Calling all SET fans

Never heard these speakers but the Birch Acoustics Sparrow on AudiogoN MIGHT fit the bill ... 4" full range driver in a a laminated birch cabinet. Very attractive build (IMHO) and a nice price ($380). Claimed 87db efficiency but no crossover so should be an easy drive. Hopefully someone who has heard them will chime in!

Schubert - when you had your Omegas, were you using a low-powered SET amp to drive them? IMO, that's what the single-driver thing is really about. I remember a friend's system with Zu speakers - I was not very impressed when driven by the big 60-watt Cary monoblocks, but the magic happened when we hooked up the 2-watt Yamamoto. Really not enough power for the Zu's, but you could definitely hear the beauty come through.

I used various amps I had at the time ,smallest was a low powered bottleneck I borrowed to use with my

bottleneck pre, I think it was about 5 watts but no set of course.
But I've heard the 4 " Fostex many times in many systems, the upper mids are just plain rough ,at least the way my ears work. They can be overall OK, but the hemp drivers Omega uses
now are far better .
I've never hears a real SET rig, as least as far as I can remember .

Smallest amp I used was a bottleneck , I had a bottleneck pre at the time . I think it was about 5 watts but no set of course.
But I've heard the 4 " Fostex many times in many systems, the upper mids are just plain rough ,at least the way my ears work. They can be overall OK, but the hemp drivers Omega uses
now are far better .
I've never hears a real SET rig, as least as far as I can remember .
I'm leaning to have Sean at ZU make me a used Omen for classical on that $999 "Dirty" deal they have on their website . Not least because the ZU Event wire I have is VERY good . And I enjoy the placement fuss the Omens seem to require .

A few watts shows its limitations most with lower frequencies. Either the speakers have to make up for the lack of muscle needed to produce quality bass by being very large and if also good quality very expensive, or else you have to punt on the bass to some extent with the speakers depending on your needs. You can have 2 or three bass, efficiency, or small size but not all three.

I heard large more expensive and "efficient" Zus off a set amp at a show a few years back. Sounded very good for smaller scale classical works but not for works requiring more power and muscle in the delivery. The Zu guy admitted the SET was underpowered for all kinds of music. He chose his demos carefully to play well within the limitations until I asked for something more challenging.

I think my little Titus speakers could have done equally well as the Zus (Essence I believe) with the music demoed. If they had used a more suitable powered amp then I think the results may have justified the cost of those Zus. The demo was clearly put together to convince people the Zus were suitable for use with a SET amp but they were definitely quite limited depending with the SET.

So I take all adverts regarding teh capabilities of "high efficeincy" speakers off a few watts of power with grains of salt. Maybe in some cases.

The only demo I have ever heard where a flea powered set performed top notch with all kinds of music involved very high efficiency, large and expensive custom Goto horns. I suspect other very high efficiency horns like Avantegarde can do the job as well. But I doubt any speakers are efficient enough to truly perform top tier off a few watts in lieu of being highly horn loaded to gain the efficiency needed. Even then large bass units are required to fill in the low end.

So I think one just has to be realistic about the limitations. For smaller rooms, lower volumes, and music forms where lower octaves do not mean much, you are golden with smaller high quality moderate efficiency speakers in many cases, but the ante increases exponentially from there.