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RE: When did you know SE sound was it?

Posted by kurt s (A) on August 12, 2011 at 08:33:31

In Reply to: When did you know SE sound was it? posted by RGA on August 7, 2011 at 17:54:41:

I built a SET amp from first from the schematic example for the One Electron UBT-1 with 3 parallel Chinese 2A3's driving it. It was a breadboard with a lot of voltage flexibility and tube sockets to use. I needed the about 14W/ch to drive my 'regular' DIY speakers. I loved that sound over the Music Reference RM-9, although it was low in power.

Then I tried a pair of Siemens EL-34's in parallel, and like that. Then I decided to buy a horn speaker to make use of these smaller amps. But I just decided to go with a 50W DHT 845 PP for my speakers. PP amps are easier to design when you use IT's everywhere. I saw the Amity amp and I wanted to avoid that expensive tube complement. Chinese 845's are much cheaper.

Then I found most 4 ohm speakers, and good big DR speakers are like that, cannot use zero NFB well. It needs to be more tamed in its impedance curve. It was then I decided the whole mentality about high end was screwed: audition the speakers first using a common SS amp and setup and compare. The 4 ohm speaker sounds louder with them and sells more. So I decided the speaker first idea was for morons who don't know it's a defective design that way, and that controlled impedance that allows for more and better quality amps was in few business plans. "It's the amp's fault if it can't drive ALL speakers!" What crap I learned.

I took my DHT 845's to an Avantgarde dealer and listened to the UNOs and DUOs. I liked the DUOs and man could that get loud and not hurt my ears at the same time. I sold out RM-9's and eventually M60 OTL amps.

Later I experimented with a 45 amp using Vaic VV45 and many others and also a cobalt OPT. Of course this sounded better, but now my friend had an Oris 150 horn. With his 45 amp, he had a better sounding speaker IMO. Well, with some roughness in places.

This setup after playing around enough with phase plugs and tweaks, I really liked it most of all. Not as super transparent and fast as the later Orphean horn, but these mostly misused AER/Lowther type drivers were seemingly going extinct once again. Yet I would go back to this over all systems I had, except the size of them were ridiculous even to me. but the most satisfactory overall.

I went to Orphean horns, and tried 71A amps and a 1/4 watt single lateral MOSFET battery powered class A follower amp. The MOSFET follower was the most transparent amp I ever heard at any time, but sterile again. the 45's sounded just right to me with the 01A for a DHT driver. A 7119 driver done right later might be even better, but that microphonic 01A has a tone to die for I think.

In the end, the most overall excellent system ever was my Orphean horns with 45's, especially on well used Raytheon ST 45's, my favorite of all time. This in terms of transparency, but not in terms of just music, like those AER/Lowther Oris 150's with that 45 amp.

I had to remove all the clutter and then went to minimonitors in the den, going back to my UBT-1's on the breadboard amp. I learned from the Orphean horn how important that Duelund crossover cap on it was. It made so opaque and artificial sounding anything else I had, including decent teflon caps. So I used the next gen Cu PIO in the tweeter and the new 300BXLS 10W/ch amp coupling camp, the Cu CAST cap.

Now I have an old designed audiolab integrated that I actually like and am surprised how well balanced it is designed to sound. But not like when I had a job and things.

SET still sounds the most right to me. And only two tube types I find exceptional: Czech 45's or Raytheon 45's and Czech versions of the 300B in larger capacity variety. These all have a similar sound. But the tone of the Raytheons, when well used but still strong, are a combined tone and fine detailing that can't be beat, especially in concert with the 01A. 71A's and 2A3's and 845's in comparison are tubes I haven't had good examples of.

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