I had not realized that the thread had continued and I have not come back to Audiogon much but it is quite nice that we have so many more responses.
Since the time I had posted my review, I have had to move twice (will hopefully stay here for a few years), and have changed my system quite a bit.
My hunt for an amp or a DAC has ended, but the journey has been extremely interesting.
1. Transcendent sound SE OTL with 4 watts per channel with grounded grid pre amp- I had built the grounded grid and tried building the SE OTL. Man, is it tough. I am no engineer and should have realized my limitations, had to send it back to have it built right. The owner is not easy to deal with and can use more PR skills.
But, the amp and the speaker combination is almost religious. Single amp was unable to provide enough oomph and did not have head room for home theater, but ,if anyone is able to hear this combination, you should. It will change the way we perceive speakers and sound reproduction.Kinda like SIT amp with Rethm Saadhana on 6moons. The combination is detailed, never harsh, physically moves you (perhaps I am easily movable or just move a lot!). You hear everything (never harsh) and you have so much space around each performer. 3 D imaging is locked down tight. Wow and more wow. I just don't have the patience to deal with the company to build a second amp. If i find a used one may be.
2. Red wine audio signature 15- there have some times when i had hoped for a much more saturated midrange without giving up the frequency extension or delicacy in treble. RWA gives enormous midrange saturation but delicate nature of sound is not present ( at least not in my set up). I think if this improves a bit, the combination would be the best- solid state, continuous on function etc.
3. Rethm Gaanam- Does everything right. Not as much detail as SE OTL but everything else is right. Good detail, great control over speakers, fantastic to look at. Only down side is that it has to be switched on and off to conserve tubes, otherwise ideal combination.
DAC-- Lector audio DAC- tube dac, which, when used with a good SET, increased the spaciousness and imaging. Great combination for the speaker. If you have a good preamp with a first watt F5 with this DAC you probably will have best of solid state and tubes. In some circumstances the DAC may be a little rose tinted to be accurate.
Room and set up- they really need about 3 feet or more from the front wall and corners otherwise some of the transparency is lost. Still will sound good but not fantastic.
They dip down to about 30Hz usable and by 20 HZ it is not a lot of input. I will get a radio shack measure and get a graph plotted soon.
About Maarga vs Saadhana- Saadhana looks like it has more usable bass but it is much deeper too, so positioning would be easier with Maarga. i would probably use a REL subwoofer with a Maarga and pull the speaker out more. I am planning on purchasing a REL myself for home theater where the explosions are not as explosive as I would want. My room is about 12 ft by 10 ft and Maargas may be a little too big, so bigger is not always better.
I have tried JL and B&W PVD1 but REL seems like the best choice to integrate with the speakers.
Will keep updating as things go along.
Since the time I had posted my review, I have had to move twice (will hopefully stay here for a few years), and have changed my system quite a bit.
My hunt for an amp or a DAC has ended, but the journey has been extremely interesting.
1. Transcendent sound SE OTL with 4 watts per channel with grounded grid pre amp- I had built the grounded grid and tried building the SE OTL. Man, is it tough. I am no engineer and should have realized my limitations, had to send it back to have it built right. The owner is not easy to deal with and can use more PR skills.
But, the amp and the speaker combination is almost religious. Single amp was unable to provide enough oomph and did not have head room for home theater, but ,if anyone is able to hear this combination, you should. It will change the way we perceive speakers and sound reproduction.Kinda like SIT amp with Rethm Saadhana on 6moons. The combination is detailed, never harsh, physically moves you (perhaps I am easily movable or just move a lot!). You hear everything (never harsh) and you have so much space around each performer. 3 D imaging is locked down tight. Wow and more wow. I just don't have the patience to deal with the company to build a second amp. If i find a used one may be.
2. Red wine audio signature 15- there have some times when i had hoped for a much more saturated midrange without giving up the frequency extension or delicacy in treble. RWA gives enormous midrange saturation but delicate nature of sound is not present ( at least not in my set up). I think if this improves a bit, the combination would be the best- solid state, continuous on function etc.
3. Rethm Gaanam- Does everything right. Not as much detail as SE OTL but everything else is right. Good detail, great control over speakers, fantastic to look at. Only down side is that it has to be switched on and off to conserve tubes, otherwise ideal combination.
DAC-- Lector audio DAC- tube dac, which, when used with a good SET, increased the spaciousness and imaging. Great combination for the speaker. If you have a good preamp with a first watt F5 with this DAC you probably will have best of solid state and tubes. In some circumstances the DAC may be a little rose tinted to be accurate.
Room and set up- they really need about 3 feet or more from the front wall and corners otherwise some of the transparency is lost. Still will sound good but not fantastic.
They dip down to about 30Hz usable and by 20 HZ it is not a lot of input. I will get a radio shack measure and get a graph plotted soon.
About Maarga vs Saadhana- Saadhana looks like it has more usable bass but it is much deeper too, so positioning would be easier with Maarga. i would probably use a REL subwoofer with a Maarga and pull the speaker out more. I am planning on purchasing a REL myself for home theater where the explosions are not as explosive as I would want. My room is about 12 ft by 10 ft and Maargas may be a little too big, so bigger is not always better.
I have tried JL and B&W PVD1 but REL seems like the best choice to integrate with the speakers.
Will keep updating as things go along.