Goldenear Triton One.R - can it be driven with low power tube amp?
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. |
Swapped the Manley Stingray into the system and did a couple of hours listening to three configurations driving the GE Triton One.Rs: 1. Stingray in Ultralinear (40 watts) 2. Stingray in Triode (20 watts) 3. Cary Audio SLP-98p Formula 1 mod with Pass Labs XA-60.5 monos, my normal set-up with the Tritons. Listened to vinyl only. Initial impressions: All 3 sounded excellent. Bass was identical in all 3 configs. 1 and 2 sounded slightly sweeter or more natural on voices, with 2 being slightly more pleasing. In config 3, the sound was more evenly robust or full, but not quite as appealing/ natural on vocals. Bottom line - low power tube amps can drive the Tritons easily, and quite nicely. The sound quality differences, slight though they were, were probably due more to the character of tube/solid state vs the all tube integrated amp. |
