SET amp owners thread

[jeffreybehr]

Just ordered a pair of Allnic A-6000 SET monoamps; the bank transfer was issued today.. This pair of 230VAC versions is in England.



(This one from 6 Moons.)

I've had 50-Watt SETs, Antique Sound Lab Explorers powered with an 805, but eventually tired always doing something to them to improve the parts quality...

Also Coincident Frankensteins and a WAVAC 805 model.

I'm driving Serenity Super-7s with 96dB sensitivity...

The OFFICIAL Super-7 thread

The OFFICIAL Super-7 thread

www.audiocircle.com

...so need more power than, for instance, a single 300B will deliver, so I bought amps that use FOUR 300Bs in parallel for 50 Watts max. power per chassis. The 6000s should be here before the end of the month.

I'll be converting a couple unused dedicated 120VAC circuits in the musicroom to a single 240VAC circuit, and I'll be using British-standard 1363 outlet hardware.

 

[fooolish1]

Triode Corp of Japan TRX-M845 Monos 50 Watts Parallel single ended. Will take 211 or 845's though I prefer the 845's. Speakers are Fleetwood Deville supplemented with a pair of Magico Asubs.

 

[morricab]

Just ordered a pair of Allnic A-6000 SET monoamps; the bank transfer was issued today.. This pair of 230VAC versions is in England.
View attachment 96772

View attachment 96775
(This one from 6 Moons.)

I've had 50-Watt SETs, Antique Sound Lab Explorers powered with an 805, but eventually tired always doing something to them to improve the parts quality...
View attachment 96771
Also Coincident Frankensteins and a WAVAC 805 model.

I'm driving Serenity Super-7s with 96dB sensitivity...

The OFFICIAL Super-7 thread

The OFFICIAL Super-7 thread

www.audiocircle.com

...so need more power than, for instance, a single 300B will deliver, so I bought amps that use FOUR 300Bs in parallel for 50 Watts max. power per chassis. The 6000s should be here before the end of the month.

I'll be converting a couple unused dedicated 120VAC circuits in the musicroom to a single 240VAC circuit, and I'll be using British-standard 1363 outlet hardware.

What did you think of the Wavacs?

 

[morricab]

Triode Corp of Japan TRX-M845 Monos 50 Watts Parallel single ended. Will take 211 or 845's though I prefer the 845's. Speakers are Fleetwood Deville supplemented with a pair of Magico Asubs.

Nice amps!

 

[jeffreybehr]

What did you think of the Wavacs?

At that time, they were simply boring; that is, they did nothing particularly well to cause me to keep them.

 

[christoph]

At that time, they were simply boring; that is, they did nothing particularly well to cause me to keep them.

What amps DO float your boat?

 

[morricab]

At that time, they were simply boring; that is, they did nothing particularly well to cause me to keep them.

What speakers did you have them attached to? The reason I am asking is that these are the less expensive brothers to the WAVAC HE-805, which was one of the best SETs I have heard.

 

[Atmasphere]

At that time, they were simply boring; that is, they did nothing particularly well to cause me to keep them.

I found them that way too. IMO the Viva amplifier was much better.

 

[jeffreybehr]

Triode Corp of Japan TRX-M845 Monos 50 Watts Parallel single ended. Will take 211 or 845's though I prefer the 845's. Speakers are Fleetwood Deville supplemented with a pair of Magico Asubs.

Do 845s glow BRIGHTLY the way 805s do? If so, I'd have to fabricate a shield around them for my audio/video system.

Also, do you know if the 14K$ price the US distributor shows is for each one or a pair?

 

[jeffreybehr]

What amps DO float your boat?

