SET amp owners thread

[christoph]

I was thinking about that. I imagine it would be hard to match the amps such that the music sounds natural and whole? If I were to use SS on the woofers, for instance, I'd imagine the presentation would be disjointed.

There is only one way to find out

 

[Exlibris]

There is only one way to find out

I take it there are no specifications that are indicative of a good match?

 

[christoph]

I take it there are no specifications that are indicative of a good match?

I haven't tried it myself.
Yet...

 

[Exlibris]

I haven't tried it myself.
Yet...

I've seamlessly integrated the amps driving my four subwoofers but those are coming in somewhere around 50hz. I think the woofers of the No. 33 transition to the midrange horn at about 320hz.

 

[DaveC]

I was thinking about that. I imagine it would be hard to match the amps such that the music sounds natural and whole? If I were to use SS on the woofers, for instance, I'd imagine the presentation would be disjointed.

I've tried a bunch of woofer amps for my speakers, the mids/highs are ~104 dB or so and run with an EL34 SET so 6-7 wpc. XO at 400 Hz, 24 dB/oct.

I have a pair of NCore NC500 monoblocks I built myself with SE > BAL input trafos and high quality parts, these are exceptionally clean and accurate... maybe a little too much. I have very low distortion woofers and the combo is so low on distortion it can take a little getting used to. Interestingly, the Crown drivecore amps are excellent... they have the control and slam of a massive amp but a more tube-like sound, built in xo and eq and a low price. I know it's too cheap to believe, but they are way better than they have any right to be and make excellent woofer amps that blend with my SET amp better vs the objectively superior NCore amps, and I don't have to use my passive xos.

https://www.crownaudio.com/en/products/xti-2002

 

[cjfrbw]

Yes, I think ss/bass with set/midrange depends on the crossover point. Greater than 18-24db/octave at 300 Hz crossover seems to work well. Sound starts to localize around 200 Hz, but is still a bit 'cloudy' in orientation up to 300 or so. When the crossover point gets higher than that, one would have to experiment to see.

I have been using SS below 300 Hz for years and haven't perceived any 'blending' problems with tubes on the midrange.

 

[bonzo75]

This is tri amped with tube cross over. 6A3 on the upper half, then WE 211 on the midbass and lower bass each

 

[bonzo75]

This is tri amped with tube cross over. 6A3 on the upper half, then WE 211 on the midbass and lower bass each

Also

 

[Joao@altheamusica]

I've seamlessly integrated the amps driving my four subwoofers but those are coming in somewhere around 50hz. I think the woofers of the No. 33 transition to the midrange horn at about 320hz.

320Hz xo-frequency is ok for Solid State amp in the bass and a SE-amp for the MID-Highs. In my system I cross at 250Hz with a line-level XO, several SE-amps (low power 0.25 to 3W) for the MH-section (108dB/W/m) and currently an old Marantz amp (from 1974) with 20W for the Bass (99dB/W/m). This works and sounds fine, next step is to try out an active tube-XO and an tube PP-amp...

 

[Audiophile Bill]

320Hz xo-frequency is ok for Solid State amp in the bass and a SE-amp for the MID-Highs. In my system I cross at 250Hz with a line-level XO, several SE-amps (low power 0.25 to 3W) for the MH-section (108dB/W/m) and currently an old Marantz amp (from 1974) with 20W for the Bass (99dB/W/m). This works and sounds fine, next step is to try out an active tube-XO and an tube PP-amp...

Nice! Please could you share any more detail on your line level crossover either here or pm. Thanks v much.

 

[Solypsa]

... the Crown drivecore amps are excellent... they have the control and slam of a massive amp but a more tube-like sound, built in xo and eq and a low price. I know it's too cheap to believe, but they are way better than they have any right to be and make excellent woofer amps that blend with my SET amp better vs the objectively superior NCore amps, and I don't have to use my passive xos.

Kudos to the designer. I'm guessing $40 in (mass production) parts

The Drivecore are not, ime, the best for challenging pro subwoofer loads but admit I have not tried them in a home audio system...

 

[olivier]

i do have both the crown and Ncore 500mk2 from Nord and i would go fo Nord. Powerful, fast, accurate and dead silent.
Crossing at 250 hz and really nice sound with tubes on HF

 

[christoph]

i do have both the crown and Ncore 500mk2 from Nord and i would go fo Nord. Powerful, fast, accurate and dead silent.
Crossing at 250 hz and really nice sound with tubes on HF

How do you do the gain/level matching of the different amps?

 

[olivier]

that depends, in former times i used a Xilica DSP but now as i discovered my Mcintosh MX151 as being a wonderful, natural sounding and very engaging DAC when Room Perfect is inactive i can set the volumes with the Mac
i think if you use a Xilica or another DSP only in bass section it is not a big problem

 

[Exlibris]

I've tried a bunch of woofer amps for my speakers, the mids/highs are ~104 dB or so and run with an EL34 SET so 6-7 wpc. XO at 400 Hz, 24 dB/oct.

I have a pair of NCore NC500 monoblocks I built myself with SE > BAL input trafos and high quality parts, these are exceptionally clean and accurate... maybe a little too much. I have very low distortion woofers and the combo is so low on distortion it can take a little getting used to. Interestingly, the Crown drivecore amps are excellent... they have the control and slam of a massive amp but a more tube-like sound, built in xo and eq and a low price. I know it's too cheap to believe, but they are way better than they have any right to be and make excellent woofer amps that blend with my SET amp better vs the objectively superior NCore amps, and I don't have to use my passive xos.

https://www.crownaudio.com/en/products/xti-2002

I've just placed an order for this amp. I'll post my impressions on this thread. Thank you.

 

[DaveC]

Kudos to the designer. I'm guessing $40 in (mass production) parts

The Drivecore are not, ime, the best for challenging pro subwoofer loads but admit I have not tried them in a home audio system...

Lol, the price per lb is kinda high for sure... I would go with my NC500s for subwoofers, they have grip on the driver like no other amp I've tried. I'm using the Crown on my 15" 94 dB woofers in a 6 cuft br cab, for this application they work well. They are a little warmer vs the NCores but still have good slam and endless power.

 

[DaveC]

I've just placed an order for this amp. I'll post my impressions on this thread. Thank you.

I'll be interested to see what you think, at least it's a low risk trial vs most options. The xo and eq are nice to have as well. Hypex or Icepower based amps are likely better and as Solypsa said better for tough sub duties, but I think drivecore has a sweeter sound and works pretty well for my much less demanding woofer application.

 

[Exlibris]

I'll be interested to see what you think, at least it's a low risk trial vs most options. The xo and eq are nice to have as well. Hypex or Icepower based amps are likely better and as Solypsa said better for tough sub duties, but I think drivecore has a sweeter sound and works pretty well for my much less demanding woofer application.

With the xo built into the Odeon speaker I didn't suspect I'd be using the xo in the Crown as well. Is there a benefit to doing so?

 

[Kingrex]

I posted a few days ago in the What is your favorite 845 tube thread. My Black Shadow return from a total rebuild in a week or so. I only have Shuguang and Pysvane hifi tube. I want to try a good 845 and was wondering about the linlai WE tube and the Psvane ACME. If anyone has tried them, could you post your thoughts in that thread. I have not written off Elrog, but I don't want to spend $2000 if the others get me most all the way there
Thanks, Rex

 

[DaveC]

With the xo built into the Odeon speaker I didn't suspect I'd be using the xo in the Crown as well. Is there a benefit to doing so?

No, I think you're fine using the stock xo. You can still use eq if it helps though. I've compared a decent passive low-pass xo I built vs using an identical dsp xo, and there really isn't much difference.