Need help : Single ended, Low power, SET amps..

Hi Tweek,

Believe it or not, I didn't say JBL just because they are so efficient.

Most hi end people consider the JBL sound is what you get at concerts.
Well sometimes it is, but how would a whole wall of your favourite hi-fi speakers sound, often driven by an "interesting" selection of power amps wired up by people who think fancy cables are snake oil.
Cables being robust so they can be moved 10,000 times is what counts to them - not fancy stranding, teflon or oxygen free!

JBL's are often used in mastering studios. A friend of mine has such a studio and the sound he gets is awesome - of course VERY revealing, which is what SET is like as Twl points out.
If JBL's couldn't get it right - those recordings could never sound right on our hi-fi! (don't assume JBL's are all used for pop recordings either)
Take the best of those drivers (and they are very good, think of the volumes they do, how ruthless the competition is in pro sound and estimate their research budget for yourself), set them up like hi-fi drivers would be and you would be VERY shocked.
I was, and your Jardis gear would be damn fine to drive them - with that much power (even the smallest Jardis) going into speakers of around 100 dB/watt efficiency, bi-amping would be a sonic experement (likely to be rewarding, IMHO) rather than a necesity.

With SET, as with any sort of tube amp, output transformer quality is critical, hence expensive and single ended ones are the hardest to build! Right, = great. Not quite right = oh dear!

If you have pocket deep enough to go 3 way active, how about mosfet or PP tube bass, SET midrange and triode PP trebble? That I think, would be using each type of technology in its strongest area.
Let me know how your hi-fi adventure goes!

hello, single end amps are very simply if you look at signal paths and parts count to me this is why they sound so great but they have to run a speaker with high sensitivity to sound there best .You can run a whole speaker of a s.e.t. amp but they role off the treble and bass some what.So mix and match I say ,if you want a tube amp that can run most speakers than your choice is a push pull .they do tend to distort the signal or stretch notes.they do give you a taste of what tubes can do s.e.t.s give you a so much more musicality than push pulls but they dont do frequincy extremes as well.trade offs are what audio is all about

Tweek, check out the Lowther America website. They have improved the Lowther drivers with a re-designed whizzer cone that has a rolled edge. I supposedly eliminates the midrange resonance peak that previously plagued Lowther drivers. They also changed the suspension ring from a rolled out to a rolled in. Smoothed out response there too. New,optional phase plug design is questionable but new just the same. Old one still standard. I just ordered a pair of new DX3 with all the mods. I am making a set of Voight Pipe enclosures to start with and may go to a somewhat more exotic enclosure later. Their new "Big Fun Horn" looks pretty good as a back loaded bass horn design which extends the full-range Lowther down to 32HZ on the low end. Even if it rolls off at 12db from there, it will still only be about 6db down at 24Hz. Not bad for a single driver. Goes to 22kHz at the high end. 98db at 1watt input unloaded. About 100db at 1watt in a cabinet. Not sure if I am all that wild about a corner horn though. Still researching. In any cabinet you choose, though, the Lowther is a great choice for a SET amp. You get great sound with great efficiency and detail with decent accurate bass depth and maybe real good bass depth with the corner horn. Front wave is not horn loaded so it does not "honk" in the mids. How's that? New improved Lowther + Big Fun Horn Cabinet + SET = WOW!! Nothing can touch it! :-) Have fun.

Twl, even though full range Lowthers and Fostex may out-class the commercials, the Seas+Accuton+Philips should provide overall dynamic musicality. The DIY building the speakers says the Push-pull tube is just the thing. I hope one day to hear a Lowther, im sure the imaging is just super and may be more dynamic than a electrostat. Tmcroy, i've looked at active. But i think a superior passive xover in parts and in tweaked design (DIY) will allow the amp to deliver a better sound. Between amp and drivers , least is best. John, trade offs in amps is an issue. I could not sacrifice the FQ's in the high and low end with a good SET. I won't know the potential of this Jadis until i get the new speakers. MY B&W's and Philips lack finesse.

My dream single ended amp is the Berning Siegfried. Someday, maybe........ :)