SET amp owners thread
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Can you show a picture of the corroded pins?
NOS, but from military storage…
Greetings from Switzerland, David.
For corroded pins like that, I use an emery board nail file followed by very fine sandpaper, and finally wiping the pins thoroughly with a fine fabric towel. I never use liquid contact cleaner on tube pins.
Best way fiberglass pen for circuit boards and alcohol after that everything is clean.
The fiberglass pencil is an excellent suggestion
Part of my method here. For connectors I dismantle everything 2x per year and polish with the cloth suggested, wipe with the appropriate deoxit- usually D5 and then wipe clean with 99% IPA. I don't use anything but 99% IPA in tube sockets as tracking from various chemicals can cause horrific problems in sockets
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Part of my method here. For connectors I dismantle everything 2x per year and polish with the cloth suggested, wipe with the appropriate deoxit- usually D5 and then wipe clean with 99% IPA. I don't use anything but 99% IPA in tube sockets as tracking from various chemicals can cause horrific problems in sockets
Aesthetix Io Users Group
Hi Mike and others, I have had my Io since 2000. It is now an Eclipse with volume controls and dual power supplies. On the subject of support from Aesthetix, a couple of years ago I had what turned out to be a tube problem, but I did not recognize it at the time. Jim White phoned me three...
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I get you point. But I disagree on a technical standpoint. My amp is not clipping at .01 watts output. May it be the Dartzeel, Blade, Audion, Ampsandsound, Atmasphere,. And the half million to million $ systems I have listened to where I had to plug my ears. They were not clipping. I don't find any reason to play my music at concert levels. You can play as loud as you like.I will try again Rex ,
When did i say you cant listen to what you like ..?
High DR music if listening to at 72db avg DIN ( your claim not mine ) will hit 82db+ easy on peaks ..!
The reason it sounds harsh and shouting (your words not mine ) is distortion from clipping , so you are either ,
1. Playing compressed music to avoid
2. Lowering to 63db or so to avoid shout
3. Enjoying the dark softness from clipping .
No3 is often enjoyed by 90% of underpowered audiophiles as low feedback tooby amps tend to have dark clipping characteristics , toobs are vastly superior in this respect to their SS counterparts , as low distortion SS with feedback , tend to hard clip with a lovely ping..
Either way ,
apology for the interference, enjoy the math, have fun ..
The reason the speaker/amp combo is shouting as nothing to do with distortion. Its the equipment pairing and some room interactions. They are shouting at very quiet levels too. Its just not as apparent. The amp and speaker have a voice. That voice is influenced by the room, power and cables connecting it all.
I have been slowly altering the setup. Moving in more than one step at a time is foolish. So it takes time. I have changed preamp and power tubes tubes. I have changed speaker cables. I have change interconnect cables. Slowly I am reshaping the sound to be less forward. I still need to move speakers and traps/diffusers. I am getting there. When I finally, if possible, have it where I want it, I still won't be playing in the 80 db range. I just don't like it. In the mid 76 db level, the music is open and expressive. The stereo is operating in a optimum zone. Pushing it further brings no gain sonically. Its just louder.
I agree when I play in the high 40 low 50 db, I am not hearing all that is there. I am not exercising the speaker cones enough. There is a loss of resolution. Its sort of flat. You need to play a stereo at a certain level to have it produce the best sound it can. I believe that level happens in the mid 76 or so level. Being in the 80s and 90s and into the 100s as some people brag may be going in the wrong direction. Even without clipping, you could be exaggerating less that optimum setup, equipment interactions.
That's the way I see it. I believe and enjoy music played in the mid 76 db level.
You should reconsider the calculation. In a normally furnished room, approximately 6dB of sound pressure is lost per meter of distance. If it is acoustically treated, significantly more
~10db means twice as loud or quiet for the human ear.
I have tubes with pins that started out like that. Your never going to get them bright finished. There is deep pitting. I too have used an abrasive paper. I prefer to not use something so aggressive. I would only use it to round the tips that appear to have sharp edges. Nothing less than 2000 grit. Brass wool works too. Don't use steel wool as any material that imbeds in the pitting will rust and cause its own issues.
The fiberglass pen looks interesting. I bet a small piece of fiberglass insulation used like a scrubbing pad would also work.
I use Deoxit but I don't remove it with alcohol.
