In spite of these amps being around for a while in various installations, there is a surprising lack of comprehensive reviewing. There are mostly just drive by commentaries. Everybody seems to like them, but few seem to want to make a commitment to them as audiophile icons.
I have been having a picnic with the flea powered amps on my unexpected highly efficient midrange BG 75 ribbons. They sound amazing, with the lowest power @1.3 watts performing excellent. These ribbons seem to bring out the best in every amp I have tried with them, both tube and SS. I never thought I would have ribbons and flea powered SET in my own system across the broad midrange.
However, the transmitting tube Wavac still has a sheer vitality factor that seems to be unique to the genre. That is hard to describe with the usual audiophile lingo. That quality also doesn’t seem to convey with the various push pull tube amps I have heard. If the Magma has that quality, then it would definitely be to my tastes.
The video kinda reminds me of a scene from the movie Being John Malkovich... not sure it’s a good listening room but it could be a disturbing one for sure.Do they use those to sterilize gerbils in science labs?
In this vid, a YouTube-er called OCD Hi Fi Guy compares units with these tubes to gallium nitride class D amps.
Michael Fremer wrote that he loved the sound of the Wavac 833 -- but he didn't buy it.
I still don't understand how you are driving that BG75 with so little power, when in the Gryphon Pendragon application going through only a simple high-pass cross-over at 200Hz the resulting sensitivity is only 89dB. Maybe our technical people can opine on whether this sensitivity spec does, in fact, make sense -- due to the cross-over.
If I thought 50w would work I would think about Kagura 211, Viva Aurora and Absolare SET.
. . .
But the Magmas really appeal.
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