Tekton Double Impacts

I had the wonderful experience of listening with Teajay to the two SET amps with DI last Wednesday. I must say that I thought the 2a3 amp made by Triode lab was far better than the Canary 300b mono blocks. Everything Teajay said about the Canarys is true. They have a huge image with great dynamics and they are the champs at detail retrieval. They just don't sound as much like music as the 2a3 amp IMHO. The 2a3 amp bowled me over with its incredible tonality and beautiful imaging. It was the best that I have ever heard Teajay's system. There was real music playing with the 2A3 amps. The Canarys had a more exciting sound but the Triode lab was just the music. Both are great amps but the 2a3 literally knocked my socks off!

 I told Teajay that Triode lab was so good that I wanted one of to buy one....even though not having speakers that would work with it...it was that good!

Baranyl,
Thanks for your additional listening impressions. If the Canary 300b SET is anything like my Coincident amplifier the choice of 300b tube has a substantial effect on the sound quality and character. What tube was teajay using?

He used a very well regarded NOS RCA with the 2A3 amplifier. Based on your sonic descriptions I’d choose the Triode Labs 2A3 SET as well. I’ll always prefer the component that gets to the core of music and increases the emotional involvement/communication aspect of listening.

This emotional connection factor (and tonality/timbre) could vary noticeably depending on the quality of 300b tube used in my amplifier. The one drawback admittedly is the better 300bs are expensive relative to most other output tubes.

Teajay said that the Double Impacts are a conduit and that seems to be quite an accurate assessment. The variety of amplifiers mentioned in this thread is diverse. Personally I’d love to hear the Triode Labs 2A3 SET in direct comparison to the Line Magnetic 508ia used by Chris (Waltersalas). Now that would be very interesting, pure SET DHT tubes in both low power and  moderate power presentation. 

The Double Impacts open the door to some compelling scenarios.
Charles

@david_ten actuallly Kathryn did asked what I was going to do with the 804s the DIs displaced. But mom wasn't letting those leave the house. They displaced some floor standing 6 series B&Ws I had in the family room. The 804s are very nice looking, as well as sounding great IMHO so that was a win for the wife. Kathryn is likely to "inherit" the 6 series for the new house they are building. I need some good sound when I visit over there too! Win, win, win.

Hi Charlies,

The 300B tubes I used in the Canary amps were Sophia Electric  Mesh Plates which I like very much.  When I was rolling 300B's at one time this tube and the even more expensive Royal Princess tube were my favorite.  

Teajay,
Thanks. I’ve used both of those tubes in my amplifier and  thought the Sophia  Royal Princess was very good sounding. I like the EML XLS and Takatsuki even more with direct comparison. I’m pretty certain that the particular amplifier in use has some influence regarding tube preference.
Charles