To Tube or not to Tube, that is the question

@evank Funny I bought a pair of Brimars from Upscale but they were noisy and they gave me all kinds of static about replacing them, so I went back to the JJ's. I think they give a more defined sound which I like, the Brimars sounded more muted to my ears. That is really interesting using the Gan Fet as the power stage on the Sphinx. Since I have one in the form of the MiniGan 5 I may try that one day, but I never thought the hypex units in the Sphinx were lacking. I love its overall sound!

The main speakers I see using with tubes are the two Lii audio full range, open baffles which both have efficiencies in the mid 90spl. Also the Klipsch RP-160s are rated at 96. These Lii speakers in the Caintuck inspired barrel shapes with no crossovers are magnificent, particularly for the money. I do supplement all my speakers in the main system with a trio of Syzygy subs to take care of the deep end.

The Rogue CM is a fine suggestion, if I wasn't focused so much on building my own I would definitely give them a listen. May do so anyway. Same for the Williston and other Chi-Fi. Thanks!

My own research has me looking at Dynakit ST-35,

And this Decware Zentriode kit, https://www.decware.com/newsite/SE84CDIY.htm

I did some parts pricing yesterday and the ST-35 would come in at $875 with tubes and the Decware Zen Triode would be a bout $500

I might add I am leaning towards the Dynakit ST-35 for 3 reasons. It has more power, 17w vs 2w, it's a NJ company and i could drive to get it, no shipping risk, AND it was favorably mention by @atmasphere , which carries a lot of weight with me :-)

@bruce19 

I don't know what year Brimar's I am using I will have to check. I got them from a friend who had a few extra pairs. They are probably around the 50's or so but NOS I love the Sphinx V3 but I happened upon the Orchard Audio tour and like his amp so I bought one. The Rogue is temporary as a preamp. It will stay in my inventory not getting rid of it. Just deciding on a preamp for the Gan FeT. I had the Mini Gan 5 but it was defective and so was the second one he sent to me. I also tried the Gan 400 from Peachtree but the Orchard won out in the end. You have to hear it compared to the others. I also own the Willsenton R8 you mentioned above. Another great amp. I ordered it direct from China Hifi and saved like 400 bucks and still had it in 4 days. They come from a warehouse in California, same as place as if you ordered from Amazon. If you look at my systems page, you can see what I have going on LOL. And it's all a keeper. To me that is

@bruce19 The advantage this amp has over the ST70 is twofold. First, the output transformers (if they are the same design as the original) have better performance. The second advantage is a bit harder to explain but I'll try:

Like the ST70 this amp uses feedback. A common problem which this amp also has is that the point where the feedback is applied isn't linear, which means that the feedback signal gets distorted before it can do its job of correction. So it adds distortion of its own.

However, the ST70 uses a pentode for this task, where the ST70 uses a much more linear triode. This means the feedback signal is less distorted and so more able to do its job. So overall its a more musical amplifier design since there is less higher ordered harmonic distortion.

@bruce19 

I assume you are in the Tri State Area because you mentioned driving to NJ. I'm in Staten Island if you want to stop by for a listen. Also have a friend nearby that has a SIT3 and some Coincident monobloc's. I tried to send you a PM but couldn't figure it out.