SET amp owners thread

[morricab]

As far as Crossfire III is concerned I heavily upgraded mine a few years ago , installed red NOS RCA tubes in pre section and KR 5u4g rectifier.
The power tubes have around 6000 h but still in good shape.
I use it in winter month, in the summer it is replaced by upgraded hybrid Circle Labs A100 integrated.
Both are perfect match for Trio LE 26.
A few years ago I tried Amare Musica monos plus pre with AG Duo Omega I had under this time, it was the best amplification for Duos I auditioned at home but only marginally better than Crossfire III. Finally I did not change Ayon, it’s a keeper for me.
I had also two Amplifon in the past ( WT 30II and WT 40II with PS 5.1 )but we agreed with Andrzej Piwowarczyk that it is not the best option for Trios.

The Amare Musica monos it turns out are significantly different from the Entropy Diamond in that they are tube rectified and they use silver wire output transformers...and different output tubes (300BXLS vs. 1605). I have no doubt they are quite superior to the Entropy Diamond, which as I noted, was a disappointment.

The other Amplifon amps you mention are push/pull and not SET. Give the SET 42 SE a try as you are in Poland and should be able to demo one. I think it is significantly better than the Crossfire III. I had upgraded mine with NOS input tubes, an Ayon (EML) 5U4G and eventually replaced the 6N30P driver tubes with 6N6P tubes (helped the tone quite a bit).

 

[marslo]

The Amare Musica monos it turns out are significantly different from the Entropy Diamond in that they are tube rectified and they use silver wire output transformers...and different output tubes (300BXLS vs. 1605). I have no doubt they are quite superior to the Entropy Diamond, which as I noted, was a disappointment.

The other Amplifon amps you mention are push/pull and not SET. Give the SET 42 SE a try as you are in Poland and should be able to demo one. I think it is significantly better than the Crossfire III. I had upgraded mine with NOS input tubes, an Ayon (EML) 5U4G and eventually replaced the 6N30P driver tubes with 6N6P tubes (helped the tone quite a bit).

The upgraded power supply and caps in my Cross III make a difference from standard version, not only tubes.
Maybe one day I will audition at home SET 42 , but for now I am quite happy with the amplification.
I had also Entropy for a while, I agree with your comments.

 

[christoph]

As far as Crossfire III is concerned I heavily upgraded mine a few years ago , installed red NOS RCA tubes in pre section and KR 5u4g rectifier.

Hi Marslo

I just realized that you use the KR 5u4g rectifier.
What was the recti you used before and what did the KR 5u4g bring to the (sonic) table?
Did you also try some more different recties in the C3?

I have some of those KR 5u4g rectifiers here that I could use in the C3

Also, what tubes do you use in the outermost position?
I use 6n6p instead of the original 6h30...

 

[marslo]

The KR 5u4g Lampi edition was just at my hand as a part of tubes inventory. KR brought more transparency and selectivity compared to EML which it replaced. It was first installed in Pacific , but when I bought RK edition for Lampi I tried regular KR in Crossffie and I liked it more than EML.
The EML is warmer and on par with Ayon optional recti, both of them better than standard Electro Harmonix rectifier.
The tubes in pre section are red NOS RCA JAN CRC 5693 recommended by the friend who also have had Cross III. As the replacement tubes I have Russian 6?8 ( 6?8) , the outhermost are EH 6H30pi Gold but I have also a matched pair of NOS 6n6p Electro Harmonix , I never tried them in Crossfire though ( keep them as a spare tubes for Pacific).
But the upgrade of the internal power supply and capacitors was even more significant than tube replacement.

 

[Argonaut]

the outhermost are EL 6H30 but I have also a matched pair of NOS 6n6p Electro Harmonix

If you can source them I would recommend trying Reflector Corps Saratov 6h30-DR’s pre 1990 production , 1979 - mid 1980’s for the best matched tubes … I found them to be better than the new production Sovtek and EH 6h30pi (which are manufactured in the same factory ) by some margin.

Caviat Emptor … there are many new production tubes being advertised and sold as vintage DR’s , this site will guide anyone considering acquiring genuine DR’s http://www.aca.gr/index/hiend/hiendArticles?row=1988

 

[marslo]

If you can source them I would recommend trying Reflector Corps Saratov 6h30-DR’s pre 1990 production , 1979 - mid 1980’s for the best matched tubes … I found them to be better than the new production Sovtek and EH 6h30pi (which are manufacture in the same factory ) by some margin.

Caviat Emptor … there are many new production tubes being advertised and sold as vintage DR’s , this site will guide anyone considering acquiring genuine DR’s http://www.aca.gr/index/hiend/hiendArticles?row=1988

Thank you, I will have a look.

 

[morricab]

If you can source them I would recommend trying Reflector Corps Saratov 6h30-DR’s pre 1990 production , 1979 - mid 1980’s for the best matched tubes … I found them to be better than the new production Sovtek and EH 6h30pi (which are manufactured in the same factory ) by some margin.