Deoxit by Caig is supposed to be non conductive. Yea, sound odd for something you put on electrical contacts. I have used it on probably 50 or more tubes and never experiences arcing. Evan tubes hitting 1000 volts. I do apply it, then wipe it off well.
The fiberglass pen looks interesting. I bet a small piece of fiberglass insulation used like a scrubbing pad would also work.
I use Deoxit but I don't remove it with alcohol.
Deoxit by Caig is supposed to be non conductive. Yea, sound odd for something you put on electrical contacts. I have used it on probably 50 or more tubes and never experiences arcing. Evan tubes hitting 1000 volts. I do apply it, then wipe it off well.
Forget the google stuff, rely on real facts. calculator for that.
Abnahme Schallpegel Schalldruckpegel in dB durch Entfernung Daempfung Distanz Abstand Apps Schall Abhaengigkeit Pegelabnahme Wirkung Effekt Pegelabfall Ausbreitungsdaempfung Berechnungen Schall Dezibel dB Aenderung Entfernung Laerm Berechnung Abstand
Abnahme Schallpegel Schalldruckpegel in dB durch Entfernung Dämpfung Distanz Abstand Apps Schall Abhängigkeit Pegelabnahme Wirkung Effekt Pegelabfall Ausbreitungsdämpfung Berechnungen Schall Dezibel dB Änderung Entfernung Lärm Berechnung Abstand Abbau Schalldruck SPL Abstandsdämpfung...
I was listening again last night. Same friend and I were talking while making changes. I went back and forth between a coax interconnect and my Inakustik interconnect. They are not very different. A small change. Took a couple back and forth to really hear it. The Inakustik does pull back the forwardness of the vocals a little. That shout I mentioned. It also cleans up the detail in the sense instruments are better sorted. You can more clearly tell the parts of the orchestra apart. It wasn't a clean as in lower noise floor and sounds rising up you never heard before.
Oddly I am sort of pissed this amp is playing as well as it is. I sort of didn't want it to rival my king of the heap. But its really enjoyable. I like the body and warmth. I miss that with the Blade. Certain albums like my Charlie Brown Christmas do highlight the warmth is added. I am aware of this. But its pleasant. I wish I had the Dartzeel to compare too. I may have a Ayre VX5 Twenty in the not to distant future. That should be a good compare to a balanced amp with a solid bass foundation. I am sure I will immediately hear the added coloration. But for now its very pleasant. I like the SET sound. I sort of want to try a 2A3. Or a Parallel 2A3 for more power.
Oddly I am sort of pissed this amp is playing as well as it is. I sort of didn't want it to rival my king of the heap. But its really enjoyable. I like the body and warmth. I miss that with the Blade. Certain albums like my Charlie Brown Christmas do highlight the warmth is added. I am aware of this. But its pleasant. I wish I had the Dartzeel to compare too. I may have a Ayre VX5 Twenty in the not to distant future. That should be a good compare to a balanced amp with a solid bass foundation. I am sure I will immediately hear the added coloration. But for now its very pleasant. I like the SET sound. I sort of want to try a 2A3. Or a Parallel 2A3 for more power.
I would have thought maybe a SET amp built to the quality of your Blade amp with no holds barred premium tubes and Monolith Magnetics trafos would be a good direction to perhaps consider. That does sound a really interesting prospect to me at any rate. Maybe Triode Labs 2A3 SET might also be worth considering.
Also not sure on the rationale of circling back around for another try at SS after having a Dartzeel 108 and finding that not to be the solution for you. It’s good to have benchmarks to compare with but I’d doubt the Ayre would be a significantly different kind (or better) contender than was even the Dart you had.
That said maybe the upcoming First Watt Sit 5 monos might be worth considering with 40 Watt class A single ended SS… they could be worth waiting for if you want to try SS again but I still doubt that they’d be likely to offer more SET qualities than your Blade does already.
Also not sure on the rationale of circling back around for another try at SS after having a Dartzeel 108 and finding that not to be the solution for you. It’s good to have benchmarks to compare with but I’d doubt the Ayre would be a significantly different kind (or better) contender than was even the Dart you had.
That said maybe the upcoming First Watt Sit 5 monos might be worth considering with 40 Watt class A single ended SS… they could be worth waiting for if you want to try SS again but I still doubt that they’d be likely to offer more SET qualities than your Blade does already.
