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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
atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
11,784 posts
 
There is a Japanese company making some decently high powered ones, can’t remember their name.
@teo_audio

If you are talking about 'VFETs' (Static Induction Transistors or SITs, are the exact same thing as VFETs FWIW...) then the name is Tokin. But you would have to sort out how to make an amplifier with these devices...
gsm18439
895 posts
 
I have heard two SS amps that get close to 300b SET. Bakoon (I have the 12R - it has been replaced by the 13R) and Ancient Audio A-3 (http://www.ancient.com.pl/e_a-3.htm). 
sonetduo
51 posts
 

@atmasphere , you are right on the money....yes, VFET is a SIT transistor.
Tonkin (NEC), nor any other manufacturer make SIT devices today....not that I am aware of.

@teo_audio I am having a hard time fallowing your message??
Linear, yes, SIT devices are the most linear SS devices ever made, but they are no longer made anywhere.
Are you implying a new design, new build?

BTW, VFET and not V-fet is the name that Sony used in the 70s.

Besides Nelson Pass designs, Digital Do-main https://www.techradar.com/reviews/audio-visual/hi-fi-and-audio/amplifiers/digital-do-main-b-1a-646182/review
is the last to deliver a real Vfet amp, but it is not all SIT. Just as the original Yamaha B-1, it uses small signal SIT devices but IIRC, the input section is handled by J-Fets.

IMHO, the most sensible approach is to use a fully restored and enhanced Yamaha B-1, B-2 or another powerful choice from Sony.
For preamp the choices are limited to Yamaha C-1 as this was the only Vfet preamp ever build, and even the C-1 uses some J-fets in the signal path..Yes, the C-1 is very "busy" but the tone section can be defeated and the line stage is stunning. The tone controll section in the C-1 is also handled mostly by SIT devices and it becomes useful if the listening room is not ideal.

The entire signal path between the Yamaha C-1 and B-1 is all Fet, with the majority of the signal being handled by Vfet/SIT devices.

Both the amp and preamp are 40 years old by now and need proper rehab....NO, a simple recap would not do...and YES, once restored, they sound sublime....as they should since they make use the most linear transistor type ever made.





atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
11,784 posts
 
Are you implying a new design, new build?
@sonetduo   Nelson Pass had some made but then the semiconductor house went belly up. Unlike the Sony and Yamaha devices, you can actually kinda sorta find the Tokin devices... So that's about as close to 'common' with these things as it gets!

Funny that tubes like the 6SN7 that were considered obsolete 55 years ago you can still get brand new, but semiconductors go out of production when the wind changes, and when they're gone, that's pretty much it.
sonetduo
51 posts
 
@atmasphere ,
yes, some Tokin devices are still available but they are no longer manufactured (I have some NOS). The Tokin devices were manufactured for telecomunication and were never as linear as the Sony or Yamaha choices...or the original NECs for that matter.

Not sure if @teo-audio was suggesting a new design of an one-off amp or a small batch production. The later would not be feasible with the current levels of NOS Tokins.

True, interesting how smicinductors just go away....

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