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Is there a Solid State amp that can satisfy a SET guy?

Have been a SET guy for so long I have forgotten what a good SS amp even sounds like.
Just bought a pair of $33k speakers that will replace my current $16k speakers. Both are from the same designer and both are 92db and a flat 8 ohms. The new ones arrive in 4 days!
My 300B based amps well drive my current speakers even though I do use the system nightly as a 2 channel home theater. Especially considering the HT usage, I think I may enjoy a SS amp with many times the horsepower. The speaker designer suggests using a Leema Hydra II. I have written to Leema telling them of my 300B preference and they assure me that their amp does not have the destructive harmonics that make a SS amp bright. There must be other SS amps that can satisfy?
mglik
roxy54's avatar
roxy54
8,011 posts
 
mglik,
Interesting to hear about your experience with the Viva 845 amp. I had the same experience with a De Havilland 845. It was a bore and didn't work with any of the 4 speakers that I had at the time even though it was hyped to be very good.
Like you, I had a great experience with an 8 watt 300b SET. Much better and deeper bass than I later experienced with another good EL34 amp.
wig's avatar
wig
1,270 posts
 
@cal3713

It’s a Purity Audio Design Harmonia V2; you have a choice of 2A3 or 300B but I prefer a more dynamic sounding tube and chose the more linear sounding 2A3.

I considered the Supratek but that would take up more room on my rack and I wanted a Pre where the DHT were not influenced by other variants tubes, just the purity of the 2A3 by itself : )

www.responseaudiony.com/harmonia-mk2.html

Wig
mglik OP
908 posts
 
Seriously considering getting a Bakoon 13R. It seems like the most different SS. Current drive instead of voltage drive. And I pretty much already know that it may be the ultimate headphone amp.
IME very linear and pure is best with headphones. SET sound is too rich. Believe I can get a demo 13R. Very curious about how it will handle my my big speakers. Still do think about a strong SS amp.
But it is absolutely true that 300B SET fans are a strong sub group in Audio. There are strong and real reasons why we are so devoted to our way of amplifying systems. However, I cannot discount the strong and real reasons why maybe the lion’s share are devoted to SS. I am certainly coming to well understand why this is. I will never forget the “realness” of that MGM lion’s roar! Speaking of lions...
jtgofish's avatar
jtgofish
515 posts
 
I have a Supratek Cabernet 300B preamp.I was using that with a pair of Bakoon 5515M 50 watt monoblock amplifiers which were unfortunately not mine and had to be returned to the owner.That was a wonderful sounding combination .
david_ten
5,480 posts
 
- Don’t go for single tube 211, 845 SETs, they sound slow and boring.
- Pani’s recommendations are dead-on and mimic my experiences exactly.
- I have been turned off by owning what should have been a really good sounding amp, the Viva Solista 845 based SET. Yes, it was boring compared to my 300B SET.
- I had the same experience with a De Havilland 845. It was a bore


@pani @eaglejo @mglik @roxy54

What do you attribute the above to? Would like to learn what might be going on with respect the amps you found behaving this way and (perhaps) speaker pairing, etc. synergy? Thanks.
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