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Horning owners what amps have you used?

Just curious what amps other owners, or previous owners, of the Aristoteles, Eufrodite, Agathon or Perikles have used. Chime in even if you don't own these speakers but have an opinion.

I know most everyone has heard these speakers with the TRON Discovery or Telstar at RMAF and the 211 is heavenly IMO, but way out of my price range.

I have the Aristoteles Zigma and a Thoress 300B SET (8w). I love it, but like anyone else who is possessed with sound addiction, as Neil says: rust never sleeps.

Has anyone used anything less than 8 watts? Or more power like a 300B PP or 845? I do have a Berning ZH270, and unlike a fellow Audiogon-er who had the ZH230 and Eufrodite and thought highly of the match, the ZH270 sound is not my thing.
dpe
sebrof's avatar
sebrof
837 posts
 
11-14-11: Trelja
"Again, the answer is to return to one of the tenets of the Scientific Method, to observe the differences of two items being compared, holding ALL other variables constant. I admit it's a difficult task, and few have the ability, opportunity, or even desire to do so."

How is it possible to hold all other variables constant? You either have an amp designed for a 300B or an amp designed for a 2A3. Therefore there will be variables. What am I missing?
trelja
3,226 posts
 
Sebrof, "You either have an amp designed for a 300B or an amp designed for a 2A3. Therefore there will be variables. What am I missing?"

Buy or build an amplifier that can run both tubes. The only difference one needs to account for is the heater filament voltage; easy enough to get around with a power transformer with multiple taps. The rest of the amplifier remains the same, and then you can directly compare the two tubes.
charles1dad's avatar
charles1dad
10,250 posts
 
11flat6,
That effortless quality you refer to is priceless. When your system is capable of reproducing(retaining?) the ease and natural flow of music it`s indeed a wonderful achievement(and hard to live without once found).

At the RMAF this year I heard a number of rather expensive systems that lacked this quality and as a result they came off with a stiff and mechanical presentarion.
Best Regards,
johnk's avatar
johnk
1,976 posts
 
Having owned over 40 SET amps. I stand by my post. And my experiences. Happy listening.
atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
12,101 posts
 
Trelja, what would there be about a rear horn-loaded speaker that would make it unsuitable for an OTL??

I can't think of anything... and they've worked fine every time I've tried them.

I can think of plenty of things that can cause a particular amp to not work with a particular speaker, but I have found examples of every kind of speaker technology that works with OTLs. I would think something like this:

http://www.atma-sphere.com/Resources/Paradigms_in_Amplifier_Design.php

or raw impedance to be a far more likely explanation for a specific mismatch.
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