Best 3 options for SET amps

I've tried the Abby with my Audion PX-25, a pair of Wavelength Triton 300Bs, and a Nelson Pass Aleph J. The Achilles heel of the speaker is driver and cabinet resonances, and they come through with all the amps. The peakiness of the driver makes female vocals sound rough and the resonance of the cabinet walls makes male voices sound chesty. I will admit that they have a sense of presence that is beguiling, but once I'd become accustomed to really good high-efficiency speakers it was hard to ignore their limitations. The subs help a lot in providing a fleshed-out sound, but those two resonance problems remain. I currently have them in my living room system driven by the Aleph J, and for that purpose they are more than adequate, not to mention the design gets admiring looks from everyone who visits.

By the way, I mentioned the Lamhorns above. After trying really hard to like them with my PX-25 we put on the designer's Tenor hybrid, and they just sang. It was amazing, but I didn't see the point of buying an efficient single-driver speaker with frequency range limitations, and then having to drive it with a 150 wpc hybrid amp...

I had great success using the Merlin VSM with the Cary 300B monos. The numbers don't indicate just how good this combo sounds, provided you don't listen to organ music (as per your post) and don't need huge volume levels. The deCapo also works well, but it's not in the same league as the VSM and the above caveats are even more applicable. Finally, the Zingali horns work well, very dynamic, reasonably full range, greater volume capability, though a bit less neutral than either of the above.

Happy hunting.

Marty

I use Zu Druids with an Onix SP-3 tube integrated. Plays loud, very musical, fast, transparent and nothing I have ever heard energizes a room in quite the same way. Bass to 35Hz with character and weight you could never imagine by looking at them. The Onix is listed at 38 watts per channel and is built like something 10 times the price. If you visit www.6moons.com you will see that both products were chosen for their Blue Moon Awards. If you want more info just ask. The price of this stuff will leave you with some extra cash.

Thanks for the extra info Gliderguider,

I've only listened to the Abbeys once for ~4 hours at a dealer's home, so being unfamiliar with his system and room only allowed me to get a general gist of the Abbeys potential. But, I didn't readily hear what you describe.

Of course, I was totally unfamiliar territory, so small details would have been to completely lost to me.

I think $1,500 is a pretty tough price point to get everything right for efficient speakers (including cabinetry). It will invariably involve one tradeoff or another.

Your Lamhorn experience is surprising, but the same thing happened with the Abbeys and PX-25. You just never know with this high-eff sngle-driver thing.

BTW, your system is straigh-up amazing, Congrats. I'm dying to hear the new Tom Evans stuff, supposed to be out of this world.

Guys - an update:

I decided to sell the AN and stick to my current system. Space conditions and other short term expenses forced me to change route.

Just for fun - I connected the P4s to my main rig, .. there were some material that was reproduced in a magical way - but many other (the one I listen the most like Jazz, Pop and folk ensambles) lacked of life and impact.

This was previsible since the Avalons are very hard to drive, but it was an interesting experiment for me and my audio-friends.

Thanks for your suggestions - it enlightened me on the understanding of the SET route.

Regards

Fernando