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What's the greatest bargain in SET these days?

Hi, Gang,
I response to my recent review of the Reference 3A De Capo BE speaker, someone wrote that if you really want to hear them sing, you should try them with a SET amp, or words to that effect.
That got me thinking. The De Capo's are 92 db efficient, which (correct me if I'm wrong) seems kind of borderline for low-power SET amps.
In any event, right now I'm running mine with a pair of Manley Mahi mono-blocks. They are switchable from triode (20 watts) to "ultra linear" (40 watts). I run them in triode all the time, and in my room, the volume knob almost never goes past 9 o'clock; more would just be too loud.
All that said, what do you guys think of running the De Capo's with a SET amp? And if I did, what's the best bargain in SET's these days?
Thanks!
rebbi
grannyring's avatar
grannyring
6,602 posts
 
Interesting spec on the Coincident EL34 amp. I think Al is spot on with his answer as to why. It is cost related and gives the builder an opportunity to make the best quality output tranny within a smaller range of ideal operation.

A typical SET amp has an output impedance of some 3 ohms (no feedback) with many under that. Speaker matching is especially critical with this amp. I think Dick O. got it right in his review warning folks to be careful and clearly showing the sonic results of mating this amp with a "typical" speaker. Not sure it is his responsibilty to hunt for a particular speaker for the review? Maybe it is?
charles1dad's avatar
charles1dad
10,250 posts
 
Hi Al,
Yes the output transformer is a logical culprit. Except in this case two things counter that assumption to some degree.
1) Israel places much emphasis on the importance of transformer quality and is consistent in that stance.

2)6 Moons and Enjoy The Music reviewers as well as Mikirob and Brownsfan attest to the very high quality sound from the Dynamo. These different users cover a variety of speakers as well.

These factors would suggest that the output transformers must be pretty darn good at a minimum. I suppose it's possible to have good quality transformers that suffer unusually high output impedance.
mikirob
955 posts
 
I believe it is Dick Olsher's responsibility to utilize different speakers that have a chance to mate well with a given amplifier. Most reviewers would not mate a low-watt SET with grossly incompatible speakers except to note, for example, that one must be careful in speaker matching. Then he, the reviewer, would generally base the review on compatible rigs to let us, the reader compare and contrast.
grannyring's avatar
grannyring
6,602 posts
 
Yes, Dick should avoid a gross mismatch for sure. Should he hunt for a 10-16 ohm speaker for the review? No, not so much.

I will read the other reviews to see the speakers that were used.
charles1dad's avatar
charles1dad
10,250 posts
 
Grannyring,
Yes we all here would agree on the importance of synergy/compatibility. For this reason a reviewer should rationally use an appropriate speaker for the amplifier under review. Otherwise what good is the reviewer's results if the match isn't properly sorted out? SETs need easy to drive speakers with reasonable efficiency. As Mikirob pointed out, he has no limitation of music genres with his Tekton speakers. An excellent 300b SET will sound woeful if asked to drive a Magical or a Thiel. Get the match "right" and the amp will shine.
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