So far, after about 20 years of using hi-quality amps, the best I've ever heard and my absolute fave is a pair of 140-into-8-or-4 Atma-Sphere M1s, version III.1, that I still have.. I have parts-improved them considerably, replacing the main-PS caps, couplers (with Miflex KPCUs), and bindingposts with Cardas rhodiums.. I also bypassed the HV supply to the frontend 1st-stage-gain 'N7s with another Miflex KPCU, and added 1uF SoniCap Platinum (TFTF) bypasses to the output stage and a bunch of SoniCoat to the chassis to substantially reduce the ringing of the sheetmetal.. They simply are the most-resolving and MUSICAL sounding amps ever for me, especially when driving my Quad 2905s.. A pair of A-S M60s (also III.1s) that I did about the same things to (except replace the main supply caps) sounded about the same with my 96dB-sensitive Serenity Super-7s; unfortunately, I sold them, and I don't even remember why! (The 70plus-years-old mind flies when one is having fun!!!) Oh ya...both use or used Russian 6H13C output tubes and several Tung-Sol oval-plate 'N7s.

I must emphasize that both ears suffer HF loss in the shape of a canyon about an octave wide and 60dB (!) deep at 2- to 3-kHz and that I wear hearingaids.. But these are the SAME ears I use to hear LOTS of big-orchestra and -band music live about 2-dozen times per year.

 

[jeffreybehr]

Good news on the A-6000s--the crates were finished (in England) apparently Friday the 26th and the amps are to be retrieved today.. Don't have an ETA.. So far I've collected 2-each duplex outlets; 3 stainless-steel, triple-duplex outlet-box plates, two 16g. entry-level powercords; and a pair of TESLA ECL805 frontend tubes made in Czechoslovokia.

Arriving next Wednesday the 7th is the Salamander Synergy Quad 10 Base that I'll be calling the lowboy.. This is somewhat entry-level, costing only 1300$US, but it and its packaging weigh 165 pounds (c. 75kg.), so probably it's not too flimsy..
I'm buying it without front doors or sides and will not be installing the rear panels.. It's about 7.4 feet (2.2m.) wide, with four equipment 'columns'/spaces that will hold all my backend equipment.. I also have several equipment feet to try, including 24 sorbothane hemisheres, 8 inexpensive 7-spring footers, and 6 IsoAcoustics OREA footers.. The bottom will hold, starting at the outside ends, 2 bass amps, the EMOTIVA 11-channel poweramp, and two SWARM-subwoofer-system amps stacked vertically.. The top will hold the pair of Allnic A-6000s and the Magnepan CC5 centerchannel speaker.. The latter is new to me, but I already LOVE it as a dialogue speaker and NOT a music speaker, as it contains no bass panels.

 

[jeffreybehr]

Apparently* the Allnics have been released, so maybe I'll get them this week (ending Set. 11).

In addition to going seriously WACKO this week and buying a pair of Viva Auroras, I'll be ordering a pair of Opera Consonance Cyber 845S monoamps from Grant Fidelity.

Consonance Cyber 845S / 211S Tube Monoblock Amplifiers (pair) – Grant Fidelity

grantfidelity.com

I know that these amps, at 5K$/pr., are NOT at the quality level of the Allnic A-6000s or Viva Auroras allegedly on the way, but I simply have an urge to try them.. I've ordered pairs of Linlai 845s, the Global WE845 Western Electric Replicas and the Global 845-T2BE 'black bottles', from Grant, and a pair of Tung-Sol NOS 5687s from Tubedepot.

Probably a good thing that it'll take around a month before I have my trio of 25- to 50-Watt SET monoamps ready to listen to carefully, because even in September (and half of October, too), it's SUMMER in Phoenix.. But I can get them running, etc.

* It's tough to get precise status reports from DHL.

 

[jeffreybehr]

This Monday morning, the amps are in Cincinatti (Ohio) and on their ways to me by the end of tomorrow; I may actually receive them! Now I'm looking for a pair of DeHavilland Aries 845-Gs...and maybe a new musicroom in which I'll place all these amps.

 

[AMR / iFi audio]

This Monday morning, the amps are in Cincinatti (Ohio) and on their ways to me by the end of tomorrow.. It actually looks as if I'll receive them! Now I'm looking for a pair of deHavilland Aries 845-Gs...and maybe a new musicroom in which I'll place all these amps.

Awesome! I'm also waiting for a package that is being held by customs. I know this type of suffering... What is going to be the first thing you will play on them?

 

[jeffreybehr]

Awesome! I'm also waiting for a package that is being held by customs. I know this type of suffering... What is going to be the first thing you will play on them?

