SET amp owners thread

[Kingrex]

Yes Klughoerner.
Great Plains drivers.

 

[Argonaut]

Ok, I see what is exasperating you. No, my amp is not a $100,000 SET amp driving a horn system. It is not sonically preaenting to a degree a subjective listener would ascribe to a top tier horn/SET system. No one has found a magical way to make an $8.5k PAP Trio 15 Coax speaker match what a great horn system can achieve.

Well this makes far more sense than your original sweeping generalisation regarding so many disparate SE amplifications that it would since appear you have no personal experience of , or had exposure to.

BTW , I remain curious as to which model of Aries Cerat amplification you have experienced and where ?

For the record , I remain in no way exasperated in the slightest by your writings … Merely bemused as for instance I made no reference to monetary value in any way !

 

[Kingrex]

WooooShhhhh … As it seems quite obvious now that the essence of my posts, and my intent within them, appear to be so far oblique to your interpretation of them that we are unable to communicate in any meaningful way … I wish you joy of your new found path.

BTW , I remain curious as to which model of Aries Cerat amplification you have experienced and where ?

For the record , I remain in no way exasperated in the slightest by your writings … Merely bemused .

WTF. I deleted that draft and replaced it with something totally different. I have no idea how that went up. Anyhow, its a stupid conversation. It needs to end.

 

[Argonaut]

WTF. I deleted that draft and replaced it with something totally different. I have no idea how that went up. Anyhow, its a stupid conversation. It needs to end.

As have I , and yes let’s shake paws and move on. I wish you and yours joy of the season and of the holidays.

 

[DasguteOhr]

Can you give us more I go on these amps? Where are they made?

Here http://phast.com.ua/
My amps are earlier version with other input and driver tubes.
More punch in bass and control as other set amp i have heard.
In terms of resolution, there are better tubes, e.g. EL84, which make even finer details audible.
The fact that the tube 6c33c is a small mimosa should not be hidden; it requires a lot of attention to be run stable, e.g. good tube sockets. Keep the contacts clean if you do all this and you will be rewarded with very nice colour tones and a oomph and power that is really fun listen too.
P.S
Very long warmup time min.15 minutes to get stabilized

 

[morricab]

Here http://phast.com.ua/
My amps are earlier version with other input and driver tubes.
More punch in bass and control as other set amp i have heard.
In terms of resolution, there are better tubes, e.g. EL84, which make even finer details audible.
The fact that the tube 6c33c is a small mimosa should not be hidden; it requires a lot of attention to be run stable, e.g. good tube sockets. Keep the contacts clean if you do all this and you will be rewarded with very nice colour tones and a oomph and power that is really fun listen too.
P.S
Very long warmup time min.15 minutes to get stabilized

My Ayon Spark mkI runs trouble free... Bias takes awhile to stabilize but sounds quite nice.

 

[Lagonda]

My Ayon Spark mkI runs trouble free... Bias takes awhile to stabilize but sounds quite nice.

What is your favourite SET amp Brad ? Of the ones you own yourself

 

[morricab]

What is your favourite SET amp Brad ? Of the ones you own yourself

The best ones I have owned were the AC Diana integrated and Genus. On my Odeons the Amplifon SET42SE was also great but less so on my Hornings. On the Hornings i like either the Ayon Crossfire III with suitable input and Rectifier tubes or the Silvercore 2A3 amp.

 

[Lagonda]

The best ones I have owned were the AC Diana integrated and Genus. On my Odeons the Amplifon SET42SE was also great but less so on my Hornings. On the Hornings i like either the Ayon Crossfire III with suitable input and Rectifier tubes or the Silvercore 2A3 amp.

Thank you Brad !

 

[Kingrex]

I put some Genalex Gold Lion KT88 in my amp and let them play all day. Last night I had a moment to sit and really listen. I sat sort of gobsmacked. The speed, decay, natural tone is off the charts real. These amps have made me re-asses some of my comments in the past on quality of source material. I have said I feel there is very little very good source material. Most of it is only ok. In particular I was playing Pink Martini - Joy to the World - Vinyl Disc 2. Generally I find the recording quality only ok. Especially the piano which I find to be a bit flat and recessed. Not last night. Each not was vibrant and alive. The attack was fast and clean. The notes hung with great sustain and decay. All the instrument and vocals were even and clean. Nothing exaggerated or over pronounced. No these amps are not for a horn. But if your driving Devore, or Zu or other high efficiency speakers that are made to be very natural and pure. I can't imagine any other amp that will get to where I am. Not unless your willing to open your wallet quite wide. I said to the manufacturer this morning I never imagined my speakers were capable of doing what they do. I see no reason to ever change them out. Even if I do get my dedicated room in a room. I'm done. He just laughed and said that is the point.

 

[Atmasphere]

I put some Genalex Gold Lion KT88 in my amp and let them play all day. Last night I had a moment to sit and really listen. I sat sort of gobsmacked. The speed, decay, natural tone is off the charts real. These amps have made me re-asses some of my comments in the past on quality of source material. I have said I feel there is very little very good source material. Most of it is only ok. In particular I was playing Pink Martini - Joy to the World - Vinyl Disc 2. Generally I find the recording quality only ok. Especially the piano which I find to be a bit flat and recessed. Not last night. Each not was vibrant and alive. The attack was fast and clean. The notes hung with great sustain and decay. All the instrument and vocals were even and clean. Nothing exaggerated or over pronounced. No these amps are not for a horn. But if your driving Devore, or Zu or other high efficiency speakers that are made to be very natural and pure. I can't imagine any other amp that will get to where I am. Not unless your willing to open your wallet quite wide. I said to the manufacturer this morning I never imagined my speakers were capable of doing what they do. I see no reason to ever change them out. Even if I do get my dedicated room in a room. I'm done. He just laughed and said that is the point.

