Tekton Double Impacts

Hey everyone. Preemptively letting you know of a new direction I decided to commit to, late yesterday evening.

I purchased a 2A3 amp and will be exploring speaker pairings and eventually a preamp. This will be a 'secondary' system with the same front end as I currently have. 

You may see posts or threads exploring speaker recommendations. Just so everyone is clear, my Tekton DI SE system will remain the same and will be a primary listening system.

I continue to be amazed by how good this system is and it is not going anywhere. This goes for not only the SEs, but also the T+A PA 3100 HV amp, the Denafrips Terminator DAC, and the rest of my system chain.

If you have recommendations of speakers that will shine with a 3.5 W amp, I am all ears.... 8 Ohm speakers and up.

As you know, Eric has a 'Perfect' SET option. : )

Hey Tom, You’ve got it right. It’s a 300B Push Pull cathode bias amplifier that can produce 25 watts per channel. This amp followed on the coat-tails of my Transcend and Special PP KT based amps. The question was- Since a SET amp can sound so good ( because there’s so little in the signal path), is that why PP sounds so dry and lifeless? So I decided to put the same care and attention to parts selection and simple signal paths in a Push Pull without pushing anything near cutoff where it sounds hard or strained, and the results were a very pure and effortless sounding Push Pull. I then became slightly obsessed and decided to see what that would do with a 300B push pull and that led to this creation- SET purity in its convincing yet more balls and grip in the bass due to more headroom and the efficiency of Push Pull. It took two chassis to get this right as the power supply uses exclusively film caps, no less than 6 power transformers and multiple chokes to provide all the "fuel" to do it right. I’m very very excited to hear Tom’s (and whomever else is present) impressions in a direct comparison to his beloved 8 watt per channel single-ended amplifier.

@david_ten - Congrats on entering the SET realm! It can definitely be a love affair, kind of like that voluptuous soft curvy girl we knew in our teenage years that just everything right, but wasn’t as tall or brassy as the cheerleader everyone drooled over. More of an lover than a mathematician if you will :-) If I can be on any help, I’d love to design and build you something nice. 

@david_ten
Funny on the timing of things David.  I have a secondary system as well with a PL Dialogue HP (granted, not quite the SET direction you are venturing into) currently driving VSA VR-33's.  While not unhappy with the 33's, I really am curious about the Tekton Perfect SET creation.  So why don't you order up and get back to me!  Just kiddin--kind of. 

Was thinking might be nice to spec some upgraded caps, add a short stand (see link) and then a nice custom color to maintain spousal harmony.  What do you think?
https://deercreekaudio.com/p/custom-stands 

I just took delivery of Arics Special PP last Thursday and I can attest that there is nothing strained or dry about them. It’s mated to Arics Motherload pre driving the DI and it is effortless. I’m absolutely having a great time with it. The mid has weight and body. The low end is authoritative, deep and quick. I put on some techno on last night and I got all the low end I think the DI can muster with no hint of smearing. The highs are detailed and airy but no harshness. Great dynamics and punch in ultra-linear mode (which is what I prefer considering my musical tastes). It’s working great for me with the DI. Also, I went with the KT120’s. I have no doubt the PP 300b performs great.

@aricaudio Thanks! 

@corelli  Those stands look lovely. I find custom stands for any speaker aesthetically more pleasing than a multi-use one. And it would be what I would also choose to do with Eric's Perfect SET speaker. When you put your order in, make sure you spec it with the Be tweeters. : )