After level-balancing my multichannel system, probably a 2-channel CD by Rosanne Cash named 'The List'; I LOVE the first song named 'Miss The Mississippi And You'. It's very much mono-miced and overdubbed, but her voice reveals much to me.. Then probably a 2-channel SACD named 'Tutti' issued by Reference Recordings--full-range, very dynamic orchestra.. My next three in no particular order but always heard early are extremely natural-sounding MC SACDs--Tchaik. Sym.5 (4th mvmnt.) with Dimitri Kitayenko and the Gurzenach Orch. Koln on OEHMS OC 667; Elgar Sym. 1 and Organ Sonata (orchestrated) with Richard Hickox and the BBC NO of Wales on CHANDOS CHSA 5049 (slow movements of each, tracks 3 and 7); and Grieg Dvorak Elgar string suites, with Conrad VanAlphen and the Rotterdam Chamber O, TELARC SACD-60623, where I listen to the Elgar Serenade for Strings, o. 20.. These three tracks excel in transparency...the feeling that I'm in the hall with the orchestra, sitting on a stepladder behind the conductor, and that these 30-or-so musicians are playing for ME.. When the sun and the moon and my brain and heart are all aligned, only I and THE MUSIC exist...it's...magic.

 

[AMR / iFi audio]

After level-balancing my multichannel system, probably a 2-channel CD by Rosanne Cash named 'The List'; I LOVE the first song named 'Miss The Mississippi And You'. It's very much mono-miced and overdubbed, but her voice reveals much to me.. Then probably a 2-channel SACD named 'Tutti' issued by Reference Recordings--full-range, very dynamic orchestra.. My next three in no particular order but always heard early are extremely natural-sounding MC SACDs--Tchaik. Sym.5 (4th mvmnt.) with Dimitri Kitayenko and the Gurzenach Orch. Koln on OEHMS OC 667; Elgar Sym. 1 and Organ Sonata (orchestrated) with Richard Hickox and the BBC NO of Wales on CHANDOS CHSA 5049 (slow movements of each, tracks 3 and 7); and Grieg Dvorak Elgar string suites, with Conrad VanAlphen and the Rotterdam Chamber O, TELARC SACD-60623, where I listen to the Elgar Serenade for Strings, o. 20.. These three tracks excel in transparency...the feeling that I'm in the hall with the orchestra, sitting on a stepladder behind the conductor, and that these 30-or-so musicians are playing for ME.. When the sun and the moon and my brain and heart are all aligned, only I and THE MUSIC exist...it's...magic.

I can see you have everything planned to the detail Impressive selection of music and recordings. I like that the first song is the one you just like, and the others are "racing cars" of audio.

 

[Zulu]

This is my first post here. ..

This is my private setup. It's consisting of Coherent Loudspeakers Neo 15, SW1X DAC II SPX and Triode Labs 45 Mini SET. I'm playing ripped FLAC and WAV files from my own collection. I'm using Jriver as media player.

 

[jeffreybehr]

This is my first post here. ..

This is my private setup. It's consisting of Coherent Loudspeakers Neo 15, SW1X DAC II SPX and Triode Labs 45 Mini SET. I'm playing ripped FLAC and WAV files from my own collection. I'm using Jriver as media player.

View attachment 97655

View attachment 97656

First, WELCOME to a very useful and civil audio forum.

VERY nice-looking system; congratulations.. It sure looks neater (and CLEANER*) than mine.. Ever consider using some kind of cable lifters to get all the cables off the floor?

* Dust plagues my home and system, even with 2 serial airconditioning filter systems.

 

[Zulu]

First, WELCOME to a very useful and civil audio forum.

VERY nice-looking system; congratulations.. It sure looks neater (and CLEANER*) than mine.. Ever consider using some kind of cable lifters to get all the cables off the floor?

* Dust plagues my home and system, even with 2 serial airconditioning filter systems.

Thank you! To be honest I haven't given it much thought, But you're on to something there.

 

[jeffreybehr]

Have found and agreed to purchase a pair of DeHavilland 845-Gs which MAY benefit from some parts upgrades.. Unfortunately for me, they're 750 miles (1200km) away from me and can't be shipped.. I'm scheming to drive up there in a few days to retrieve them.