Giving up on Power Race, and going SET?

I can't blame anyone for being a magnepan or an ESL diehard.
Both are capable of world class sound. But for me, SET or OTLs have the sound of music that make me such a diehard that I buy an amp before speakers. Then look for speakers that will show off the magic of these small watt SET or OTL amps. I wish there were more quailty speakers available that would work with 1 to 10 watts. I don't believe horns would work in my room, besides I don't want that big of a speaker. I have never had a chance to hear a Lowther speaker. I will make sure to do so in the future. I have found it impossible to go back to SS amps and I have heard many of the reportedly great ones. I have heard some very good sound from SS, it just doesn't have the ability to make me feel like there are real performers playing real instruments as SET or OTLs. Don't mean to start any arguments, just one more opinion blowin' in the wind.

I have never went after power. I am not sure if it was a money thing or a matter of not understanding why would anyone need more power. To me it was a matter of matching equipment and being happy with the sound. The fun was the ability to always change. Sometimes move up, sometimes move sideways.

I fouind some old speakers in my basement and decided to order some Lowther and Fostex drivers to try my hand at making something. If I come close, then I will turn to those who do it everyday and see where I end up.

I do like horns and SETS. The Avantgarde Solo is a surprise and affordable. At 7K most of use would have already gone beyond with amps, wires and speakers. The Solo is an all in one kit...but that's too easy isn't it? Add some interconnects intended for the microwave industry (cheap, good sounding wire) between a CD player with a volume control and the Solos, and you are all set.

Yes, it makes sense to look at this option and leave the power race.

For those of us who enjoy listening at high volumes, but want a relatively compact, easy to place speaker, I'm not sure there is any choice other than to go dynamic drivers/higher power, and ditto for those who prefer panel speakers. In fact, that's basically my whole concern about low power: it's not the simple, flea-powered amps that bother me in theory, it's how you're limited in the speaker department. I've only ever heard some SET systems playing in a store in passing, and haven't ever really auditioned one. But I have a hard time believing that - outside of large horns (which may have other problems, but what doesn't?) - high-SPL, wide-bandwidth, uncolored, non-resonant performance will be available from an easy-to-drive and easy-to-control ultra-high-efficiency speaker. The laws of physics are against it happening, so I assume that folks happy with their SET systems must be giving up some combination of volume, headroom, extension, neutrality, or clean decay behavior to get their special kicks (some of which are always subject to the suspicion of increased, but pleasing, low-order distortion-induced euphony). I've not properly auditioned Avant-Gardes or the like, and don't have anything against increased efficiency where possible, but it otherwise seems to me that the world's most competent speakers still demand something in the way of clean power to sound most like live music, and I for one am not ready to simply view this as a wattage 'rat-race'. I would love to be proved wrong, and have someone play me a bandwidth- and volume-unlimited SET system that sounds accurate while kicking out the live jams at a handful of watts, but I don't know that I'll ever have the opportunity (or that the speakers needed would fit my house/budget), so I'll stay with what I know works reasonably well.

Zaikesman, I understand and agree with much you have said. Finding a speaker that will give you the desired volume has been hard to find. The flea sized amps that I have heard or owned have had no problem with extension, neutrality, or clean decay. I know there are many SET and OTLs that are euphonic. I would not waste my money on an amp that is colored toward a dark, euphonic, poor extension, or lack of clean decay. There are several SET and OTL amps that do not fit this discription. But you are right, finding a speaker for these kind of amps is very limited. This is what is so frustrating for me. It is hard to argue with many of your view points. But once you hear what these flea sized amps can do with the appropriate speakers, maybe, just maybe, you will understand why people like myself love these flea sized amps.

I can pull off 105db peaks with my 2 watts, on my Lowther EX3 Voigt Pipes. I can also get right down to 40Hz without the weaknesses that are normally associated with Lowthers, due to my cabinet mods. Yes, they have limitations in the lowest octave.

So for my use, this SPL and bass response is totally adequate in my 24'x14' room with a 16' vaulted ceiling. Add to that, that these speakers make most $25k speakers sound like they have a blanket over them, and that makes you a little more forgiving if there is a little coloration here or there.

As for the "euphonic distortion", I've got to address this, because I am getting really tired of hearing that. First, all SET amps have a specific distortion profile that puts nearly all of its total harmonic distortion into one area of 2nd Order harmonics. Generally less than 1% total. Single driver speakers also have a distortion profile where their total harmonic distortion is mostly in the 2nd Order, and in the case of Lowthers, slightly less than 1%.

Now, since these amps and speakers have this particular relationship in their distortion profiles, their distortions will either be additive, or subtractive, based upon where they line up in terms of phase angle. If the amp distortion profile is 180 degrees out of phase with the speaker distortion profile, the amp AND speaker distortions will largely be cancelled, and provide a lower SYSTEM distortion than ANY other combination of amp/speaker. If they are not 180 degrees out, then reversing the speaker leads will put them 180 degrees out. Even if they fall in between 0 and 180 degrees, there is a medium level of distortion cancellation to be had. This is something that is not available to ANY other amp/speaker combination, and is the reason for the SET/Single-driver synergy that can provide lower SYSTEM distortion than anything else that can be put together regardless of price, because this combination actually causes a self-cancelling of distortion between the speaker and amp, in real time, during music playback. Not just on a lab bench.

Any time that you go to a push-pull, or SS amp, or multi driver speakers with crossover, you have distortion profiles that are spread out all across the harmonic spectrum in varying amounts, that do not lend themselves to this distortion cancelling synergy. This is why total SYSTEM distortion in all other systems is always additive. And has distortion components in the odd-orders that are unpleasant.

So next time you guys want to talk about "euphonic distortion" with SET amps, think about the fact that the "euphonic distortion" is kicking the living hell out of your amp/speaker combination's distortion profile, and makes it look like a distortion generator in comparison.

If you want to find out more about this phenomenon, there are treatises written about it on the web. That's where I found out about it a long time ago.