1% is not high distortion, particularly if it’s mostly 2nd harmonic.
SET amp owners thread
- Thread starter bonzo75
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10 watts is 0.15% and 1 watt is <0.1%. The knee is just over 30 watts @ 0.3%.
2nd is still distortion with deviation from the original signal if higher , liking it puts us in a different direction. Those numbers for 1-10watt is excellent for an SET and on the right load will deliver ..
nothing all is good, you are more than satisfied with the amplifier that is the important thing.
I don’t own one anymore…I use an Aries Cerat Protos in my main system with an Incito preamp.
Brad, it would be great to get your thoughts on the overall sonic differences of the AC new school SET and their old school SET… perhaps even something more like a more formal review would be particularly great if you were open to it. Do appreciate this takes a lot of time though. With some supporting video compares of course would be the most excellent deluxe version of that.
Some manufacturers in England such as Leak , PYE , Armstrong etcetera were breaking the 1% barrier on domestic music electronics around the time of the Second World War and Korean War ! Viz,
Point One TL/12 Ampl/Mixer Leak, H.J.; London, build 1948 ? |Radiomuseum.org
Point One TL/12 Ampl/Mixer Leak, H.J.; London, build 1948 ?, 11 pictures, 1 schematics, 5 tubes, Great Britain , semiconductors, Audio Amplifier or -mixer
PF91 Ampl/Mixer Pye Ltd., Radio Works; Cambridge, build |Radiomuseum.org
PF91 Ampl/Mixer Pye Ltd., Radio Works; Cambridge, build 1954, 4 pictures, 2 schematics, 5 tubes, Great Britain , semiconductors, Audio Amplifier or -mixer
At the end of the 1960s, Saba and Klein&Hummel (now Neumann) tried to counteract the emerging transistor amplifier and developed a new tube(el 503). But the course was already set for the future. 0.2% at full output power. A revised VS 110 amplifier is still hard to beat today.
Any amplifier can be driven into 1% distortion, when comparing power numbers best to compare distortion specs too.
THD as a spec is essentially meaningless for sound quality understanding.
As far as I know Ayon Crossfire III makes approx 20 W per channel with A 62 B and still plays in my system with Trio LE 26 ( before with Duo Omega G2 and Mezzo XD).
I upgraded it with former serviceman of Ayon in Poland and decided to keep it together with hybrid Circle Labs A 100 which is rated 2x60 W.
Both are good match with AG in my system but this is SET which sounds more dynamic and with deeper going bass, with some audible hume compared to A100 which is quieter though. Among around 10 amps I tested at home ( SS, Push-Pull and even Class D) with AG Ayon SET always sounded best to me.
I do suppose that to play around 70-80 dB Ayon uses just a few Watts and distortion is not a big deal in this situation.
I have purchased this spring a spare pare of A 62 B ( expensive!) and a spare matched quad of red metal NOS RCA JAN CRC 5693 for pre section, I keep Ayon for winter time and Circle Labs for spring and summer.
I do not consider amps which have no local distribution/ service in Poland, now I have a lot of troubles to send to Wales Tom Evans phono for fixing up after the Brexit.
Just for fun I recorded recently a sample of bass a cappella ( Qobuz streaming) in my main system. Enjoy
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I thought the C3 is around 30 Watts.As far as I know Ayon Crossfire III makes approx 20 W per channel with A 62 B and still plays in my system with Trio LE 26 ( before with Duo Omega G2 and Mezzo XD).
I upgraded it with former serviceman of Ayon in Poland and decided to keep it together with hybrid Circle Labs A 100 which is rated 2x60 W.
Both are good match with AG in my system but this is SET which sounds more dynamic and with deeper going bass, with some audible hume compared to A100 which is quieter though. Among around 10 amps I tested at home ( SS, Push-Pull and even Class D) with AG Ayon SET always sounded best to me.
I do suppose that to play around 70-80 dB Ayon uses just a few Watts and distortion is not a big deal in this situation.
I have purchased this spring a spare pare of A 62 B ( expensive!) and a spare matched quad of red metal NOS RCA JAN CRC 5693 for pre section, I keep Ayon for winter time and Circle Labs for spring and summer.
I do not consider amps which have no local distribution/ service in Poland, now I have a lot of troubles to send to Wales Tom Evans phono for fixing up after the Brexit.
Just for fun I recorded recently a sample of bass a cappella ( Qobuz streaming) in my main system. Enjoy
on paper. I think real measurements show something more like Marslo is saying.
That is the declared power , the friend of mine who was behind Amare Musica said it was around 22 W according to the measurement.
Sounds good! What did you upgrade in the Crossfire? One thing I can say about the Crossfire is that it has a very powerful bass, deep and tight. The Horning amp I had was a bit punchier in the midbass but didn't have the sheer growl of the Crossfire.As far as I know Ayon Crossfire III makes approx 20 W per channel with A 62 B and still plays in my system with Trio LE 26 ( before with Duo Omega G2 and Mezzo XD).
I upgraded it with former serviceman of Ayon in Poland and decided to keep it together with hybrid Circle Labs A 100 which is rated 2x60 W.
Both are good match with AG in my system but this is SET which sounds more dynamic and with deeper going bass, with some audible hume compared to A100 which is quieter though. Among around 10 amps I tested at home ( SS, Push-Pull and even Class D) with AG Ayon SET always sounded best to me.
I do suppose that to play around 70-80 dB Ayon uses just a few Watts and distortion is not a big deal in this situation.
I have purchased this spring a spare pare of A 62 B ( expensive!) and a spare matched quad of red metal NOS RCA JAN CRC 5693 for pre section, I keep Ayon for winter time and Circle Labs for spring and summer.
I do not consider amps which have no local distribution/ service in Poland, now I have a lot of troubles to send to Wales Tom Evans phono for fixing up after the Brexit.
Just for fun I recorded recently a sample of bass a cappella ( Qobuz streaming) in my main system. Enjoy
At 70-80dB with your 109 dB trios, we are talking some mW of power...not watts. The Crossfire is barely breathing at those levels.
I was able to extremely good sound from a small 2A3 amp with my speakers, which are "only" 98dB sensitivity. Have you ever tried any "flea" powered SETs on your Trios? It sounded just as powerful as the Ayon and Horning amps (both rated above 20 watts) and more free and expressive than the Amplifon. Now I use a Protos+Incito, which once fully broken in (it took quite awhile to really get natural sounding) sounds awesome. I always liked the Crossfire for the bass and it's huge dynamics but I ultimately found it to be a bit tonally dark compared to other top SETs.
That said, I absolutely love my Ayon Skylla 2 DAC, IMO this DAC just delivers great sound.
I was at a show last weekend in Switzerland where they had the new G3 version of the Uno set up. They were driving it, not with Itron (thank god), but with a 300B amp. It sounded lovely.
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