Caviat Emptor … there are many new production tubes being advertised and sold as vintage DR’s , this site will guide anyone considering acquiring genuine DR’s http://www.aca.gr/index/hiend/hiendArticles?row=1988

That’s why NOS 6N6P are so nice. They are built the same way as the 6N30p-DR and also sound much better than new 6N30s.

 

[morricab]

The inside of the power supply chassis

 

[morricab]

The inside of the main chassis. Coupling caps are Mundorf silver/oil. Not absolutely the Best but. very good.

 

[christoph]

The KR 5u4g Lampi edition was just at my hand as a part of tubes inventory. KR brought more transparency and selectivity compared to EML which it replaced. It was first installed in Pacific , but when I bought RK edition for Lampi I tried regular KR in Crossffie and I liked it more than EML.
The EML is warmer and on par with Ayon optional recti, both of them better than standard Electro Harmonix rectifier.
The tubes in pre section are red NOS RCA JAN CRC 5693 recommended by the friend who also have had Cross III. As the replacement tubes I have Russian 6?8 ( 6?8) , the outhermost are EH 6H30pi Gold but I have also a matched pair of NOS 6n6p Electro Harmonix , I never tried them in Crossfire though ( keep them as a spare tubes for Pacific).
But the upgrade of the internal power supply and capacitors was even more significant than tube replacement.

Thanks for your elaborate reply.

Have you ever tried the "square" RK 5u4g instead of the ST shape KR 5u4g in the C3?
I have both laying around to try but obviously would have to clip some pins to go into the C3.
I'm rather reluctant to clip the pins if the sonic gain is uncertain with the RK over the KR.

And please give the NOS 6n6p a try in the C3, you might like them.

 

[morricab]

First listening impressions of the SATI amp are that it is quite open and transparent. Perhaps a bit less heft than the Amplifon but bass is solid and detail is very good. Soundstage also sounds promising with good depth and layering. Not sure yet about Macro dynamics because of forced low listening levels but microdynamics and dynamic shading is at least very good. Until I can do a good comparison it will be hard to say if it is better or worse than the Amplifon but it is not obviously inferior at this point, unlike a few of the other recent amps that were in-house.

 

[marslo]

Thanks for your elaborate reply.

Have you ever tried the "square" RK 5u4g instead of the ST shape KR 5u4g in the C3?
I have both laying around to try but obviously would have to clip some pins to go into the C3.
I'm rather reluctant to clip the pins if the sonic gain is uncertain with the RK over the KR.

And please give the NOS 6n6p a try in the C3, you might like them.

No Christoph, I have never tried RK 5u4g in Crossfire.
I am now using hybrid A100 in my setup but when I will be back to C3 I will follow your and Brad recommendation for NOS 6n6p.

 

[acousticsguru]

No Christoph, I have never tried RK 5u4g in Crossfire.
I am now using hybrid A100 in my setup but when I will be back to C3 I will follow your and Brad recommendation for NOS 6n6p.

+1 on rolling 6N6P!

Greetings from Switzerland, David.

 

[christoph]

No Christoph, I have never tried RK 5u4g in Crossfire.
I am now using hybrid A100 in my setup but when I will be back to C3 I will follow your and Brad recommendation for NOS 6n6p.

I got cheeky yesterday and directly went with the RK 5u4g and skipped the KR Lampi Anniversary 5u4g alltogether



I wanted to do this already years ago but was VERY reluctant to clip the guiding pins on the perfectly new (special edition) KR tubes to fit into the Ayons recti socket

Well, I should have done this immediately when I had the urge to try it back then as the uptick in sound quality is not subtle at all

Anyways, at least there is a lesson learnt for me:
Next time follow my gut feeling and satisfy my curiousity right away

 

[morricab]

I got cheeky yesterday and directly went with the RK 5u4g and skipped the KR Lampi Anniversary 5u4g alltogether

View attachment 106931

I wanted to do this already years ago but was VERY reluctant to clip the guiding pins on the perfectly new (special edition) KR tubes to fit into the Ayons recti socket

Well, I should have done this immediately when I had the urge to try it back then as the uptick in sound quality is not subtle at all

Anyways, at least there is a lesson learnt for me:
Next time follow my gut feeling and satisfy my curiousity right away

How does that uptick compare to KR VA350?

 

[christoph]

How does that uptick compare to KR VA350?

No direct comparison so far.

The BabyZilla plays in the living room on the Universums and the C3 in the upstairs system on the Acoustats.

 

[morricab]

No direct comparison so far.

The BabyZilla plays in the living room on the Universums and the C3 in the upstairs system on the Acoustats.

Haven't heard that combo...how does it work with the Acoustats?

 

[christoph]

Haven't heard that combo...how does it work with the Acoustats?

Surprisingly well.
I didn't expect that tbh.

 

[SVS]

SE monoblocs for two 6?4?. Each monoblock works as a stereo amplifier with a power of 2x5 W or a mono amplifier with a power of 10 W. Driver on EF860 in pentode mode.

 

[itay123]

Great.