SET amp owners thread

[spiritofmusic]

Lagonda, this hobby is right up there. Psychotherapists would have enough material to fill a whole conference from our individual case histories.

 

[Lagonda]

Lagonda, this hobby is right up there. Psychotherapists would have enough material to fill a whole conference from our individual case histories.

And still laughing ! You are so right Marc, i just thought about some of us and our different priorities, and started laughing again. There is the grounding man, the
bass man (swarm or herd), the isolation men, the cable guys, and so on, and so on. And then Ked of course

 

[spiritofmusic]

Lagonda, have you ever spoken to professional musicians? Not our Nobel Prize intellect rockers, but our thoughtful classical guys.

They spend their whole careers playing, getting inside the heads of composers, playing in different acoustics every night etc.

I've treated and got to know quite a few. Not one listens to music like we do. And none certainly talk about it the way we do.

Our respective headspaces are in v different places. But I'm certainly guilty of many transgressions myself.

Btw, at these therapy love ins, anyone of a sensitive disposition is asked to leave the room when Ked is being discussed.

 

[morricab]

Lagonda, have you ever spoken to professional musicians? Not our Nobel Prize intellect rockers, but our thoughtful classical guys.

They spend their whole careers playing, getting inside the heads of composers, playing in different acoustics every night etc.

I've treated and got to know quite a few. Not one listens to music like we do. And none certainly talk about it the way we do.

Our respective headspaces are in v different places. But I'm certainly guilty of many transgressions myself.

Btw, at these therapy love ins, anyone of a sensitive disposition is asked to leave the room when Ked is being discussed.

I lived with one for 4 years (classical violinist and a world class one at that) and she absolutely LOVED my Apogees and later my Acoustats...

 

[spiritofmusic]

Brad, she might have loved them. But did she whisper sweet nothings re usual audiophile terms?

 

[morricab]

Brad, she might have loved them. But did she whisper sweet nothings re usual audiophile terms?

No, but it was fun to take her to audio shows...we rarely stayed in a room longer than 30 seconds before it was branded "not right"! Funny to watch guys get an excited look when a pretty girl walked in and then to see their faces fall as she would immediately turn around and walk back out!

 

[spiritofmusic]

Yeah, imagine their disappointment when she left and in walked Peter Breuninger.

 

[Lagonda]

Yeah, imagine their disappointment when she left and in walked Peter Breuninger.

Stop provoking him , Peter might return with a vengeance.

 

[Legolas]

Sounds a lot like what I get from Aries Cerat coming from Ayon...

I agree, and from Audio Note SETs as well but x 10 difference LOL.

 

[Stump]

Just a beautiful setup Stump, love to hear your thoughts on the 212G monos compared with your previous LM SET amps. Am guessing you got these through Robert... he carries fantastic gear. Congratulations

Hello Tao
I have managed to put 27 hrs with CD and 20 Hrs Vinyl with the G-212s through the Vaf I93Mk2 . Vaf I93Mk2 4ohm Sensitivity 89dB (2.83V / 1m) Amplifier Power up to 500W (recommended) Shows a miss match with the speakers so with all the magical mids and highs you are forever asking where is the loudness and bass gone.My only other tube Amp was the LM 219A which from memory sounded better bass wise then the G-212.
As for the G-212 Amps themselves they are everything I was expecting and no hint of buzz etc..Given I bought them for the LM Horn system to run the X2 15 inch woofer speaker boxes I expect them to preform at there best.The LM 91a mono blocks will run the LM A22 Horn and LM -597 tweeter.Once that system is complete I dont expect to use it for everyday use so will still have my Vaf speaker Vitus 025 combo for daily duties.
I have known Robert for a few years now and I order everything through him.He runs in everything and has free range to make any upgrades to increase sound quality and reduce likely hood of future faults.

Cheers Stump

 

[the sound of Tao]

Stump,
The G-212s look fantastic and then building a LM horn system sounds like even more than fun.

