SET designs. Their work in this field has also led to them being OEM for several other brands over the years. During that time, they have also worked to refine their work to improve performance and maximize efficiency (including thermal heh).
The newest version of the Evolution 845 was recently released and was included in my initial batch of amplifiers. It is a Parallel SET 845 amplifier and packs a punch with 55 watts per channel. The sheer size of this thing is hard to get across in pictures since the 845 tube itself is such a large tube. All of the weight is in the back as it should be. When I opened up and peered into the box, I began moaning and exclaiming "ooooohhh man!". After a few grunts, the misses yelled from downstairs asking if I was OK. My response? 'Not yet'. This thing weighs in at 117 pounds and required a dollie to get it upstairs to my main listening room.
I've spent the past several days becoming more familiar with it and feel like I can say now that I am impressed. It is going through the normal break-in (as it should) but there are initial glimpses that make me smirk. One of those is the dead silent background. While I am not using high-efficiency speakers (not needed when you've got 55 watts), I have played with several 845 amplifiers and I cannot remember another being this quiet. As expected, the sheer power of the 845 is impressive and doubly so since the Evolution utilizes two of them per channel. Another key feature that puts a smile on my face is a design feature - the preamp section can be bypassed via a Direct connection, allowing you to utilize the integrated as a stand-alone amplifier.
It has been a few years since I've had SET in any of my setups. I can honestly say that it feels 'right' to have them back in the mix.
The newest version of the Evolution 845 was recently released and was included in my initial batch of amplifiers. It is a Parallel SET 845 amplifier and packs a punch with 55 watts per channel. The sheer size of this thing is hard to get across in pictures since the 845 tube itself is such a large tube. All of the weight is in the back as it should be. When I opened up and peered into the box, I began moaning and exclaiming "ooooohhh man!". After a few grunts, the misses yelled from downstairs asking if I was OK. My response? 'Not yet'. This thing weighs in at 117 pounds and required a dollie to get it upstairs to my main listening room.
I've spent the past several days becoming more familiar with it and feel like I can say now that I am impressed. It is going through the normal break-in (as it should) but there are initial glimpses that make me smirk. One of those is the dead silent background. While I am not using high-efficiency speakers (not needed when you've got 55 watts), I have played with several 845 amplifiers and I cannot remember another being this quiet. As expected, the sheer power of the 845 is impressive and doubly so since the Evolution utilizes two of them per channel. Another key feature that puts a smile on my face is a design feature - the preamp section can be bypassed via a Direct connection, allowing you to utilize the integrated as a stand-alone amplifier.
It has been a few years since I've had SET in any of my setups. I can honestly say that it feels 'right' to have them back in the mix.