Tekton Double Impacts

Hello gentlemen,

Have a field report on my experiences with two great SET amplifiers driving the DI's.  However, I would want to comment on driving the Ulfbertht speaker with either the BK or Carver amplifiers.  I preface this with that in our hobby there is no right or wrong, it's personal taste and how we experience the illusion of how a total system produces music.  Because the DI's are true conduits, and I'm sure the Ulifbertht's are too, I can't imagine that I would enjoy either of Eric's speakers being driven by the above mentioned amplifiers.  I try never to speak in disrespect or ignorance about any product or someone's opinion.  I have reviewed the Carver amplifier and found it at best to be just average in its performance, another OK sounding tube based amp.  I have spent hours listening to the BK amplifier and again thought it was OK, but nothing special at all.  Yes, it has received rave professional reviews, but compared to other SS amplifiers such as Accuphase or Pass Labs, which I have used to drive the DI's, it sounded to me like scores of "HIFI" sounding SS amps meaning relatively grainless, but somewhat sterile in tonality and color.

On to my field report.

I now have spent hours with both the Triode Lab SET 2A3s-EVO single chassis amplifier and the Canary Audio M-80 SET 300B mono-block amplifiers.  Each was driven by the Micro-ZOTL and each amplifier was totally tubed with the finest NOS tubes that based on experience give me the musical flavor I'm seeking in my system.  The only tube I had no prior experience with was the 2A3, so after some experimentation with new stock and NOS tubes my favorite turned out to be RCA 40's black plate tubes in the Triode Lab amplifier.

Well, guys which do you like better a Ferrari or a Lamborghini?  Both these amplifiers are reference level performers and if I had very deep pockets I would by both of them for my stable of amplifiers.  The Canary Audio 300B amps are highly detailed, silky smooth, throw a palatial soundstage, and rock on overall dynamics with the best bottom extension/power, more then the SS amps I mentioned above, that I have heard on the DI's so far.  If you love rock and big orchestral types of music, with the finesse of a SET, these mono-blocks would be a dream for you on the DI's.  My hunch is that because these amps have very big power supplies and the quality of their in-house designed and hand built transformers is excellent they sound much more powerful then you would expect for a 8 watt amplifier.

The Triode Lab SET 2A3s-EVO, like the Canary Audio is beautifully built with the finest of transformers and internal parts, takes the resolution, speed/dynamics, and 3D imaging of the Micro-ZOTL and adds on amazing "meat on the bones" image density, the most beautiful color/tonality/timbres to all instruments and presents the music in an effortless way that just floats out of the DI's.  This amplifier is not dark or overly "romantic", but has a relaxing overall presentation that draws you into the music in an emotional way.  It will do "big" music, however it really shines on vocals and acoustic instruments.  95% of my listening is Jazz recorded on analog tape, therefore this amp tickles my musical heart.  

Both of these SET amplifiers are truly beautiful music makers.  Paired with the Micro-ZOTL each drives the DI's,  I should be getting shortly the Ulfbertht's for review/my hunch is that each will drive this speaker with abomb, to a level that any music lover would find enchanting indeed.  Which do you like better silk or velvet?  They are both wonderful materials, however which you find more pleasing to touch? Well, these amplifiers offer different textures/flavors, easily drive the DI's, so it comes down to personal taste and matching the synergy with your preamplifier and source.

 

Teajay, what preamp did you use with the Carvers and BHK's? In my system, neither amp really came alive until I paired it with an excellent preamp. They hardly sound sterile in my setup.

Milpai, if you are a pianist, you definitely can tell a piano's make by it's tone. A Steinway does not sound like a Bosendorfer, for example. It takes a really good speaker to reveal this, though, which the Ulf's did.

Hi Jeffrey,

The Carver amps were driven by the Concert Fidelity tube based reference, a great sounding piece, and the BHK's were driven by two excellent SS preamps and a very high level Purity tube based preamp.  I don't know what you mean by "alive".  If you mean overall macro-dynamics, both amps are OK in that area.  They both fall short in color/tonality and in image palpability.  When I reviewed the Carver amps the SS Pass Labs had more liquidity and better air around individual players then the tube based Carvers.  I really found nothing special about the BHK amplifier, it was quite run of the mill sounding compared to most SS amps on todays market.  Neither was my cup of sonic tea.  I could also speculate that some of the "the image was right on top of me" is not the room or the speakers, but  the nature of the amplifier.  Because you can use very low powered SET amps because of the nature of Eric's speakers have you ever tried any of these types of amplifiers?  The most unpleasant I have heard the DI's sound as been when they are driven by high power SS amps, some what in your face PA system type of presentation.  So easy to drive, but total conduits which expose any short coming in the upstream gear.  They sounded great with excellent SS amps like Accuphase and Pass Labs XA-60.8 which sound much different then your BHK's.  

Terry:

I have a question but it concerns multi-channel SS amps. I know you do some of that but a lot of what you do is 2 channel. I was going to go with a NAD M27 amp for my HT. Have you run across any multi-channel amps that fall into the category of the Tektons in the sense of comparing to much higher priced equipment for a lower price?
Any other recommendations other than the M27?

Thanks

Hi vitop,

I wish I could be helpful, however I have never had a multi-channel amplifier in any of my systems which are two channel based not HT.  Hopefully, someone else with that knowledge/experience on this thread could answer your question.