I use a 2016 Dennis Had Firebottle HO (high output, whatever THAT means...max 15 watts pc or something? Likely less with some tubes but, meh...) that sounds astonishingly good with my 99db horns (mid horn damped titanium mid and tweeter drivers Heresy IIIs), and swap that amp with a Pass XA-25 when the mood strikes. 2 REL subs resulting in absolutely no lack of bass, tons of headroom with either amp, and joy in my brain. These amps sound somewhat different but both are so good and similarly mirth inducing that I simply don't need anything else.
Your journey with lower-watt tube amps -- Can a kit be good enough?
Looking for stories about your low-watt amp journeys.
Here's the situation: I have new speakers, 97 db. Trying them with lower watt tube amps (45/211, 300b, etc) seems generally wise. I am attempting to borrow some from audiophiles in the area.
The horizon beyond trying these things involves actually buying some. I'm looking at a budget limit of about $5k.
Curious as to folks' experience with lower-watt amp kits vs. those of good makers (e.g. Dennis Had, etc.).
If you have any thoughts about the following, I'd be interested:
Did you start out with a kit and then get dissatisfied? Why?
Did you compare kits vs. pre-made and find big differences?
Did you find you could get the equivalent level of quality in a kit for much less than the same pre-made version? How about kit vs. used?
Also: did you find there was a difference between "point to point wiring" vs. "PCB" in these various permutations?
I realize that there are good kits and bad ones, good pre-made amps and bad ones. I'm hoping you'll be comparing units which seem at comparable levels of quality and price-points.
Thanks.
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To @wolf_garcia, which output tubes did you land on for your DH Firebottle HO amp? |
I'm currently using Gold Lion KT66s, a NOS Amperex 6SN7GTB (looks like a re-branded GE), and a "Tubestore Preferred Series" 274B rectifier. Note I have a drawer full of tubes including more GLs (88s, 77s, 90s, 120s, etc.) and other stuff. The 66s are pretty great, but I'll likely get bored and swap em out at some point...for now they stay. |
@alexberger Here's what my tech friend and amp builder said about your comment, in case you're interested: "It doesn't [have an interstage transformer], but then again most single-ended amps don't have an interstage transformer, nor most PP amps for that matter, they are expensive. The 845 is hard to drive and since the SV uses a 12BH7 to drive it, there is less power than if driven with a larger tube or an interstage transformer. Clearly it is not "impossible" as the amplifier operates." |
I don't want to interpret for someone else, particularly someone with vastly more hands on equipment building and technical knowledge than Alex Berger, but, I don't think "impossible" meant it cannot be done--its more like it cannot be done optimally. Clearly Sun Valley is doing it; the question is whether this is a good approach. I think that there are lots of suboptimal designs that are done to lower cost, so it is helpful that Alex Berger is pointing this out. I too have my doubts about the plethora of low cost 300B SET amps with 12AX7 drivers and no interstage transformer--this might be less than ideal, so the question is whether this is the right cost-quality tradeoff. I am not saying it is the wrong tradeoff, but, it helps for buyers to be aware of the issue. |
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