short answer to op's question is no
Is there a Solid State amp that can satisfy a SET guy?
Have been a SET guy for so long I have forgotten what a good SS amp even sounds like.
Just bought a pair of $33k speakers that will replace my current $16k speakers. Both are from the same designer and both are 92db and a flat 8 ohms. The new ones arrive in 4 days!
My 300B based amps well drive my current speakers even though I do use the system nightly as a 2 channel home theater. Especially considering the HT usage, I think I may enjoy a SS amp with many times the horsepower. The speaker designer suggests using a Leema Hydra II. I have written to Leema telling them of my 300B preference and they assure me that their amp does not have the destructive harmonics that make a SS amp bright. There must be other SS amps that can satisfy?
Just bought a pair of $33k speakers that will replace my current $16k speakers. Both are from the same designer and both are 92db and a flat 8 ohms. The new ones arrive in 4 days!
My 300B based amps well drive my current speakers even though I do use the system nightly as a 2 channel home theater. Especially considering the HT usage, I think I may enjoy a SS amp with many times the horsepower. The speaker designer suggests using a Leema Hydra II. I have written to Leema telling them of my 300B preference and they assure me that their amp does not have the destructive harmonics that make a SS amp bright. There must be other SS amps that can satisfy?
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I actually found an Aleph 3 in Finland. Stereophile went nuts for this amp. https://www.stereophile.com/solidpoweramps/674/index.html Think I prefer the 3 over the Aleph 5. My Tetra 606s arrive tomorrow! Think my 300B SETs will push them nicely. But this thread has got me very interested in some slam, detail and bass of a good SS! My speakers are 92db, very flat 8 ohms and simple crossovers with no resistors. They are 3 way with a 12" woofer, ATC dome midrange and Mundorf dipole AMT tweeter). The only remaining question is whether it would be better to have the Aleph 5 with 60 wpc or the Aleph 3 with 30 wpc?? |
I’ll add another recommendation for Firstwatt, the F5 in particular which is what I had. I’m into DIY and built a 300B based on ISO Japan transformers, and then built an F5. They both sound excellent. The F5 has adjustable 2nd harmonic distortion that can be tweaked to taste. When I measured both, the F5 distortion profile was similar to the 300B |
Go check out Derek Sanderson’s Fleawatt chip amps. He told me a long time ago that several people were trading in their expensive 300B SET amps for his Fleawatt amps and not missing a beat. i can attest, I recently had a 3 wpc 6B4G SET amp (6V version of a 2A3 tube & supposed to sound identical from all I’ve read about this tube) up against a 3118 chip amp and after hearing it, I could no longer justify owning a tube amp. |
- 288 posts total