Afc,
I have owned the Coincident Frankenstein amplifier for 10 mogths and it`s a wonderful state of the art component when used with the proper speaker. It has the most pure, natural and non-electronic/mechanical character of any amplifier that I`ve heard so far. I have own and heard verygood push-pull tube amps that use indirectly heated tubes of the pentode type but the SET/DHT design when implemented to a very high standard(the Frankenstein certainly is) to my ears just plain sounds more convincingly real and thus is quite emotionaly involving. The Frankenstein has an exceptional ability to provide a lot of drive, control and dynamics that most would`nt expect from a 300b with 8 watts per side. The only problem I`ve had is it`s difficult to bring a listening session to a close due to the fabulous musical reproduction and enjoyment it gives without fail. The hours really do seem to pass without notice. I hope you get an opprotunity to hear it yourself.
Best Regards |
Afc,
Mr paul mentioned the Yamamoto 300b amp, I`ve not heard it myself but this amp has gotten universal high praise and is one you should also strongly consider. I own the Yamamoto YDA-01 DAC(SS version) in a word, divine. |
Afc,
These amps are very good straight out of the box and will in time make the transition to superb reproducers of music. Remain patient my friend, you`re going to be quite pleased. |
Tony,
The Mastersound 845 is an exceptionally good amp and of course in your case fully broken in. The 300b won`t match the power of a 845 tube. You need hours of break in for the amp and 300b treasure tubes before they reveal their wonderful capabilities. If you think the Frankenstein is detailed and transparent now, you`ve heard nothing yet! |
Tony,
The type of music and volume level preferences make a difference for sure.The 845 amp will win the grunt/rock and roll/large symphony battle, as the Frankenstein breaks in it will narrow but won`t completely close that gap. The special beauty of the Franks is with acoustic jazz and un amplified music in general. Although the mastersound is very good with this type of music ultimately I think the franks will be subtlely superior as they become increasing more organic,pure and oh so natrural with tonality,timbre and harmonic preservation. No amp can be perfect and excel in every single parameter of sound /music reproduction.The Mastersound will have the power upperhand beyond the Frankenstein`single 300b yet not quite match the transparency and purity. How forunate you are to have both. |
Tony, before I purchased these amps that was my primary concern also, would 8 watts drive my speakers. Israel Bloom promised they would be more than enough, well that was an understatement they are simply fanstatic with my speakers(Coincident Total Eclipse-94db and 14 ohm load). My room is fairly large but the sound completely saturates the entire space, not just in terms of volume, I mean spooky presence and sound projecting seemingly from real performers on a stage. I would think with your Zu speakers your experience will be quite similar. As they continue to breakin your appreciation of the Frankensteins will grow much deeper.
What`s your impression of their performance in terms of tonality/timbre and harmonic overtone preservation? |
Good Morning Tony,
I happen to be an ER physician and I think that fossa is cranial and near the nasal bone( it`s been many years since gross anatomy in med school LOL). What I mean regarding overtones are the additional notes and harmonies you hear following the intial note or tone particularly with the playing of chords. The Frankensteins sound much more like a live guitar in it`s ability to reproduce the blending of the mixture of notes and harmony. I`d been a user of push-pull amps for years prior to SET amps exposure. The PP amps were good at reproducing these overtones, hower the Frankensteins are just excellent in this regard and sounds much closer to what I hear live. My reference is live jazz in small clubs and most often unamplified. I don`t know if it`s due to the SET circuit, the use of DHT rather than pentode tubes, or having an interstage transformer in place of coupling capacitors. Probably all the above, I`m no engineer but something`s happening for the better. Any way I`m pleased that you`re enjoying these amplifiers already and your right they will continue to improve, what fun this hobby is.I agree with your opinion of Israel completely. |
Hi Tony,
Unless you`re just determined to blow out your ear drums I`ve felt that with your very efficient Zu speakers the Frankenstein would provide all the high volume one could want. My speakers are 94db(4 to 5 db less than yours) and in my resonably large space I can produce more sound pressure than I`ll ever need. In fact I`m having the gain in my Statement linestage reduced by Israel as 20db is far more than my system needs. Lastly tony, welcome to the Frankenstein owner club |
Hello Tony,
That`s quite an endorsment for the Franks from someone who owned the excellent Mastersound 845 amp(I know that it was superior to your former Jeff Roland amp). It`s amusing that with your recent amp journey as you have decreased amplifier power your system`s sound quaility has improved LOL. yOU have a very good full fuction preamp in the EAR, but yes the Statement linestage/Frankenstein duo is marvelous. The linestage sonically is a clone of the sound you`re getting with the Franks, but the addition is even better dynamics,scale,sense of even more power, yet relaxation and ease. I`m glad you`re happy with these amps. |
Tony what are you doing to the poor little Frankensteins? 8 watts vs 80 watts now thats a true David vs Goliath battle LOL. Well one things for sure , there`s going to be very real differences with this comparison. High power pentode-push pull against low power SET/DHT. My former amplifier was the BELLA Extreme 100 monoblocks, this was an excellent PP design 100 watt pentode/60watts triode. As fine as this amp is I kept the Franks due to better tone,resolution of overtones and it was superior at presenting a more live like sound and realism. The Franks put me right into the jazz club more convincingly. You have a different system and preferences, you may prefer the higher powered push-pull. This should be fun! keep us posted. |
Hi,
Your experience is quite different from mine (could it be system, different
ears ?). One of the many attributes of the Frankenstein has been agility,
speed, trasient performance and vibrant energetic sound when called for. I
appreciate the fact that it isn't soft, slow or rounded off. The better the 300b
tube the better the amplifier sounds, superb resolution and transparency.
Currently I'm using these 300b tubes, Takatsuki-TA, EML XLS and the
AVVTV32 SL and these
all sound exceptional with all types of music (jazz is my predominant
genre). High energy big band and classical music are a joy. Drums sound
terrific with realistic snap, impact and timing.
But one thing is certain in audio, no component will please everyone, there
are too many variables and preferences to account for. The Frankenstein
outperformed my previous 100 watt PP amp across the board. You'll
eventually find what you're looking for in an amplifier. As always YMMV.
Charles, |
Nguyen787`s mentioning the drums in particularly caught my attention.Ironically that`s something they reproduce exceedingly well in my system.Compared to several former PP tube amps and my previous Symphonic Line solid state amplifier.The Franks reproduction is closer to what I hear live.Audio is fascinating as it reveals differences in perception among various listeners.
Charles, |
Hi,
I use the Coincident Statement linestage and this combination is truly superb. I generally prefer a top quality active preamp to the passive approach. Opinions will vary on this issue as expected.
Good Luck,
Charles, |
