Building the Audio Note Kit 1 SET amp...


Hi, Folks,
If anyone's interested, I've started a blog with lots of photos, documenting my ongoing build of the Audio Note Kit 1 300B SET amp. If you've ever thought of building any kit before and want to get a feel for what it's like, you're welcome to have a look!
rebbi
Rebbi,
If it was me, I'd keep your magnificent AN Kit 1 and DeCapo's. Do you really miss Tecno Synth bass in most of your listening? I'm usually happy with speakers that can capture the low E-string on a bass guitar. In your small room most Rock, classical, Jazz, voices, etc. should be excellent with terrific tone, timbre, naturalness, and all the other attributes of 300B sound. Why invest/spend huge amounts to capture synth bass techno sound at the expense of your other 98% listening?

On another note, after reading all of this thread, my wife exclaimed, I am still building the AN amp, I love the sound of the 300B tube. So, there you have it, I'm one lucky dude. Coincident Dynamo in my office, soon to be Coincident 300B in my dedicated listening room and AN Kit-1 in the living room. Retirement is going to be fun.
It's not about music being loud. Distortion always seems louder due to noise. The issue is the contraction and constriction of dynamics that come way before clipping. My 97db efficient, 12 ohm Coincident speakers played loud enough for me, but not well enough over a period of time. Gorgous music to be sure, but in the end the music was limited to jazz and vocals.

It took time for me to notice this and more importantly, other more powerful amps made that easily apparent. You can get loud in your little room, but not the kind of expansive, at ease, fully dynamic sound that is possible with a better suited amp. Sure, you get beauty and tone with the right kinds of music, but not the full experience with many kinds of music.

The right speaker for the amp will also work, but it also has to be the right speaker for Rebbi. It will be interesting to see where he lands. More than one way to accomplish a bit more flexibility in his system. All good points thus far.
The who comment resonated with me. Zu's I heard demoed similar to Tecton did not deliver with Rush on a set. The zu admitted the set was underpowered for the task after the fact. He was demoing with classical and jazz fair that was better suited and that sounded fine. Many with sets likely do not care about that kind of music much. Ie music that relies more on power and impact than beauty to make its point. These were larger more full range zu speakers though. Smaller less extended models of moderate efficiency will be less challenged. Will they sound best on all kinds of music? Very good maybe but not best. It's all about choosing your compromise in many cases.

If I were Reb I'd audition the Tektons. Little to,lose to try. Milk I was referring to Tektons not Teutons. That was my iPad spell checker doing the wrong thing. 😬😬😬