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In Reply to: RE: Cohesiveness posted by Jim Smith on May 18, 2012 at 07:34:06:
Up front, my comment comes from a single speaker experience, not the wide range of system listening that Jim brings to the table.
Some years ago I owned one of the large Duntech models. In spite of the relatively highly rated efficiency (90 dB) I quickly learned that quality power was important. Those speakers allowed for bi-wiring (or what I called passive bi-amping), but not active bi-amping, at least not without opening up the cabinet to bypass the internal crossover.
A friend owned the same model Duntechs so we experimented with a number of amplifiers. At one point we tried a powerful tube amp on the mid/tweeter connection, with a substantial SS amp on the woofers, using a good quality pot in-line to equalize input. Nothing sounded better than his or my VTL amps running full range. Then we had an idea - we put his VTL 225s on the mid/tweets and my VTL 300s on the woofers. Now that was a WOW experience. Spacious, dynamic, effortless, by far exceeding anything else we'd tried so far as representing a real musical event.
But while the two VTL models were the same basic circuit design, there were two important differences. My 300s had larger output transformers and utilized KT-90 output tubes while my friend's 225s used EL-34s. In spite of being enraptured by that sound, it was not practical for me to live with four amps (the VTLs were monoblocs for those not familiar) and 32 output tubes in a house without air-conditioning. :^(
My point was in this case two very similar, although not identical, amps did provide the most musically rewarding results we heard. That was until a few years later when we both discovered the Halo JC-1 amps. That was the only one in our experience that competed with the passively bi-amped VTLs.
"The secret of life is honesty and fair dealing, if you can fake that you've got it made." Groucho
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- agree and disagree - M3 lover 10:35:15 05/18/12 (0)
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