2. amps-preamps
  3. 1040827979

Has anyone tried SET tubes amps with maggie 1.6's

My long time ss amp died a few weeks ago, and I only had a tiny integrated, single ended pentode, 5 watt tube amp on hand, to run my maggie 1.6's. To my astonishment it worked!

The manufacturer of this tiny SET is no longer in business: Wright audio, there were 2 companies with the same name, this one was out of Seattle.

Of course the musical picture is not quite complete. There is a noticeable lack of punchy bass and dynamics are softened compared with a Plinius 8200 mk2 that I auditioned not long ago (of course that has 175 ss watts compared to 5 watts with my tube SEP).

However that aside, the sound is actually quite loud enough and the realism is nothing less than startling. Femal voices, for instance, have a warmth, body, tenderness, emotion and silky transparancy that melts your heart and often brings me to tears. Strings are rendered with a rich silky transparancy as well. Horns, woodwinds, and guitars seem to posses an extra dimension that is uncanny.

As you might suspect, when the music gathers to a complex transient pitch, the instruments muddy as the amp clips. And there is a bit of sibilance from time to time. Also the piano losses its authority as the all-over dynamics are restricted. The sound stage also softens somewhat and losses its potential perception of real depth.

However the sound reminds me of the new iteration of the older British Quads, the 998, which I heard recently. In fact the maggies with this SEP amp sounds better, more involving.

I should mention that I modified my maggies by using large Hovland capacitors, and huge copper coil inductors from Alpha Core, in place of the standard ones, which might be contributing to the maggies all over sense of refinement here.

I would deeply appreciate it, if anyone in our audiophile community, has had experience with an SET amp that had/has a bit more power than my 5 watt SEP, and what your results were on the maggie 1.6's. Especially in the area of dynamics, and low level resolution of complex musical passages.

If there is a not-to-terribly expensive SET amp that might work for the 1.6's, I will stop my search for an ss amp (which up until now is somewhat disapointing because of hardness of strings and the lack of real warmth to voices) and concentrate on auditioning SET's.

I would like to thank everyone in advance for your help and idease which I deeply appreciate.
america
america OP
25 posts
 
Hi Dh,

Thanks for the suggestion and information on your AESSAS. I will certainly look into it. If there is a particular sight you can suggest that would have more information that would be helpful as well.

I once had the occasion of speaking to Dennis Had of Cary Audio
as well, and found him a lovely person to talk to; accessable and honest and refreshingly candid. Nice experience.

I had no idea he used the maggie 1.6's to voice any of his amps and found that most interesting information.

I also read with interest your using the Aleph 3 on occasion with your maggie 1.6's because I have been contemplating purchasing a Aleph 30 (the successor to the Aleph 3 with "improvements" or so that is how it is described...I have not actually "heard" it yet) and wondered if anyone had any experience with it...

How would you describe the sound of the Aleph 3 with your maggies Dh?

Also, do you find that your REL Storm 3 to be "seamless" with your maggies, or is there a "sense" of the sound being (somewhat) "added on" (that is-slower)? And while we are discussing the use of a subwoofer with the maggies...do you feel they help to flesh out the voice region of the midrange? I have heard they can effect this area by "building" a foundation under which the "voice" can achieve a more perceived tonal presence...

Thanks again for your help and feedback Dh...if you can direct me to more information about your AESSAS, I would deeply appreciate it...

Best-Richard
emil
205 posts
 
This might be of interest to you.

http://cgi.audioasylum.com/systems/361.html
america OP
25 posts
 
Thanks Emil,

I read with interest Set mans system on Audioasylum.

Seems he loves his 20 watt Welborn Labs Appollo DIY
amps for his maggie 1.5's.

My search for the right amp still continues...

Best-Richard
dh114307
9 posts
 
Hey Richard,
I'm using MMGs not 1.6s - so mine are a little more efficient than the 1.6s. I would buy a used Aleph 3 before a 30, myself - the 30 is not the same. The Aleph 3 is pretty dynamic, great from top to bottom. It may be a little warm but not by much. Picked mine up from a guy that bought it and never used it - for a grand, right near where I live lucky enough. Best solid state amp I've ever owned, and I've owned a few. There are a few other amp manufacturers that use the mmg for voicing because it is so neutral. I got tired of going back and forth from ss to tube so I purchased one of each on the cheap; the AESsas was new of course but it is great sounding at full retail of $1500/no tax though(from Upscale Audio). I use the REL just to fill in the very bottom reaches. I run it straight off the amp's output terminals in order to capture the voice of the amp. It took a while to get it set up properly - it was moving a little slow in time behind the maggies which are pretty fast. But I finally dialed it in. You will have to adjust output level from time to time depending on what genre or quality of music you are g\feeding it. The REL is the best sub I've owned/auditioned - ever! They do give the soud a great foundation - when you have that last octave working in the system it just "Clicks" together - Complete. I swear it helps further up the range by filling in the lower registers of all the instruments; plus the venue/hall.
Talk to ya later,
David
america OP
25 posts
 
Hi David,

Thanks for the information. You have cleared up a question I had
about the differences between the Aleph 3 and the newer iteration, the Aleph 30. There has been so much written about these two amps! It now appears that the company that actually manufactured
the Aleph 30 with (apparently) Nelson Pass's blessings, is out of
business(?!?!). I thought they were selling well.

It is amazing how many serious music lovers have deep
respect for the Aleph 3, and still love it as their amp of
choice in their systems.

I have been visiting audioasylum recently (yes...I know...
whatever must have come over me!) and picked up a thread
about the Carver Professional ZR series of "T" class digital
amps. It seems that Carver Professional uses the Tri-path
chips, like BelConto "digital" amps to perform signal matching
between the incoming signal and outgoing signal to make
certain they match correctly. There rate of pulsing is higher
than the PS Audio HCA-2 which could point to a higher
resolving of the audable signal, although this is not certain,
since in the realm of so-called-digital amplification there may
be a point where more is not neccessarily audible.

On the other hand speed of "pulsations" may become
a benchmark that amp designers may use in marketing
hype, not unlike bit depth in scanners.

If the tri-path chips can control mosfet transisters, which is
what is used in the Carver Professional ZR series, why can't
they be used to control tubes (yes...yes...I am commiting a
grievous crime here, saying chips and tubes in the same
breadth). David Berning, for instance uses radio waves
to "control" his tube sets in his ZH-270 "OTL" amp to great
advantage. Just a thought. But I feel it definitley will lie in the
future as a possible "controlling" factor in tube typology.

More later, my wife wants me to drive her to the Fed-Ex
store...

Best-Richard
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