Zu Soul Superfly

Phil:

I am so sorry. When you said "you'd be surprised about the number of people for whom a 5db difference of any kind just doesn't register" I thought you meant I'd be surprised about the number of people for whom a 5db difference of any kind just doesn't register.

It seems that what you actually meant was that a "3-6db difference between left and right channels" *does* make a difference.

And class-d suddenly sounds better when you pay quadruple digits for it, but a wheezing congested midrange as 3 puny watts fails to power high-90 low-100 speaker is fine to those "willing to live within their limits" because people are enamored so of their watts, and care nothing for the sound it products.

Zanon,

No, I meant what I said. Which wasn't that a 3db - 6db difference in channel balance doesn't matter to me, or you or many other people here but that there are plenty of folks in the non-audiophile music-focused crowd that either don't notice it or don't care enough to change what's causing it even if they drop two Large on a pair of speakers. Their comparative indifference to one quality that matters to us may not compromise their enjoyment of music from their hi-fi whatsoever.

As for flea-power SET amps, that's the whole point. 2 - 3 watts aren't convincing to me and I suppose not for you, but for someone who values specific attributes of a 45 or 2a3 SET amp enough to listen within the dynamic limits of a third clean watt on a 101db/w/m speaker, the midrange won't be congested. It just gets congested quickly if said listener pushes even a skosh beyond that. So someone like me doesn't have to recommend flea power to appreciate why some folks are satisfied by a narrow performance attribute. After all, Quad ESL57s don't have much dynamic range, nor power handling worth mentioning, plus they beam like lasers, yet they still have a fanatical following after more than 50 years.

I have no defense however to offer for the sound quality of Class-D, thus far in its evolution. Except that it gets some people out of earbuds and into speakers, which is a first step for bringing fresh blood into our interest. Does a cheap Tri-Path sound any worse than, say, a grating Dynaco SCA-80Q did circa 1970? No. It sounds better and it's vastly cheaper and more accessible too in real dollars. Give the kids and anyone else with thin finances a break. If we get them in in the tent, we have plenty of time to show them old school.

Phil

Would the VTL Tiny Triode be a good match? $700 too much to pay for this amp?

I can't say how the TT-25s would sound with the Zus, but I liked them with my former Abbys. I do remember reading a recent thread on audio asylum about them presenting a poor synergy with lowthers though.

$700 seems like a fine price. I have owned them twice over the years and I think I was able to re-sell for about $1000 after I had gotten my kicks for a while. The amp market is changing though.

I haven't heard the Tiny Triode monoblocks on Zu, but I would proceed with confidence. I have yet to hear an EL84 amp not sound musical powering the Zu FRD. Within its power limits, for example, the very modest Almarro A205 single-ended EL84 embarrasses many more expensive amps of various types on Druids, and therefore I'm sure on Soul too. And it's only 5 to 8w.

The Tiny Triode should prove both toneful and quite versatile on Superfly. You'll have around 20 honest watts in pseudo-triode mode with four EL84s running into 16 ohms from an 8 ohms tap, and perhaps 35w in normal tetrode mode, so at the flip of a switch you'll have the laid-back sound of triode mode with adequate power, and able to call up the more vivid and punchy tetrode sound when you want more oomph.

$700 seems to me a great price for those amps, which were limited production, no longer made, and quite scarce.

Phil