Building the Audio Note Kit 1 SET amp...

Mapman, I rarely listen to music above 78-84 db on my 90db efficient 8 ohm speakers. I am driving them with two sets of Monoblock amps. I swap them out from time to time. The first set is a homemade tube PP set that sound marvelous. But, my main set are 300 watt SS amps and one could say that is complete overkill in my modest sized room at my low listening levels.

I have found that the sense of ease and flow is tremendous with the amplifiers barely breaking a sweat. Paired with my tricked out TRL Dude tubed preamp and Romulus tubed CD player I am getting that SET like sound. I have the latest version of the Trl Samson amps with some nice new improvements.

The amps are very open and deliver see through transparency and in the end just reveal the strengths of my pre and CD player. My speakers are uber musical and the total system just delivers that SET like sound that is intoxicating without SET limitations.

I will acknowledge it has taken some effort and learnings to get to this point.

Many things have helped such as.....

- using great solid core silver wire throughout the system
- speaker placement, speaker placement, speaker placement
- room treatment.......very important
- tricking out my preamp removing all electrolytic caps in the power supply, battery powered filament heaters and a few other things
- the right speaker with a simple crossover network

All these things do indeed deliver a SET like sound that is immediate, intimate and all together lovely, lively and engaging.

I am probably using 1/10 of the power available in my amps! Ha! But it works very well indeed.

I agree a great amp can only be great if not "breaking a sweat".
My 500 w/ch bel canto amps were acquired mainly for my large ohm f5 speakers in my larger room. I dabbled with various lower power amps for awhile. These are the ones that handle the job effortlessly and the music reflects that. I also run the other smaller less demanding speakers in various rooms concurrently of the same amps. They are overkill perhaps for all the rest but prefer to think of that as my insurance policy. All my speakers get driven to their max. Including the small more tube amp friendly triangles. These always excel at lower to moderate volume and that is the case these days more than ever. I would like to do the tube amp experiment with those someday not that I feel the need but as an experiment. In that I have heard many tube systems including a few sets but never owned one plus I find all the various technologies fascinating...different recipes for a favorite dish in essence. But you can never tell what a pair of speakers are capable of until they are driven effortlessly to their max. The same might be said for an amp as well I suppose if one prefers to look at it that way.

One ironic point in this discussion is power output and its stated benefit . Rebbi had high power Bel Canto amps and wasn't impressed. He says the lower power Manley tube amp was much better. Now the AN 300b has brought him the best overall sound he's ever had in his home. Food for thought, quality trumps quantity sometimes.

60 day in-home audition from Tekton? Seems like a no-brainer.

Quality is more important but a quality amp alone cannot make any music. Lots of factors contribute to results including personal preferences which are usually what determines quality to that person.

The numbers would seem to indicate that ss must be doing something right. Go figure! 😉