As good as the Midas are and a really love mine, the Odeon 33 is in another league from the astonishing Midas. You are absolutely in for a treat
SET amp owners thread
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That eases my mind! Thank you.As good as the Midas are and a really love mine, the Odeon 33 is in another league from the astonishing Midas. You are absolutely in for a treat
Yeah, I mean a Unison S6 is ok but there is a big difference between that and what you have...
Congratulations on the new speakers. Can you give us a comparison between the new speakers and the your former Audio Notes. Thank you.
I wish I could say something definitive about the difference between the speakers but I can’t because I made two changes at the same time: amps and speakers.
I can only speak to the difference between the “Thomas Mayer 45 + Audio Note AN-E” combo vs. the “Allnic A-6000 + Odeon Midas” combo.
Actually, I can be a little more general and say “Every amp I’ve heard with Audio Note AN-Es” vs. the “Allnic A-6000 + Odeon Midas” combo.
The current system sounds much faster. Sounds leap from the speakers with real ease.
It is much freer sounding. Sounds don’t get stuck around the speakers and speaker plane – they freely move toward the listener.
It has a greater sense of ease, lack of strain, and lack of distortion.
It handles complex passages much better.
When the recording allows, it is a more immersive experience for the listener.
The highs are more pronounced, cleaner, and clearer.
There is more space between images.
The soundstage is larger and especially deeper.
The bass is tighter and less boomy and resonant in my room.
The Audio Note AN-Es are more romantic sounding and 'musical,' which may lead to more affect in the listener. They are generally warmer, darker, smoother, and thicker sounding than the Midas.
I hope that helps a bit.
"The Audio Note AN-Es are more romantic sounding and 'musical,' which may lead to more affect in the listener. They are generally warmer, darker, smoother, and thicker sounding than the Midas."
While they sound similar with AN amps, best I heard them was with Ayre. Clean sound, showed all the recordings, fast, lively, completely disappeared being next to the wall. The guy who owned that system disliked them with AN amps and low watt valve amps, despite being pro SETs and owning a SETs based system in the other room. I always found them to be thick and sluggish like you said until heard this way
While they sound similar with AN amps, best I heard them was with Ayre. Clean sound, showed all the recordings, fast, lively, completely disappeared being next to the wall. The guy who owned that system disliked them with AN amps and low watt valve amps, despite being pro SETs and owning a SETs based system in the other room. I always found them to be thick and sluggish like you said until heard this way
Preamp: First Sound Audio Presence Deluxe with Paramount upgrade.
Power Amp: Zikra Audio 300B SE
Phonostage: Allnic Audio H-7000
Power Amp: Zikra Audio 300B SE
Phonostage: Allnic Audio H-7000
My SET amps are Chalice Audio 'Grail' mono blocks. My speakers are Tidal Contriva Dicer-SE
Lumin S1 Network Player
REL 212 SE subs x 2..
Silent Source 'The Music Reference' Powercords and speaker cablesLessloss C-MARC interconnect
Lessloss 'Firewall for Speaker Cables'
Lumin S1 Network Player
REL 212 SE subs x 2..
Silent Source 'The Music Reference' Powercords and speaker cablesLessloss C-MARC interconnect
Lessloss 'Firewall for Speaker Cables'
Perhaps this shouldn't have surprised me but it did...
With the Allnic A-6000 each of the eight 300Bs has its own bias pot. The manufacturer suggests the tubes be run between a set range that is marked out by two parallel lines on the meter. The acceptable range is between the lines. When I run the tubes at the bottom of the range the system sounds markedly different than when I run them at the top of the range.
Bottom: spacious!, dark, rich, palpable, heavy, free, easy, tons of decay, tone, and ambient cues. But maybe a little grungy and distorted (in a good way on rock)? Bass is slightly bloated and less controlled.
Top: fast, tight, light, punchy, taut, airy.
But slightly strained and thin.
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My new Thomas Mayer 10Y Silver linestage and 45 drive 45 amps. These two works of art are truly phenomenal.
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awesome Jordan! hope the AGs are treating you well.
No, not the linestage and phono. I did sell the 45 amp though. If I was to go low-power at some time in the future I would likely look at the Thomas Mayer 300B amp.
Keith the AG's engage me every single time I listen. They were the right speaker for me. They also opened up the possibilities of running flea watt amps for which I am very grateful. I went on an inexpensive 45 and 46 SET binger while I waited for Thomas to build my 45 drives 45 amps. An $850 Korneff clone 45 SET confirmed a greater emotional connection to the music than the ARC Ref75SE (expected), Valvet A3.5 SS (expected), Atma-Sphere MA1 MkIII (unexpected) and Audion Black Shadow (unuexpected). Interestingly, those conclusions held largely true on the Zu Defs also (still haven't put them up for sale).
The mind blowing moment, however, was when I inserted the Mayer amplification chain. I am able to connect to the music with more depth and less conscious thought. And this is profound for me. The most interesting element of audiophilia dissection: the spectrum of tones that make up the music, an instrument, a voice, etc is more finely graded like a full spectrum of a rainbow, rather than 3 or 5 or 10 or 20 colors lined up next to each other. The timbre of instruments, the suspension of disbelief and the musicians' expressions/intent are all REALLY well served by this quality.
They are powerful sounding in that they just let musical scale, not shout at you that they are "powerful". There is no noise. I mean...nothing at all with ear pressed close to the tweeter or midrange driver.
Have you found your final amps for the YG's yet?
I used to own the A-6000. An octet of Emission Labs 300b XLS lasted 9 years, then on to the next owner and still going. They were biased to the lower tick mark and could account for this preservation, but I preferred the sound characteristics. As I grew into different speakers I used only a small fraction of the power needed. If you have the opportunity to listen to any amp designer that implements an interstage (voltage gain) transformer which negates one power tube stage, you may be surprised by this design approach. No phase issues with parallel circuits improve transparency, timbre and delicacy. Zero feedback, ear to the speaker, hearing only silence. This implementation allowed new discoveries in well familiar recordings.
Those who love the 300b need to audition its predecessor, the PX25.
Those who love the 300b need to audition its predecessor, the PX25.
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