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The Ayre was to have a second amp for the Biamp experiment. I can't afford a second Blade. And SS does accel at driver control.
I do agree SS playback is a snooze to me.
I did bounce the idea off Scott about a amp with 3 outputs.
I also wonder if properly integrated subs would bring some bass depth. I need to run a room sweep to see what my speakers do. Even with the Dartzeel, I fell off hard at 50 htz in my old room. Not sure whats going on in the new room.
I may end up selling the current house and moving into smaller if my spine does not respond to the injections I have scheduled. That would push me into a living room system. That would be a small Zu or Daedalus type speaker. Who knows what amp I would use.
I did bounce off Scott a premium SET amp. He does have a 300B he has been working on.
I have both his and a larger version of his speakers (2 way horn version of them) both are great and I’m currently using 48 watts of class A SET… with the trios Rex has I’ve found anything from PSE 300Bs up to higher power SETs in 20 to 40+ watt area are a great match up for me for the diversity of speakers requirements from intimate scale and up to fierce big scale music.Thats way too much , Rex is only using .01 watts , 40 watts is gonna be over kill ..!
The larger quintets I also use have twice the woofers (4 per side) and also twice the baffle area so allowing 3db more efficient again… they mostly don’t exceed beyond needing a watt or two in draw but can step up and play EDM at nightclub inspired levels or rock and headbang effortlessly when the desire overtakes… having the headroom of even 20 plus watts is especially good with multi high efficiency 15inch woofers.
I should add I completely get Rex’s comments on the ability for these speakers to play with great engagement and real satisfaction at remarkably lower listening volumes… they are exceptional in this regard.
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I’ve been circling the same kinds of thoughts for ways to go. It’s a loop for me because I’m not even sure how much I want it to be different beyond a choice to have it a shade more visceral at times when the music (or recording) could do with it. That’s the challenge with OB and dipole panels… slightly on the skeletal side… great when the music or recording is right but no reserves in extra mid bass fullness is the slight trade. Which explains the split between benefits with the 845 Shadows and the Blade amp I guess.
The trade for extra extension with bass as opposed to the simplicity of passive two-way is also where the swings and roundabouts has me looping on choices.
I’m coming back to adding subs as the way to try. Probably more likely slot loaded bass or h frame OB with similar multi 15 inch woofers to the mains.
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A slot-loaded open baffle multi-parallel woofer design in push-pull configuration can give you the best compromise of all design types with the right amount of EQ.
A friend of mine added 4 subs. 2 x SVS 15s and a pair of 2x10" dayton in home made cabinets. Thats 4 x 10" drivers with a Krell KSA 250 driving them. plus the 15" SVS. 6 drivers total. Its impressive bass depth. Good pipe organ. But its also too much. To thick. To heavy. He claims world class performance.
I'm confused on Subs. Swarm makes sense. But its small drivers. Those small drivers seem to move a lot. You really hear the sub. Or maybe he has his bass all screwed up. I wrote to Pure Low. Way to expensive for me. Large cones are too much space. Horns are too large. I like fast bass. Slow deep bass is a turn off for me.
So then I circle around to biamping again. But the whole stink around active crossovers or even biamping and getting it to work raises its head.
The Ayre could run a pair of subs in a swarm. But I would rather have a mono behind each sub. I looked at Atmasphere. But 2 pair is a lot of $$ for me. I may reach out to Odyssey and see what they can do. If I could get monos for subs for $1000 a piece, that may work. I could get 2 and try to Biamp. If that did not do what I wanted and I went to a swarm. It would be a second pair of mono subs.
A mate suggested I try both H frame and U frame OB as well as thinking slot loaded… the U frame configuration works better from my perspectives on how I can integrate them into the appearance of the mains and also has efficiency gains over H frame and being cardiod instead of dipole is not going to be an issue if I’m likely crossing them some where below 100hz.
I am also taking some inspiration off Ken Songer’s U frame bass configuration that he uses on his OB. His approach always seems quite nuanced and well considered and I like its modesty as an approach rather than using anything too OTT as a design response… and it’s in some ways closer to the appearance of the OB woofers on my mains.
Either way it’s fairly easy for me to swap over to slot loaded to trial the way I’m approaching the build which will be modular like the mains.
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