Emphasis added. It is indeed.

If you get the distortion signature right it won't matter the amplifier. The nice thing about a PP design (if it sounds right) is that it will be at least one order, but possibly two or three orders of magnitude lower distortion than most SETs. Distortion, even if its a musical distortion like the 2nd harmonic, obscures detail. The lower level detail becomes more audible, as you describe above. This is one of those things that is not only really easy to hear but is also really easy to measure.

You can make larger amps like that work perfectly well on horns. Its a matter of gain. For our OTLs, we offer a jumper plug that replaces one of the voltage amplifier tubes which reduces the gain of the amp so its manageable in high efficiency speakers, both in terms of the volume control setting and also noise floor. Its all about that first Watt!

 

[Kingrex]

I have no doubt and Atmasphere amp would shine on a low power system. I have met a couple people with your preamps and they love them.

 

[Audiolimits]

It’s great to be able to have these two amps to compare.

The idea of exploring both of them with a preamp and also then trialling with the different cables including getting in some Beldens would make for fascinating compares.

I know some have mixed feelings about videos but it would be great to capture your comparisons if you were open to it. Am sure they’d make for great videos if they capture the differences.

Either way it will be great to find out what you find in pairing with preamps if you do try them out and which cables you do settle on when trying out the Beldens as well.

Yes this is a lot of fun. I love comparing the two amps as well as playing with the cables. Currently I am using XerXes interconnects which I’m liking the most. And I just put in a pair of Tekline TL650 speaker cables which are copper. They are inexpensive and sound fantastic. This might be my favorite combo so far. Kinda Crazy but the Nika Horns don’t seem to benefit all that much from Uber expensive speaker cables. They sound amazing with regular old speaker wires. I will connect a few preamps as well soon. But this system is sounding so incredible I need some time to get use to it. And one day when I’m bored I’ll get to it.
id like to do some videos and may end up doing some in the near future. I’m a little gun shy. Don’t like seeing myself in videos. Haha

 

[Audiolimits]

Audiolimits- Destination Audio makes super nice products! Are you a dealer for Destination Audio? Sorry if I missed it, I did not read back through all of the posts on this thread.

Understood that you are not a dealer for Kondo if you are in the US. Might be good to note it in your signature if in fact you are a dealer for Destination Audio.

Hi Bob, Thank you. Yes I love the Destination gear. I am the US and Canadian importer of Destination Audio. Oh I never said I was a Kondo dealer. I just have an Ongaku which I bought a couple years ago. It’s a great amp!!! One of my Favorites out there. We have banners that just went live and it will be announced in the Thread that we took over Destination Audio Distribution.

 

[Audiolimits]

Lovely! Using copper plate GM70s?

Greetings from Switzerland, David.

Yes I sure am. I really like the sound of the Copper plates. Graphite plates sound good too but the copper is more my taste.

 

[Audiolimits]

Are you a dealer for Destination and Audio Note Kondo?

Hello Jeff, I am the US and Canadian Distributor of Destination Audio. I am not a dealer for the Kondo. Use to be a dealer for Audio Note UK for many years and had one of their Ongaku’s . Now I own a Kondo Ongaku. It was one of my dream amp so I had to get one and I like it a lot better than the UK version.

 

[Rhapsody]

Hi Bob, Thank you. Yes I love the Destination gear. I am the US and Canadian importer of Destination Audio. Oh I never said I was a Kondo dealer. I just have an Ongaku which I bought a couple years ago. It’s a great amp!!! One of my Favorites out there. We have banners that just went live and it will be announced in the Thread that we took over Destination Audio Distribution.

It might be good to note in your signature about your dealer status. All dealers usually state their status as a dealer and the lines that they represent on WBF. Free advertising for you! It helps everyone on WBF to understand one's perspective as well. Happy New Year!

 

[jeff1225]

Hello Jeff, I am the US and Canadian Distributor of Destination Audio. I am not a dealer for the Kondo. Use to be a dealer for Audio Note UK for many years and had one of their Ongaku’s . Now I own a Kondo Ongaku. It was one of my dream amp so I had to get one and I like it a lot better than the UK version.

Please add a deal disclaimer so we understand your financial bias as it concerns your audio reviews.

Thank you.

 

[Rhapsody]

Hello Jeff, I am the US and Canadian Distributor of Destination Audio. I am not a dealer for the Kondo. Use to be a dealer for Audio Note UK for many years and had one of their Ongaku’s . Now I own a Kondo Ongaku. It was one of my dream amp so I had to get one and I like it a lot better than the UK version.

Hi Darrin, I thought Fred Crane at Prana Distribution was the DA US distributor? Has that changed?.....thx

 

[Audiolimits]

Hi Darrin, I thought Fred Crane at Prana Distribution was the DA US distributor? Has that changed?.....thx

No he is not anymore!