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Which 300B SET for SF Guarneri Homage?

Driving my Guarneri with a Pass Aleph 3 amp(with audio aero capitole mkIISE cdp+pre), which goes quite well, but thinking of upgrading amp to a couple of 300B monoblocks...
The thing is this is a tricky change because, among other things, the Pass is built like a tank and is an excellent amp. So I want to make the decision carefully with no hurries...
Considering as an option the Coincident Frankenstein's but i'm not too informed about tube amps.
I listen to all sorts of music though fav is Opera, so my expectations with the change would go on the line of getting a more real life experience.
I wonder if anyone had any experience of driving these 87db sensitivity, 6-8ohm speakers with a SET and would appreciate opinions or suggestions
dongiovanni
daveyf's avatar
daveyf
2,954 posts
 
Hi Don, As a fellow owner of GH's, I have heard them with a number of different amps. IMHO, GH's don't really work well with Single ended low power amps. As you state, the GH's are 87db efficient, which is a bit of a tough deal for low power or flea power SE amps. I think the GH's need at least 50+ watts/ch.and more is a lot better.
You do not say how much power the amps you are considering put out, so I can only guess that since they are 300b's that they are putting out less power than 50 watts/ch.
onemug
784 posts
 
My experience:

I usually drive my GH's with either a Pass XA30.5 or my vintage Marantz 8b. Lately, I've been driving them with a pair of Cary 300b SE Signature monoblocks with very pleasing results. The 300b holds a mystical/musical quality in the midrange that just draws me in.

My advice:

All 300b amps are not created equal. You will want one with nice transformers and power supply and of good design. Your GH's deserve it. Good luck.
brf
1,715 posts
 
I've actually heard this combination with your speakers ....Cary 805 amps with WE 300B drivers and RCA 845 output tubes. SET on steriods without losing any of the inner detail.
charles1dad's avatar
charles1dad
10,250 posts
 
Dongiovanni,
Your speakers present a very favable load for an SET amp, this means as much if not more than the sensitivity rating in many cases. How large is your room and at what volume do you listen? I`ve owned the Coincident Frankenstin MK2 for a year and they are peerless in my opinion when matched with an appropriate speaker load, This amp has a premiun power supply and custom- overbuilt transformers.It has excellent drive capacity(driver tube is 6em7 rather rhan the common 6sn7). I would email Coincident owner Israel Blume, he`s yery responsive and quite candid regarding what will and won`t work with his amplifiers.
Best Regards
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