SET 45 Amp Driving Dynamic Speakers

I don't think it is quite as simple as a great digital system will sound even better with good phono gear added.  I have problems with optimizing my system for one or the other.  I had a setup that sounded quite good with both my CD player and my phono setup.  But, when I went to a music server that has a slightly different tonal balance, if I optimize the sound for the server, the setup doesn't sound as nice as it did before when playing my phono source.  I actually have more flexibility than most people do in changing my sound without taking drastic measures, because I can control the output of both my midrange and tweeter drivers, but, I find it too much of a bother to fiddle with this when switching back and forth.  I actually ended up optimizing the sound for my music server because I listen to it more than I do the phono setup. 

Getting back to the SET subject, I have a Korneff 45 type amp and I am using the Emission Labs Solid Plates with highly modded horn speakers!!! I could not be happier my speakers started life as Klipsch Corner horns but, the only thing Klipsch is the 15" woofers and the original cabinets!!! Everything else has been upgraded, the tweeters are Fostex 90A's the mid horns are 2" wooden tractrix horns with the BMS 2" drivers and a custom made xover using the best parts I could put in them!!! The speakers were rated at 118db but I have them padded down to 108db and the sound awesome!!!

Hi jsman.

I'm interested in learning more about your midrange horn. Is it circular? What are your xo points and what is the horn cutoff frequency? I'm also exploring tractrix midrange horns. Right now with a suitable cone driver but also considering compression drivers.

I can play any music I like at any volume I want included levels that would severely damage hearing. This I can do on 6 SET watts easy. I love heavy metal punk blues jazz classical, pipe organ etc I have no limits this is what one can get with careful matching of amplifier ie SET to loudspeaker. Sure SETs can sound wonderful if used in systems that set a performance limit. But they can do it all if you let them. My SETs are driving 4 -15 inch woofer-2- 50lb compression mids and 2-30lb tweeters. With SET the loudspeaker needs be able to work weak magnets small cabinets complex networks all put limitations on SET amplification.

My 8watts 300B SET plays on not even horn and not even efficient speakers (marvelous 88dB XTZ Master M2 speakers to hear or have), and yet sounds loud enough. Imagine now with efficient speakers!!!

'Sounds loud enough' is exactly the right term but for the wrong reason! The reason it 'sounds' loud enough is due to distortion. If you were to put the very same amp on a horn system, it would not 'sound' as loud until it was actually playing a lot louder, due to the fact that on a horn system there would be less distortion and so it would not 'sound' as loud.

This is because the ear converts distortion into tonality and in addition, uses higher ordered harmonics to calculate sound pressure. If the system has excessive higher ordered harmonics, it will 'sound' louder than it actually is. A sound pressure meter sorts this sort of thing out really quick! If you have excessive distortion, 90 db might 'sound' pretty loud since the ear's sense of sound pressure will be skewed; if the distortion is absent, 100 db (10x louder) might not sound any louder!