SETs vs. Push/Pull

Hi Lak. I can certainly understand your apprehension here. I am a giant fan of any of Stewart tylers response series speakers and have set up more than a few of them for myself, family and friends.I personally use a pair of the response 4's in one room at my studio and I am currently running a pair of response 2's in my family room at home.A close friend runs the 2.5 in his 16ft x 28ft basement room with an 8 ft ceiling and drives them with my old CJ 52 {completely stock}.I have used an assortment of set amps... wright 2a3 monos, wright 300b monos,a highly tweaked pair of 22 watt ASL 1006 845 monos, as well as my 60 watt ASL 1009 "parrallel 845 set" monos and a modified KR 18bsi employing the kr 300 bxl tube". Current Push pull amps for comparison purposes are a highly tweeked pair of el-34 based Vac PA 90c monos,a pair of MFA 120 monos wired in triode employing KT-88's,and my old trusty CJ mv-52 mentioned above employing nos mullard el-34's. I am sure you are well aware of the proacs synergy with tube amplification due to their benign impedence load, and to be candid here:in my honest opinion, it is the only way to drive them. I have to concurr with Edle regarding set power. The Proacs are beautiful with just about any quality tube amplifier however, in my experience, the 2a3's based amps are tremendous here but tend to run out of steam on a lot of classical and many live jazz and blues works. The 300 b based amplifiers are mezmerizing in what they do capture musically but can tend to be somewhat soft or bloomy, lack the bass resolution and power of the better push/pull amplifiers and are perhaps a little rolled off at the very top as well. I must admit... I have never heard the Air Tight 300b, however... based on my experience with the Air tight 3 monos.. I can only assume they must be one of the industry's finest. If it can be adjusted to accommodate the KR 300 bxl it would surely drive the 2.5s to perfection. Do not discount this tube, it can be biased to give you around 18 watts of output. The bottom end of the KR bxl is incredible in resolution and drive capability, and rivals any of my push pull amps in this area. The ASL 1009 monos are parallel 845's pushing 60 watts each,they are far and away the best amplifiers in my stable and are employed exclusively to drive a tweaked out pair of 98 db efficient Tannoy Westminsters in huge soundroom at my studio.That said: the KR 18 bsi "modded to remove its preamp stage" rivals the big ASL 1009's in its drive capabilty and has the more resolute bass to boot.It is my amplifier of choice for the proac 2's at home. I do have to concurr with above poster {jeffreybehr} regarding the recommendation of the el-34 based CJ amps as they do have a magical "very set like" synergy with the proac and when adjusted with good nos tubes,the MV 52 makes for a very engaging musical experience for very little money. As a matter of fact...when outfitted with the rare genelex KT-77"read insanely expensive here" the little CJ must be heard to be believed and will embarrass most anything out there under $5k or more. Unfortunately, a quad of Kt-77's are insanely expensive, comparable in cost to a quad of Western Electric 300b's. The kt-77 is a drop in replacement for the el-34 pentode however,its is actually a beam power tube [like a kt-88]and posses a similar bass response to the kt-88. Geez Lak..... I think I'm getting a little carried away here. Hope this helps and all the best in your endevour. Cheers David

Hello Tomryan,
I have a pair of the Granite 860's. They can reasonably drive my Piega P-10's. The 30 Watts of Triode is heavenly and bass is really really good for thirty watts of power. Of course at 8400 a pair you'd better get something. If you're in the Toronto area let me know.

Thanks for the info, both LaK and Ecclectique. I, too, am a fond admirerer of the Response series and had the 2S for a short while before getting the 2.5s. My 300B amp is designed to standard Air Tight quality and has Tamura trannies and other goodies which give it more drive and extension than any other 300B I've listened to. High frequency extension is superb for any amp, however, I fully agree about the bass problem. I just don't think a single pair of 300bs can get deep, controled, and tight bass from my speakers although they will give it - have done it with a number of tube amps.

Uh oh...gotta go. Will come back later and praddle on some more.

CAT JL2 is the only amp that will give you back the virtues of PP amps and still retain all of your SET virtue - and then improve on both!

Tomryan,

Bless your heart , all these people with their ideas. Sets are the way period! Don't let anybody fool you. You may try another route, but in the end you will go back to SETs. Nothing images or sounds realistic as SET. Just SETs are very picky in what they like in front of them and behind them. Find another speaker to demo first. You have one of the best 300B amps available. The Proacs are great too but, they tend to be a little boring. Try some Deware HDTs and depending on the music you listen to you may have to use a sub. But, the speakers are so tight for a single driver that a sub. is very easy to use with them.