Building the Audio Note Kit 1 SET amp...

Hi Al,
Given your primary music genre of large scale symphonic orchestra and chosen listening levels, you made a good amplifier choice. I know the VAC REN 30/30 and 70/70 well. The loudest I've had my Frankenstein was 95-100 db for some Doors and a Neil Young recording. Highest peak was 105 db during an Art Blakey drum solo on a T. Monk CD(that I cranked up) (C weighted/fast setting). Those occasions are rare for me. Usually I'm listening at an average of 75-83 db SPL. So most of the time my listening power output range of the amp is well under 1 watt(actually fractions of 1 watt). I sit 10 feet away from the speakers. So 8 watts is plenty for my particular needs.
Al you are right, having a speaker with a high load impedance is clearly an advantage for my SET amplifier.
Charles,

Randy,
You results aren't surprising to me. I know that Lou personally seems to prefer SS with his speakers. I've heard Daedalus models driven by big SS amps and tube amplifiers as well. IMO his speakers sound noticeably better with tube power amps. So I can imagine you and Al are getting very good results with your respective systems.

Hi Rob,The Line Magnetic W.E.755 field coil speaker has always caught my attention. I get the feeling that speaker with a good SET could be something really wonderful. If you get a chance to hear it let us know your impression of it. I definitely trust your ears.
Thanks,

Thanks everyone.
Rrsclyde, thanks for that info.

Charles, on one of my trips to NYC and/or Los Angeles, I'm going to set up appointments to hear the Line Magnetic 755 Field Coil. I will absolutely write my impressions here. I also really enjoyed the VAC the times I heard them, also 30/30. Best all, Rob

Hey, Folks,
Well, I checked a few of the possible culprits that Brian suggested (for example, did I have the correct model output transformers?) and things looked okay. So I decided, with Brian's encouragement, to bring the amp to a local tech for troubleshooting.
Mike, my go-to guy in the past at Austin Stereo Service, didn't want to work on the kit, or on kits in general these days (although he once checked over my Bottlehead Seduction photo stage). He's busy right now with lots of '70's and '80's transistor gear, turntables and so forth.
He suggested I go to Telstar Services. I called them and they said that as long as they had schematics and build instructions they'd be happy to troubleshoot the amp. So I dropped it off. Typical deal: you pay a bench test/diagnostic fee which they apply to the repair if you have them do it.
I have to admit to feeling like a bit of a loser taking the amp to a tech after all the work I've put into it. But at this point the prospect of sorting through all the possible problems is just too daunting, plus I figure they've got the scopes and proper testing equipment to make shorter work of it. I printed out the schematics and wiring diagrams.
So, there you go.
I miss my music! It's silly but I'm really bummed out by not having a working system, which is probably an indicator of just how musically engaging things have been with this amp. I've come to think of it as a "beauty machine."
Also, as someone said earlier in the thread, when you build a kit like this, you really get attached to it. More than a purchase or possession it's kind of "your baby."
Anyway, I think I'm in for some real magic when the amp's completely up to spec. Hope they sort this out quickly!
By the way, Brian encouraged me to give the techs his phone numbers in case they had questions. Great guy!