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SET the best?

Is SET amplification where we should all end up? I keep reading posts where people tell of their journeys from plenty power to micro power, and how amazing SET amplification is 45 set 211 set 845 set otl, and usually, ....with the right speaker. I have yet to read of anyone who has gone the other direction from SET, to High watt beast class A amps or others.
If your speakers can be driven by minimal wattage, is this the most realistic, natural sound we can achieve? versus say, 86db sensitive speakers and a 1000w amp?
Is the end result solely based on speaker pairing? circuit? tubes?

I am in the process of changing my direction in my search for realistic sound, just because, and wondering if this really is the best direction to be going.
From what I have been reading I think it may be.

What do we get with SET? What do we give up?

What's you favorite color?
hanaleimike
plinko
256 posts
 
thanks Unsound...not petty at all

I knew it was close...my 300 B SET measures flat below 27.5Hz at 4 or 5 watts (can't remember exactly)...amazing, eh?
atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
11,942 posts
 
The cutoff frequency of the amp does play a role. Generally speaking, you can hear artifact associated with the cutoff (-3db point) at frequencies up to about 10 times the cutoff frequency. So if the amp starts to roll off at 20Hz, you can hear artifacts up to 200Hz.

The same is true of the HF rolloff- except that now its 1/10th the cutoff frequency. So if the amp rolls off at 20KHz, you will hear artifacts down to 2000Hz.

This is why designers try so hard to get bandwidth!
plinko
256 posts
 
hey Atmasphere...interesting. i have heard the argument for frequency extension on the upper end. what do you mean by "artifacts"? are these artifacts measured or only heard? please forgive me as I am not an engineer. i'm looking at a square waves and looks pretty good to me. thanks....
amfibius
282 posts
 
I think he is talking about the missing fundamental effect. If the fundamental frequency is f, there will be harmonics at 2f, 3f, 4f, and so on. Even if your system can not produce the fundamental (as has been pointed out, the bass note on a piano goes as low as 27.5Hz), it can definitely produce the harmonics which is how you perceive the bass note. Your brain fills it in.

I can listen to piano on my iPod earphones which definitely don't go as low as 27.5Hz, but I can still "hear" bass notes on the piano.

There are products out there that take advantage of the missing fundamental effect by boosting the harmonics, giving the sensation of more bass.
atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
11,942 posts
 
IMO if there is a subsonic rolloff, you hear it as a diminution of bass impact. It can also be measured quite easily- square wave tilt is the measurement. Having played around with LF cutoff frequencies a lot (our amps are full power to either 1Hz or 2Hz), all I can say is its easy to hear once you know what you are looking for provided you have speakers with bandwidth into the low 20s.
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