Good to know. If the designer can drive the References with 8 set watts, then anything should work. I’ll try tubes, just to see how it affeccts sound quality. Should be interesting, as the internal woofer amps use entirely different technology. Bass crossover issues, maybe?
Goldenear Triton One.R - can it be driven with low power tube amp?
I’m currently driving my Goldenear Triton One.R speakers with substantial monoblock solid state amps. However the Triton One.Rs have internal 1.6 kilowatt amplifiers for the lowest frequencies. So my primary amps are only driving the midrange and tweeters. Seems like overkill. Was thinking of using lower power tube amps, maybe even tube SETs. Will this work?
Has anyone done this? Comments welcomed.
Has anyone done this? Comments welcomed.
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Sandy Gross, the former designer/owner of Golden Ear uses a 8wpc SET amp on his GE Triton Reference speakers I’d love to read about this, couldn’t imagine a 8w set driving this kind of load from 80hz> very well all the upper bass grunt is needed from there to 200hz https://www.stereophile.com/images/118GETRfig1.jpg has anyone got a link to where was that printed up or is it just hearsay? Cheers George |
cakids the designer of these speakers prefers 8 watt SET amps and this is obviously a reflection of his taste and how he hears/listens. Your listening biases may be similar to his or possibly quite different, who knows? You have a good quality el 84 pentode push pull tube amplifier that's switchable between 20 (Triode) and 40 (Ultralinear) watts. Definitely exercise your curiosity and insert this amplifier into your system. I look forward to your impressions. Charles |
@georgehifi, When I was at the 2017 RMAF, in the Golden Ear Room, I talked at length to Sandy Gross and I mentioned tubes and the Triton References. He told me he uses an 8 watt SET in his home with the References. They have a 93.5 dB efficiency. He said he voiced the speakers with both the SET and an Airtight Tube Amp. He also used a SS amp but he never got into the specifics. Sandy told me he likes to kick back in the evenings with a good bottle of wine and listen to music via the SET and the T Refs. If you read through the forums on the Golden Ear web site, the moderator in one of the conversations discusses Sandys preferences. I use a Mac MC302 on mine and 90% of the time, the meters hover between .3 watts and 3 watts and in my room, gives me a 88db spl. |
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