Twl - Interesting posts. I know a guy who is doing something that should get the attention of all of us. He has a 24 wpc 845 SET amp on a pair of Spendor S3/5's. His listening room is small, and he doesn't want to disturb the neighbors. It's a crazy and simple setup, but it sounds amazing. Another interesting thing he done was to eliminate power bars and line filters. Since the amp is integrated and he only has one source, all he done was bought a Hubbell duplex outlet and installed it, and plugged both components right into the wall.
Why not more on 845 SETs?
As a brand-new owner of a Bel Canto SETi40 int amp,(bought used) I was intrigued to see very little in the fora on the subject of 845 SET amps an A'gon. It seems that this provides the best of both worlds -adequate power to drive most moderately sensitive speakers- 40 Class A SET WPC with SET sound. What is the downside to this approach and why don't more of the SET groupies have higher powered amps, giving them much more latitude in speaker selection? I drive 4 ohm 87 db sensitivity Totem 1 Signatures quite adequately with this amp. Is it beacuse of transformer issues, difficulty in finding adequate designs, size or the feeling that this is not a true "SET sound"?
I would like to hear SET-owners' reasons, if possible.
I would like to hear SET-owners' reasons, if possible.
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- 49 posts total
I thought this was a nice 845 page; all 4 chassis and 282 lbs of it: http://www.cognitivevent.com/av_monstro.html. |
Amen to DC power. One amp I'm having very hard time getting rid of is N.E.W. DCA66 which is battery powered class A SS amp. Disabled half of the power per Cary's recommendation and it is SWEET. It is a Nelson Pass designed and Cary built amp. I'm a die hard SET guy and this is the only SS amp I enjoy time to time. Amen to "simplify and enjoy" too. I don't use preamp nor x-over speakers. I use digital volume control by Meridian in front of the DAC to SET to x-over less speakers all connected with siler cables. As pure as I am able to get. |
I took ownership of a Bel Canto SET40 a little less than a week ago, and got in a lot of good listening time this weekend. With the exception of this new amp, I am running the exact system listed in my virtual system, which consists of a solid state BAT VK200 powering ProAc Response 2.5s. My impressions agree strongly with Dopogue's experience. The ProAcs sound fantastic driven by the SET40. The thing I am most surprised with is that the 37wpc SET40 nearly matches the dynamics, drive and bass weight of the VK200. All this with the sonic positives the SET brings with it. A very pleasantly elated. |
- 49 posts total