Robert is great and I’ve come to appreciate he is clearly into the gear he sells and also then further improving it along the way. I’m so in love with my humble but heavy Lm508ia I struggle to want anything else now... though I am trying

 

[Trab]

pre New Audio Frontiers AMATI + New Audio Frontiers STEREO 845 SET + Dynaudio Special 25SE

 

[Ovenmitt]

View attachment 49158

Tang.... You're killing me! I wasn't real familiar with your Ayon amplifiers; with the addition of your Lamms did you add a lot more power (wattage) to your system? Are these amps quieter too?

 

[Tango]

Tang.... You're killing me! I wasn't real familiar with your Ayon amplifiers; with the addition of your Lamms did you add a lot more power (wattage) to your system? Are these amps quieter too?

The Ayon Titan has around 75watts depending on which tubes are used. The Lamm is 32 watts. The Lamm is quieter (once taken the ground pin of their plugs out.) No loss of dynamic, drive and headroom. Even more dynamic contrast too. The tonr is more complete full body from bottom to top. Some people question their highs but I found best highs in these amps. For example the sound of metal hitting metal is deceptively real. You dont just hear the ringing. You hear the point of metal impact the metal in high definition. The sound of skin of drum or snare is like you watching it not just hearing it. It really surprises me how an amp can do that. The Ayons were excellent but these Lamm are beyond, The spacing between instruments and stage width when play music with many instruments like orchestra is less spread out than with the Ayons. This is the aspect I found Ayons better than the Lamm. Overall, The Lamm is a better match to my Cessaro by a wide margin.

Tang

 

[morricab]

The Ayon Titan has around 75watts depending on which tubes are used. The Lamm is 32 watts. The Lamm is quieter (once taken the ground pin of their plugs out.) No loss of dynamic, drive and headroom. Even more dynamic contrast too. The tonr is more complete full body from bottom to top. Some people question their highs but I found best highs in these amps. For example the sound of metal hitting metal is deceptively real. You dont just hear the ringing. You hear the point of metal impact the metal in high definition. The sound of skin of drum or snare is like you watching it not just hearing it. It really surprises me how an amp can do that. The Ayons were excellent but these Lamm are beyond, The spacing between instruments and stage width when play music with many instruments like orchestra is less spread out than with the Ayons. This is the aspect I found Ayons better than the Lamm. Overall, The Lamm is a better match to my Cessaro by a wide margin.

Tang

Do you think that having only one output tube per channel is offsetting the extra power or is it simply the designs are too different to compare in this way? I used to own the Ayon Crossfire III and I reviewed the Vulcan Evo. The Vulcan Evo was weightier sounding and dare I say it, tubier sounding than the Crossfire, which was Spookily transparent and after tube rolling had good but not amazing tonal density. With stock tubes it was tonally a bit bleached. The Vulcan was richer and weightier with more powerful bass but I would argue less transparent and perhaps less dynamic even. Comparing the Crossfire III with the Genus, the Genus has the weightiness of the Vulcan with more precise structure to the sound then either Ayon and transparency at least as good as Crossfire. At least on paper, the Genus was the lowest rated power of the three (25 watts) but sounds the most powerful. I guess the Lamm benefits from the massive outboard power supplies...this is also the "secret" I think of Aries Cerat that and the transformer coupled circuitry done right.

That is not to say the power supplies of the Ayons are small...my Crossfire was a hefty 45Kg...Genus is two-man 70kg. Vulcans were about 35kg each I think. Not sure what Lamms weigh but I guess putting it all in one chassis would have been practically impossible.

 

[Sablon Audio]

The Ayon Titan has around 75watts depending on which tubes are used. The Lamm is 32 watts. The Lamm is quieter (once taken the ground pin of their plugs out.)

No safety ground Tang?

 

[ALF]

If so, yikes; maybe it is time for the Lamm designer to chime into this discussion.

 

[Sablon Audio]

I don’t think this is a Lamm specific issue as many things sound better ungrounded but it is a risky practice.

 

[DaveC]

I don’t think this is a Lamm specific issue as many things sound better ungrounded but it is a risky practice.

I agree. Relying on your interconnects for safety ground may not work.

Differences in sound as a result of grounding can be minimized by decreasing resistance between component grounds. Using multiple AC lines can often be a source of problems here.

 

[awsmone]

Yes I tried this once removing the ground pins
The results were “shocking” and I put them back